More literal than we realize

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. - 2nd Corinthians 5:17

The Bible takes our bodily connection to Christ¹ more literally than we realize. The biblical position is that what you do, Christ is doing.²

This may be hard to grasp when we only see ourselves in the mirror, but we've had something similar in our business community for years - its called a corporation. In a corporation the activity of the President, factory worker, and everyone in between is all viewed as the activity of that corporation, and the corporation bears the liability.

Like a corporation, when we give our lives to Christ we are viewed as one with him and our actions reflect upon the whole, not just ourselves. To this new "corporation-like" creation both Jesus and we have contributed all we had and what we now have is shared by both. I contributed my body and my sins, he contributed his body, his payment for sin, his grace, his love, his mercy.

Now, in a very real sense, when I go to work it is the new creation sitting in the chair typing on the keyboard. When I go to prayer, it is me and Jesus as a unit standing before God with all debts paid. When I misbehave, it is both Jesus and I who bare the liability in the eyes of the world.

Unlike a corporation, he actually begins to move on us physically, mentally, and spiritually to actually become more like him.

We need to adopt the viewpoint God has already ascribed to us, it will help us understand God's word and help us cooperate better with what he is doing with us.

- fritz


^{1 - Related Post: July 18, 2010 "Members of His Body"
2 - 1st Corinthians 5:16}