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Daily Devotionals
Grace for Today
Ephesians 5:30
‘We are members of his body’
Read John 15:1-17
Child of God, can you begin to imagine what this text teaches? There is a living, loving and lasting union between the Lord Jesus Christ and all his people. It is beyond imagination, but it is true we are one with our Redeemer! What does this imply?
Certainly, it implies a similarity of nature between Christ and his church. By the incarnation our Lord assumed our nature. He is God the eternal Son. But he is also a real man. As a man, he lived in perfect righteousness, died as our Substitute, arose from the grave and reigns in glory. Ever rejoice in the eternal deity of Christ, but never forget that your Savior is a real man. And by the new birth, the Son of God has given us his nature. We are partakers of the divine nature’. Christ bears our nature in heaven and we bear his nature upon the earth.
The text also implies an intimate relationship. We are wed to the God-man. We cannot understand this relationship, but we can enjoy it. Christ espoused us to be his bride before the world began. He redeemed us for himself. He prepared our wedding garments. He allured us into the wilderness and there won our hearts by his all-prevailing love. My God, my Maker, my Redeemer, my Savior, my King is also my Husband. ‘Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; his love is better than wine.’
Again, the text implies a mysterious origin. As Eve was taken from the side of Adam, the church was born from the bleeding side of Christ, the second Adam. He died that we might live.
These words also imply a loving possession. We belong to Christ. ‘Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price.’ For many years we were in the arms of another. But all the while we belonged to him who loved us, chose us and redeemed us.
Once more, our text implies a vital union. ‘We are members of his body.’ Those words imply much more than unity. They imply identity. We are one with Christ! He must have us. The Head cannot be complete without his body. The King must have his subjects. The Shepherd must have his sheep. This is a vital union. Christ must have his redeemed ones. And we must have him.
