Sharing With Christ: March 2023
Table of Contents
Sharing With Christ
It is the character of Christ’s love that all which He takes from the Father in glory and blessing, as man, He shares with us. If I talk of Him even as on the throne, He cannot do without me; He makes me a king too. A man of the world can be generous, but he does not bring another person into his own condition. This is what Christ does. “My peace,” He says, “I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you” (John 14:25). I will give you the very same peace that I have myself. So, too, “the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them” (John 17:22). And not only this, but He gives them His Father’s love: “That the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me” (John 17:23). He puts us into His own place. This is perfect love. He Himself comes, and He has washed us from our sins in His own blood. If He is a King and a Priest, He has made us kings and priests along with Him. It is only when I have the consciousness of being utterly lost and look up to the love that God has shown in the gift of His Son that I can understand it all.
J. N. Darby (adapted)
Together With Christ
How sweet is the meditation on the word “together” found in the sacred pages of Scripture and revealed by the Holy Spirit to our hearts.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in the epistle to the Ephesians of this “togetherness.” We are “quickened...together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 2:5-6).
Thus we are “fitly joined together” and grow “unto a holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit” (Eph. 4:16; 2:21-22).
In addition to being “a holy temple in the Lord,” we are also “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom. 8:17).
There is a beautiful, prophetic promise in Psalm 50:5: “Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Furthermore, our Lord’s sweet promise is, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). Our risen Lord is the object of our worship, the center of our gathering, and the great Master Builder. Through His sacrificial death and resurrection He will gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad (John 11:52).
So we wait for His glorious appearing and the reunion of loved ones gone before when we shall be “caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17; see also Eph. 1:10).
In the light of these precious promises, what a joy it is to be workers together with the Lord, and we are reminded in John 4:36, “Both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.”
“Ye also helping together by prayer for us” (2 Cor. 1:11) so that our “hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love” (Col. 2:2). “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psa. 133:1).
H. Spence, Christian Treasury, Vol. 3
Christ Sharing His Life with Us
Eternal Life
In the Gospel of John we get the eternal life that was with the Father manifested on earth and communicating itself when the Spirit of God enabled the ear to hear the words of the Son and to believe Him that sent Him — that soul thus passing from death to life. But the epistle of John carries on this history and character of eternal life and shows it to us as now dwelling in the saints and to be manifested here in them during the absence of Christ, who is that eternal life. The eternal life in John’s epistle is described as dwelling in the saint, first having been here in Him who is the eternal life.
The Word became flesh and dwelt on earth for 33 years, exhibiting in His walk, ways and words, in His daily history and interaction with man, what this eternal life was. Wherever there was conviction of sin by the Spirit, faith opened the eye to discover virtue in Jesus. Nature saw nothing but the carpenter’s son, but faith’s perceptions could exclaim, “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father” (John 1:14).
As Many as Received Him
“As many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12). We must remember that all things were given to Him of God, yet “no man knoweth the Son, but the Father” (Matt. 11:27). He came down in humanity to reveal God. “No man hath seen God at any time” (John 1:18), yet this Son of God, through His Word, reveals the Father to the humblest believer. And He not only reveals God to us, but brings down in Himself eternal life to as many as receive Him through the Word, so that we are not only born again and become sons, but by this eternal life in us, we have the capacity to know God Himself as the true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
Made Fit for Himself in Glory
But this blessed One, to fit us for this heavenly association with Himself in glory, had to vindicate the claims of God’s righteousness against sin and the evil that Satan had brought in. He had to be made sin, He who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And, taking this place of sin, He had to meet and suffer all God’s righteous wrath against sin, even when He Himself was most obedient in doing the will of God. Still more, He had to go through Satan’s power and his hour of darkness before He could in victory bring us with Himself as brethren to His Father’s house.
We know, when this blessed One came from heaven with the truth and goodness of God for man, how He was despised and rejected. Not a house in Bethlehem was open to Him. This was man’s reception of God! How different God’s reception of man as a sinner! Even the thief was to be with Him that day in Paradise. Those who through grace have let the Savior into their hearts are made sons and left for a while here in that relationship to walk as vessels having in them this eternal life, to shine before men, as sons walking in the obedience of Christ before God. With Christ so dwelling in their hearts, that fruit will be love, not in word but in deed.
God Is the Giver
God is the Giver and Source of this life, but it is in the Son we get the life, and, though there are different degrees of its enjoyment, as in children, young men, and fathers, the character is the same in each — lowliness, love and obedience. It is a beautiful plant, and still more beautiful blossoms come from it. Being of the Father’s planting, it cannot be rooted up.
It is true the Father knows us down here as His children, and we know the very hairs of our head are all numbered. Therefore He bids us, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
All this is most precious and needful to us as we pass through this evil world. It enables us, in the confidence of such care, to cast all our care upon Him, for He cares for us. But the moment we take our place in Christ Jesus before God, in the intelligence of death and resurrection and in the power of the Holy Spirit come down from a glorified Christ, at that moment we get hold of deeper treasures of the Father’s love on which to feed. We are now sons of God, having the same life as His beloved Son. As such, we can enjoy the same things as Christ enjoys—an inestimable privilege!
In Christ Before Him in Love
We find that God’s thoughts about us and His affections towards us are now measured by what is due to the love and obedience of Christ. It is not merely God’s care as Creator and Preserver over His people in mercy, but it is rather as His Son would know such a Father’s love. “As the Father hath loved Me, so I have loved you” (John 15:9). In the purpose of God we are now before Him in Christ in love, for His own complacency and delight in us. We know the love of Christ “that passeth knowledge” and are being filled with all the fullness of God!
Having thus saved us and called us with a holy calling, chosen us in Christ Jesus before the world began, and raised us up together with Christ, He now expects us to be here a manifestation of God through the Holy Spirit. Hereafter in the ages to come He will show forth the riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus, but He leaves us here now, as individuals, to learn lessons of His love and patience with us. He teaches us more of our own hearts and forms our spiritual affections by His Word and Spirit, so that we may be able to enjoy our privileges more fully when we shall be in His presence in that day. He leaves us here in the wilderness as sons, not merely for our own rich and precious privileges as indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but also that we, as the sons of God, “in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation,” may “shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:15). But this dignity belongs only to those who have eternal life and are conscious that they are not of this world, even as He is not of this world — those who have passed in faith with Christ beyond resurrection.
Food for the Flock, Vol. 3 (adapted)
Sharing Glory With Christ
The coming glory of the church is a most important entity that she shares with Christ. The blessed Lord will come for her Himself. His heart is set upon that church which He loved and for which He gave Himself. He is looking forward to presenting her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. In the last chapter of the Revelation, He says three times:
“Behold, I come quickly” (see Rev. 22:7,12,20), to which the faithful reply, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
He will come again for His church; therefore it is written that “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout” (1 Thess. 4:16) and that we shall all be changed — changed in a moment. This is what is coming. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — only think of this — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, and whether we are alive or in the grave (like many who have gone before), we shall all be changed. The Lord is looking forward to this. He says in John 17, “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory” (John 17:24).
The Hope of Departed Ones
Those who have gone before are also looking forward to this. We know their happiness is perfect, as now present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8), but in the condition they are in, they as yet do not have their glorified bodies. They are looking forward for the Lord to come, when their bodies shall be raised and united to their spirits. Then they will have a body capable of entering into the joys of eternal glory, as one with Christ, for they are His own flesh and bone. In the same way, every believer ought to be looking forward to His coming, and we can thank God for the change that has come over many Christians in this respect. Two hundred years ago a man who held the truth of the second coming of the Lord was almost thought to have lost his senses. But now there are thousands who hold steadfastly to this important doctrine as divine truth. I do not doubt that the Lord is quickly coming, and this is why He is waking up His saints to the truth of His coming. Surely, the voice has gone forth, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet Him” (Matt. 25:6). Happy those who are waiting for Him, for it is a most rejoicing, soul-comforting, and purifying truth.
Change and Translation
The first stage, then, so to speak, in the coming glory is this change, and then translation — to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Enoch was translated before the judgments were poured out upon the world, and that is what we are expecting. What will satisfy our hearts? Nothing but seeing Christ, and that is what we shall have. Let us only be patient, and we shall have it before long. In a little while we shall see His face!
You remember how Mephibosheth’s heart was set upon the king, and that during his absence he so deeply sympathized with him in his rejection that he neither dressed his feet nor trimmed his beard (2 Sam. 19:24). When his eyes lighted upon the king himself, he could think of nothing else, and he cared for nothing else. He had David; what more could he wish for? Let Ziba or others have all the land was the utterance of his grateful heart, “forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house” (2 Sam. 19:3).
And the first glance of our eyes on our precious Lord will so fill our souls with joy, that we shall readily exclaim:
Farewell mortality!
Jesus is mine;
Welcome eternity!
Jesus is mine.
Full Possession
Yes, we shall then have full possession of what we have so longed for. Our joy will be perfect, our happiness complete. We shall see that blessed Savior, whom having not seen we love. “In My Father’s house are many mansions [many abodes]; . . . I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).
There are many abodes in heaven, but here is a special place for the church; He is gone to prepare that place, that where He is, there we may be also. We will be there, for His Word is true; His promise is sure; He cannot deny Himself. Then Jesus will have before Him all those who form the body of Christ, the bride of the Lamb, the church of the living God. Yes, He will present her to Himself. His loving heart will then feel: “This is the church that I love; this is the church that I purchased; this is the church that is dearer to my heart than Myself; this is My bride, to whom I am united forever.”
H. H. Snell (adapted)
Christ Sharing His Inheritance With Us
We all like to receive an inheritance, although we are, of course, sad that the one who leaves it to us had to die in order for us to get it. However, most of us who have lived into middle life have learned that receiving an inheritance does not always go smoothly. The world has a saying, “You do not really know someone until you have to share an inheritance with them.” All too often families quarrel with one another as to who should get what, and hard feelings develop when some feel that they were short-changed in what they received. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, a man asked Him to persuade his brother to divide the inheritance with him (Luke 12:13). Also, sometimes there is less of an inheritance than the inheritor thought. I remember when my wife and I were named in a will, but when it came time to distribute the funds, the money that had been allotted to us had been spent by the individual, and there was nothing left (not that it mattered to us, as we were quite surprised even to be named in the will).
The Land Promised to Abraham
We read quite a bit about inheritance in the Word of God, and especially in the Old Testament. Israel was given an earthly inheritance, and much is said about how they possessed it, how the land was divided up, how they failed in living for God’s glory, and how they ultimately lost that inheritance. However, God has not given up His people, and in a coming day we know that He will bring them back into their land, not in unbelief, as they are doing today, but with a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek. 36:26). At that time, they will have the full inheritance that God promised to Abraham, and not merely part of it, as they had in the Old Testament. It will be a wonderful day for Israel when this happens and when God’s blessing will rest upon them during the millennium.
However, even in that wonderful day, they will not, in that sense, share the inheritance with Christ. Yes, the land is the Lord’s, and they will receive it from His hand in that day, but they will not share the inheritance in the same way as the church. We will speak more of this later, but for the moment let us look a little at what man has thought to do with Christ’s inheritance. In Matthew 21:33-44, Mark 7:1-11, and Luke 20:9-18, we have repeated three times over the parable concerning the vineyard that was let out to husbandmen. Clearly the owner of the vineyard is God the Father, and after sending out his servants a number of times to receive fruit from the vineyard, he finally sent his beloved son, who is obviously a type of the Lord Jesus. In all three cases the wicked servants said among themselves, “This is the heir: come, let us kill Him, that the inheritance may be ours.” With Satan’s power behind him, man has usurped God’s claim to this world and has disposed of it as if it were his own. But it is part of Christ’s inheritance, and one day the usurper will be taken away and Christ will be given His rightful place.
The “Master Usurper”
I say the usurper will be taken away, for while man has indeed tried to take the inheritance that belongs to Christ, Satan has been the “master usurper.” In the temptations in the wilderness, the Lord Jesus faced Satan on this very subject, and Satan dared to tempt the Lord Jesus by showing Him “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time” (Luke 4:5). Then he said, “All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it” (vs. 6). His offer was, “If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine” (vs. 7). This approach had worked to some extent with every other human being since sin entered this world, for sinful man responds to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. But here was One who did not have a sinful nature to respond to such temptations and who recognized the usurper when He saw him. Satan may use small things to tempt man, but if necessary can “up the ante” to all the kingdoms of this world, in order to manipulate sinful man. It is instructive that the Lord Jesus did not argue with Satan’s claim to the kingdoms of this world, for He was content to wait until the Father gave them to Him.
Further on in the New Testament we get the inheritance mentioned in connection with Christ and our part in it. Paul could commend the Ephesian saints “to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able ... to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). Later, while standing before some Roman dignitaries, Paul told them how that he had been commissioned to tell the Gentiles, among other things, about the “inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me” (Acts 26:18).
The Inheritance Promised in the New Testament
What then is this inheritance of which Paul speaks? It is given to us in Revelation 21:7: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.” The inheritance that Christ will have is not only this world, but all created things, for God has given everything into the hand of His beloved Son. But the wonderful thing is that He is going to share it all with us. The hymn expresses it well:
That love that gives, not as the world, but shares
All it possesses with its loved co-heirs.
Aspects of the Promised Inheritance
There are several things that Scripture brings before us about this wonderful inheritance. First of all, we are predestinated to it. The earthly inheritance for the nation of Israel and others with them is “from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34), but those who will be part of the church were “chosen ... in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). We “have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph. 1:11).
Second, we have received the Holy Spirit as “the earnest of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14), and thus we have the complete assurance that God will fulfill His promise of giving us, with Christ, this inheritance.
Third, it is considered part of our reward, for we shall “receive the reward of the inheritance” (Col. 3:24). This was, no doubt, a special encouragement to slaves, who were told that even in their work for their masters, they served “the Lord Christ.”
Finally, we are reminded in Hebrews 9:15 that we receive the “promise of eternal inheritance.” Israel’s inheritance in the Old Testament was never spoken of as being eternal, and we know that through disobedience they lost that inheritance, at least temporarily. But we have an eternal inheritance, and we can never lose it.
In summing up, while we may dwell on various aspects of our inheritance, and rightfully so, yet the most wonderful aspect of it is that our Lord and Savior inherits it all, yet shares it all with us, as His bride. We have no claim on that inheritance in our own right, but our blessed Savior, who loves us and died for us, has secured it for us and is pleased to share it all with us. All heavenly and earthly creation is to be put under Christ and under those who are united to Him. Do we realize this and live in the joy and anticipation of it? Yet there is something even more precious in it all, as another has said, “Even more blessed than coming glory will be the celebration of the grace that brought us there.”
W. J. Prost
Sharing the Father's House With Christ
Beginning in John 14, the Lord is leading His disciples away from earth to associate their minds with Himself up in heaven; all that He was is borne witness to, in spite of His rejection as Son of God, Son of David, and Son of Man. The Greeks come up to worship Him; then He states, If I am to take this place, I must die. His having part with men, as men on earth, is all over; all have turned against and rejected Him. Now, instead of bringing blessing down to them, He is taking them up there. The key to it all is, “Part with Me” (John 13:8). Therefore, He says, as it were, “I have brought you by redemption into the same place as I am Myself. He is your God as He is Mine, your Father as He is Mine. I am not going to be alone in the Father’s house.”
The Children at Home
He knew where He was taking them, and what He is putting before their hearts had this specific character that it was where the children were at home. He had brought them into the place of children, and when the time came, He would take them to their Father’s house. That, He says, is where I am, and where I, as Son, find My joy, rest, blessedness and glory, and that is where you shall find it too. Your portion is with Me in My Father’s house.
Whatever blessedness He has gone to, He will in deepest personal interest come to fetch us there. After His Father, His redeemed ones are everything to Him. He will come and meet them and bring them up to Himself in His Father’s house. This is the basis of all His teaching here. Are we living in these things now before we are really there?
With the world as it is, He has made a total breach. When the world entirely rejected Him, He went up to sit at God’s right hand. The Accepted of the Father is the Rejected of the world; the world sees Him no more; it is all over with the world. But we are to be in the glory, conformed to the image of the Son, that He may be the firstborn among many brethren.
The Object Before Us
Then we see how we are to realize this now. First, it is the object before us; second, what I know of the place, and how I know the place. If I have found the Father in Christ, I feel the blessedness of being with the Father and the Son. In Christ we get the revelation of the Father and what brings us to the Father: “I am the way.” If, in coming to Him, I have found the way to the Father, I have found the way as well as the place and know the blessedness of the Father’s house, because I know that is the center of it all. I am in the consciousness of the love and divine favor that put me in this place, and I am able to cry, “Abba, Father.”
How can I see this and know it? In Christ. When the heart gets hold of this, it has the spring of all the blessedness which we shall have when Christ comes to take us up there, and the spirit enjoys it now because it is all for us as a present thing. We shall not get anything there that is not revealed to us now as our portion while we are on earth. We have not seen the glory yet. We get the work of Christ as our title, and the Father’s love to enjoy. We do not apprehend it all, but it is a blessed thing to be able to say, I have got Christ’s own thought of the blessedness of heaven, what His joy was in thinking of the Father’s house. We have got that now. What a settled quietness of spirit it gives! What confidingness of heart in Him! I have got into that place by what I have seen in Christ. He is the way; I have found the Father in Christ.
Another Comforter
Now when He has set an object before our hearts, He insists upon the second part, “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter.” He desires for us that we should have the power and the truth of a present Holy Spirit as that by which we apprehend these things. The Holy Spirit is known only by being in us. Christ ought to have been known by all, but of the Holy Spirit the Lord says, “It [the world] seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him” (vs. 17). The world ought to see the fruits of the Spirit in works and power, but He is known only where He dwells. The Lord says He will abide with you; He will not go away like Me. You shall not be comfortless; you shall see Me. He will make you conscious that you live by Me. I have got everything that is in heaven; I, a poor vessel, cleansed by blood, and inasmuch cleansed, fit for God. God comes down and dwells in the vessel. I have got Christ back, not palpably now, but I know that I am not left comfortless. I know it is to hear His voice, to hear the testimony of the Spirit who is present with me. I have rest in Him — His peace.
And mark what flows from this presence of the Comforter. “Ye see Me,” and “because I live, ye shall live also.” It is the life that has overcome death; He has been down under death for us, and if He lives as triumphant over all, I live too. We are blessed to have it from, with, and in the Lord Jesus Christ. How anxious He is to make us happy! Do you know how to walk in it, to live in it? It is not by the sight of the eyes, but what is unseen and eternal, in the knowledge of the Father and the Son. The consciousness of belonging to these things makes us heavenly in walk and ways.
The Attentive Ear
Can a child be in the house and not know his father’s wishes? If he can, he must be a very inattentive child. If you are living in the relationship of a child, you must be in the power of what the Father likes. The soul must be attentive to Christ’s wishes. Christ said, “He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as the learned” (Isa. 50:4). If we were walking like Christ, with our ear opened as attentive children, we should understand what His wishes are; we should learn them and answer to them. He delights in making us know His will. Here it is not that sovereign grace and love which gave His Son for me when I was a sinner, but it is the Father dealing with the children according to the children’s walk. It is the manifestation of Christ’s life and ways; it is all very feeble in us, but the Lord’s heart is always true. What an anticipation of heaven it is — walking with the Father and the Son! The Lord seeks to strengthen and encourage us in the path of obedience, and until the time comes for us to abide with Him, He will come and abide with us, if we walk in it. What He gives us here is His peace, while putting us in His own place in that uninterrupted fellowship with His Father.
May the Lord give His people thorough self-judgment in the thorough consciousness of what we are, as set aside before God in the cross, and the consciousness of the place God has set us in Christ. May we walk in peace and confidence of heart as His children and in the quiet lowliness which Christ did in passing through the world.
J. N. Darby (adapted)
Sharing Love and Sharing Hatred With Christ
In John 15:1-17, the Lord presents to us the new Christian company, not indeed in its formation or administration (for this the time had not yet come), but in its moral marks and spiritual privileges. It is seen as a company governed by the love of Christ and, abiding in His love, bound together by love to one another. In the words that follow (vs. 18 and onwards), the Lord passes in thought outside the Christian circle of love to speak of the world circle of hate, thus warning His disciples of the true character of the world, by which they will be surrounded, and preparing them for its persecution.
Sharing With Christ
If we share with Christ the love, joy and holy intimacies of the inside circle, we must also be prepared to share with Christ in His hatred and reproach from the world. There is no suggestion that the disciples should attempt to make the best of two worlds, as men speak. It must be Christ or the world; it cannot be Christ and the world. A company that in any way exhibits the graces of Christ would be recognized by the world as identified with Christ, and the hatred which the world had expressed to Christ would be shown to His people. His hatred and His persecution would be theirs.
The world is a vast system embracing every race, class and false religion, having in common their hatred of God. The world by which the disciples were immediately surrounded was the world of corrupt Judaism. Today the world with which believers are mainly in contact is the world of corrupt Christendom. Its outward form may change from age to age, but at heart it is ever marked by alienation from God and hatred to Christ.
Hated by the World
Why should these simple men be hated by the world? Were they not mainly a company of poor people who loved one another, who lived in an orderly way, being subject to the government, without interfering with their politics? Did they not go about proclaiming good news and doing good deeds? Why should such be hated?
The Lord gives two reasons for this hatred. First, they were a company of people that Christ had chosen out of the world (vs. 19). Second, they were a company of people who confessed the name of Christ before the world (vs. 21). The first cause would more particularly call forth the hatred of the religious world; the second, the hatred of the world in general. Through all time nothing has so enraged religious man as the sovereign grace that, passing by all man’s religious efforts, picks up and blesses the outcast and the wretched. The very mention of the grace of God that blessed a Gentile widow and a Gentile leper led the religious leaders of Nazareth to rise up in wrath and hatred against Christ. The sovereign grace that blesses the younger son enrages the elder son (Luke 15).
Persecuted
Further, the disciples are warned that this hatred will show itself in persecution. “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” This active expression of hatred is more directly connected with the confession of the name of Christ, for the Lord can say, “All these things will they do unto you for My name’s sake.” The persecution, whether of Christ or His disciples, proved they had no knowledge of the One that sent Christ — the Father.
There is, however, no excuse for such ignorance. The Lord’s words and the Lord’s works left the world without excuse either for hatred or ignorance. If Christ had not come and spoken unto the world words such as never man had spoken, if He had not done among them works which none other man had done, they could not have been reproached with the sin of willful enmity against Christ and the Father. They would still have been fallen creatures, but it would hardly have been demonstrated that they were willful and God-hating creatures. But now there was no cloak for their sin. There was no hiding the fact of the world’s guilt: It had come out. Christ had fully revealed—by His words and works — all the Father’s heart. It only brought out man’s hatred of God. The world as such was left without hope, for, according to their own law, they hated Christ without a cause. Thus the world’s hatred is no longer ignorance: It is sin. It is a causeless hatred. Alas! we, even as Christians, may at times give the world cause for hatred, but in Christ there was no cause. There is, indeed, a cause for the hatred, but it lies not in the One that is hated, but in the hearts of those who hate. His own will share that hatred, if they are faithful to Him.
H. Smith (adapted)
Sharing God's Hatred of Sin
In the last verse of 1 John 2, the subject of our righteousness is introduced. We have seen that God is righteous in 1 John 1:9. What a wonderful truth it is that God is there declared faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from every unrighteousness! God is able to act not merely graciously in our favor when we do not deserve it, but righteously to forgive that which is so offensive to Him as sins. It is true that when born of God we too avoid sins; we have learned to condemn sin itself and ourselves for having been guilty of sins. Is it not verified in the believer from his first turning to God? He abhors himself and his sins as before Him. When the work of the Lord Jesus is received in the Spirit’s power as well as His person, then even the young believer sees things clearly, as they are in the sight of God. He begins to know not only things in God’s sight, but God Himself in His feeling of perfect love towards those that are His.
Righteousness—New Birth
Here, however, our righteousness is asserted as inseparable from our new birth. This often alarms anyone immature in faith, because he at once naturally turns to look within. But what we have to do is to rest on Christ, who is made to us righteousness. There is no object of faith in looking at ourselves; it brings only experience of our utter weakness. Only when Christ fills the spiritual eye is His strength made perfect in our weakness. Then indeed practical righteousness follows.
Although in the last verse he had introduced righteousness, the writer (John) immediately seems to turn away from it in the opening verses of chapter 3, where he suddenly bursts out into those wonderful words: “See what manner of love the Father hath given to us.” Thus he takes in the Father’s present love and the future glory in the same surpassing favor to the children of God in being like Christ, “because we shall see Him as He is. And every one that hath this hope in Him [Christ, founded on Him] purifieth himself, even as He [Christ] is pure.” Christ being the standard, and He being absolutely pure, makes the Christian feel that he must purify himself from all that is unworthy of Him. Needless to say that when we look into daily conversation, there is often failure. But John is not occupied with the shortcoming as a general rule, but with the principle, and therefore he puts it in all its simplicity, in the abstract.
Hatred of Sin
The believer is righteous as being born of God, and consequently shares with Christ God’s hatred of sin, for doing follows being. And everyone that does righteousness is born of God, and thus knows that he has nearness of relationship from being the object of the Father’s love. Thus the nature and the relationship join hands and go together, and this is what the apostle here explains to us.
“Whosoever doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (vs. 4). “Doing sin” here means both the principle of the man and his practice too, for this is exactly what the natural man does in God’s sight. Man’s place is in the dust as a sinner, for his sin is lawlessness — the principle of self-will and of total independence of God.
Sin is Lawlessness
“Whosoever doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness?” Sin is not breach of law but lawlessness; this is the true sense. No other rendering is possible legitimately. Making the law instead of Christ the rule of life for the Christian is a mistake. “And ye know that He was manifested that He might take away our sins; and in Him is no sin” (1 John 3:5). The apostle introduces at once the exact opposite. Where shall we look for one utterly free from lawlessness? There was but One, and He so evident that it was needless to name Him. Yes, we know that the Lord Jesus was manifested to take away our sins. How suited to a divine person, but withal truly man! He indeed abhorred sin, and, as is said immediately after His work, “In Him is no sin.” It is not only “was” before His advent, and “will be” now that He is risen, but “in Him is no sin.” It is an absolute truth. As it never was at any time, so it never could be. Yet the sinless One was just the One whom God made sin, that we who were indeed sinners might become God’s righteousness in Him. The one refers to the unique act and aim of His atoning death; the other refers to the immutable and holy character of His life, so peculiarly displayed and tested particularly in this world. There it was manifest to every eye, unless they were blind or saw crooked.
No Other Remedy
“Every one that abideth in Him sinneth not” (1 John 3:6). There is no other remedy against sin than abiding in Him, constantly dependent and confiding. The guard or preservative is not in that one has called on the name of the Lord. This is excellent to begin with, but many that today say “Lord, Lord,’’ will be ignored in that day. To abide in Christ is the test of living faith in Christ, which is not empty or vain, but rather works by love, as the law-affecting Galatians were told. Nor could it be otherwise. “I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me; but in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20 JND). He is not ashamed to call us brethren; He has proved His love for us to the uttermost. Neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit ever became incarnate to display absolute obedience in life, and in death to endure the judgment of our sins at God’s hand. He did. Therein is for us a motive of exceeding power, particularly as there is a righteous nature communicated, as well as a relationship of such nearness to God, as only the supreme love of the Father could conceive of and confer.
W. Kelly (adapted)
Heirs, Sufferers and Glorified With Christ
“Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom. 8:15-17).
Our association with Christ is particularly mentioned: “If children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs,” or “co-heirs,” with Christ; if so be that we suffer with or “co-suffer” with Him, that we may be also glorified together, or “co-glorified.” Three things are brought out: (1) our possession, “co-heirs”; (2) our privilege, “co-sufferers”; (3) our prospect, “co-glorified ones.”
An Inheritance
That an inheritance is ours, inalienable and secure, we know — “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). That suffering of one kind or another, as our present portion in this world, is what we may look for; this we accept, or soon learn by experience. Yes, and “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12). Then, beyond all that, glorification is our prospect according to the purpose of God, for “whom He justified them He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). It may be noticed how all flows from relationship — “if children, then heirs.” The birth-right and the birth-tie go together. We are children of God, here and now. The significance of that truth — relationship with God and the importance of realizing the true nature of the spiritual birth-tie—it seems impossible to overemphasize.
Adoption
This is a new relationship with God into which believers are admitted. It is built upon another plane and of an entirely different nature from any previously enjoyed by man. The link is formed through our being born again spiritually, born of God, through our having eternal life in Him and God’s sending forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father.” As here in Romans 8, where we have the owning (vs. 14), adoption (vs. 23), and manifestation (vs. 19) spoken of in connection with the position of being “sons of God,” the birth-tie itself comes immediately into evidence: “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Heirship, then, we find here connected with our relation to God as His children.
Sonship
Galatians connects it with sonship (Gal. 4:7). They do not differ essentially, although they are to be distinguished materially, “children” and “sons.” He is a child of God who, receiving Christ and believing on His name, is “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). They are all sons of God who have “faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). If the one speaks of the tie or bond of relationship which constitutionally pervades the family of God, the other sets forth the place and position, albeit responsibility also, characterizing those who under the Christian economy are so related. What our passage then shows is that our heirship does not merely attach to sonship (with all the wealth of privilege and place implied in the term), but that such is involved in the birth-tie itself — “if children, then heirs.” Are we not therefore doubly secured in our heritage, by right and by title through the grace of God?
Joint-Partakers
“Heirs of God!” What a portion is ours! No mere legacy from one whom death relieves. Nor is it merely as the “inheritance of the saints in light” that it may be characterized. We are joint-heirs, co-heirs with Christ. It is not a legacy bequeathed, as has been said, but rather a partnership of blessing we are brought into. We are to be joint-partakers with Christ, as Ephesians 1 shows us, in that which is to result from the fulfillment of the purpose of God.
J. T. (adapted)
A Suited Companion to Share With Christ
In the church there will be found a companion suited to share with Christ the coming glories of His reign. All that the Bridegroom inherits the bride will inherit. As she is the sharer of His sufferings in the day of His rejection, she will be the sharer of His throne in the day of His glory. When Christ reigns over the wide earth, she will reign with Him.
H. Smith
Sharing With Christ the Father's Presence
Christianity in truth begins with the possession of eternal life, and this life is in the Son: “the end” is also eternal life, but all is “the gift of God.” We have eternal life while we are going on “in hope of eternal life.” We find redemption also presented to us in Scripture in the same way. We have redemption now, and are waiting for redemption. Of the believer it is said, “In whom [Christ] we have redemption through His blood,” and yet we are waiting for “the redemption of our body” (Eph. 1:7; Rom. 8:23). The same may be noticed as to salvation; we are saved, and yet we look forward to salvation. We receive “the end” of our “faith,” even the salvation of our “souls” (1 Pet. 1:9), and yet “we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5:9). The same inspired writer that says, “who hath saved us,” also says, “We look for the Savior” (Phil. 3:20) “Who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to His body of glory” (Phil. 3:21 JnD). This change and translation we are elsewhere told will take place when the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Then, having eternal life in all its glorious issues, we share with Christ the Father’s presence in the Father’s house, in all the unutterable blessedness of eternal glory.
Christian Truth, Vol. 13
Sharing With Christ Victory Over Death and the World
First John 5:5 is a glorious truth! It is by dependence we get the victory — by dependence on Jesus. There are two victories in which I have a share — one in communion, the other in power. I share with Christ the victory over the world, and the victory over death. “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54). But when we come to the victory over judgment, we must stand aside and receive it at Christ’s hands. Had you anything to say to the putting away of sin? You know you had not; you are a debtor. Stand by, gaze and worship at what Christ has done. And now you are called to victory. You must be made a fool of, but you carry the power of God. You possess that which is victory over the world! Ah! we want large thoughts. God’s thoughts are very large, though He confines them within the nutshell of a single text. Large they are and abundant.
Words of Truth, Vol. N1
His Life Is My Life
When. I, too, turn my eyes to Jesus, when I contemplate all His obedience, His purity, His grace, His tenderness, His patience, His devotedness, His holiness, His love, His entire freedom from all self-seeking, I can say, that is my life.
This is immeasurable grace. It may be that it is obscured in me; but it is none the less true, that that is my life. Oh, how do I enjoy it thus seen! How I bless God for it! What rest to the soul! What pure joy to the heart! At the same time Jesus Himself is the object of my affections; and all my affections are formed on that holy object.
J. N. Darby
Sharing in His Sorrows
“O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39).
If you go through the world as a child of God and mark the sorrows of Christ with the thought of sharing them in some small measure, you will see if they do not in this aspect also become very precious to you, showing that what His life was down here, and what yours is to be. Are we to expect better fare, a smoother path, than our blessed Lord? If the thousandth part of His sorrows came on one of us, we could not bear it — it would destroy us — but we can, in our little measure, follow after and taste of His cup of sorrow.
G. V. Wigram
All of One
“For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:11). Christ, and those set apart for God by the Spirit, are all one company, in the same position before God. It is not one and the same with the Father; nor is the meaning exactly that He and others were of the same nature as mere children of Adam. It is only the sanctified, the children whom God has given Him, that He calls His brethren. If it were simply a question of humanity, He shares it, of course, with all mankind, though not in the same state as any other, whether saint or sinner. The meaning stands out clearly; He and the sanctified are all in the same human nature, as it is before God — a position taken in resurrection. Then only it can be said of them as in Psalm. 22, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.”
Bible Treasury, Vol. 3
Christ Sharing What He Won
From the palace of His glory,
From the home of joy and love,
Came the Lord Himself to seek us;
He would have us there above.
And in past and distant ages,
In those courts so bright and fair,
Ere we were, was He rejoicing,
All He won with us to share.
Bevan, Little Flock Hymnbook 93
Sharing In His Cross of Rejection
What a day will that be when the Saviour appears!
How welcome to those who have shared in His cross!
A crown incorruptible then will be theirs,
A rich compensation for suffering and loss.
T. Kelly, Little Flock Hymnbook 168.
Sharing His Joys
Oh, what a home! The Son who knows,
He only — all His love;
And brings us as His well-beloved
To that bright rest above;
Dwells in His bosom — knoweth all
That in that bosom lies,
And came to earth to make it known,
That we might share His joys.
Mrs. J. A. Trench, Little Flock Hymnbook, #127