MEDITATION XXII.
MEDITATION XXII.
THE UNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND BELIEVERS.
Spithead, May 14, 1758.
There is an union between Christ and believers, that every metaphor falls short of. No relation so near as Jesus. The friend may prove false, the brother betray the brother, parents cast off the relation, and husband and wife be separated. Three strong figures hold forth this union, that of the tree and his branches; the head and his members; and eating the flesh, and drinking the blood of the Son of God. Now, what we eat and drink mixes with the mass of blood, and is so intimately assimilated with the fluids, that no power can separate it again; so, when by faith I receive the Son of God, and eat his flesh, and drink his blood, my soul partakes of the divine nature, until every power is holy, every affection heavenly, and until the life of Christ is made manifest in my body.
After this union, the soul and Christ cannot be separated; death may send the soul out of the body—but cannot send Christ out of the soul. And hereupon follows a commonness of interest. Christ renews the will, sanctifies the affections, enlightens the understanding, and claims the whole soul for his temple; yes more, he showers down his mercies, numbers his crosses, weighs his afflictions, wherewith he himself is also afflicted; and bears his sorrows. And all of Christ is the soul's; his righteousness, his love, his joy, his pardon, his mercy, kindness, and compassion; his protection, direction, and conduct; his favor, his power, and sympathy, his light, his glory, his crown, his throne, his felicity, and his eternity in life. Thus the soul lives in Christ, and he in the soul. Their life is divinely interwoven; "you in me, and I in you." Hence, because he lives, they shall live also. Husband and wife must lose their relation by death; the branches may be cut off from the root, and the head, that sympathizes with all, may lose some of its members. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit, and a spirit can never be divided.
This mysterious union is bliss begun on earth, and heavenly felicity tasted below, and shall be the eternal admiration of angels, the envy of devils and damned spirits, and the wonder of all heaven.