SS Lesson 12 for December 20, 2008United to Christ

Let us review some quotations on what united means

United we stand; divided we fall. Aesop quotesWhere there is unity there is always victory. Publilius Syrus

When you make the sacrifice in marriage, you're sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship. Joseph Campbell

Build for your team a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another and of strength to be derived by unity.” Vince Lombardi

So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth. Baha'u'llahThe multitude which is not brought to act as a unity, is confusion. That unity which

has not its origin in the multitude is tyranny. Blaise Pascal Unity is the secret of progress, and service is the means to promote it. ”Sri Sathya

Sai Bab “When we are not honest, we are cut off from a significant resource of ourselves, a

vital dimension that is necessary for unity and wholeness . Clark Moustakas The men who have guided the destiny of the United States have found the strength for their tasks by going to their knees. This private unity of public men and their God is an enduring source of reassurance for the people of America. Lyndon B. Johnson

“Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking. Mahatma Gandhi

If we divine a discrepancy between a man's words and his character, the whole impression of him becomes broken and painful; he revolts the imagination by his lack of unity, and even the good in him is hardly accepted. Charles Horton Cooley

The essence of the beautiful is unity in variety William Somerset Maugham In union there is strength. Aesop

Men's hearts ought not to be set against one another, but set with one another, and all against evil only. Thomas Thomas

We come to reason, not to dominate. We do not seek to have our way, but to find a common way. Lyndon Johnson

For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack. Rudyard Kipling

A house divided against itself cannot stand. Abraham LincolnThe multitude which is not brought to act as a unity, is confusion. That unity which

has not its origin in the multitude is tyranny. Blaise PascalWe were two and had but one heart between us. Francois Villon

There is strength in unity. German Proverb

In Christ we are new creations. MV

Memory Text: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Jesus died as our substitute. Thus, we become united to Him. In this unity, we not only appropriate all the infinite benefits of His sacrifice but also become members of the new humanity instituted by Him in His own person. This union with Christ is, through the work of the Spirit, embodied in our incorporation into the church as the body of Christ. Thus, to be incorporated into Christ is to have a 1) personal communion with Him and 2) to be united to one another in the mystery of His church.In an individual there are two humanities---Sunday, The Two Humanities

ADAM CHRIST

1. Son of God 1. Son of God

2. Was disobedient 2. Was obedient

3. Introduced sin 3. Brought grace for all

4. Introduced reign of death 4. Made possible the reign of life

5. All his descendants are sinners 5. Through Him many will be made righteous

6. Brought condemnation 6. Brought justification

7. In him all die 7. In Him all will be made alive

Sunday The Two Humanities

This is the summary of the nature of humanity made sinful by Adam and the new humanity made by Christ:

The fall of Adam resulted in his spiritual death and separation

from God. All of his descendants found themselves in the same

situation as Adam, unable to overcome sin and death. Humans

are, by natural birth, part of the humanity that belongs to Adam, a

sinful humanity separated from God.

How then does one become part of the new humanity instituted by

God through Christ? There’s only one way, and that is through the

new birth.

The new humanity is formed by those who were born from above and not from the flesh. These are those who saw in Christ God’s only means of salvation, believed in Him, and now have eternal life. They now belong to the new creation, liberated from the enslaving power of sin. They have become children of God, members of the heavenly family. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:16). It beareth witness that all things are made new—Monday, Making All Things New: A New Humanity

Monday Making All Things New: A New Humanity

The work of redemption begins with the creation of a new humanity. We must remember that the problem

of sin is primarily and directly related to the fall of humans. The resolution of the problem begins with

the eradication of its controlling power in the human heart. This has been possible through the work of Christ for us. This new humanity was initiated by Christ.. The new humanity is, the participation of

humans in the humanity inaugurated by Christ

This new humanity is not an invisible abstract phenomenon that lacks a concrete expression in history. It expresses itself

in the church as the body of Christ. This new humanity is determined not by ethnic or social differences but only by

the power of Christ to make us one in Him.

Tuesday Union With Christ

Our incorporation by faith into Christ expresses itself in baptism. The importance of this rite is vast. First, it is a public declaration that the death of Christ was our death and that through His resurrection we are part of a new creation, a new humanity. Second, we did not die “in Christ,” but we were “baptized into his death.” Through baptism we joined Him in His sacrificial death, thus establishing a permanent relationship with Him. Third, the phrase “baptized into Christ” is interpreted by Paul to mean that we died “with Christ” and that we were made alive “with Christ.”

This is participatory language, indicating that our death to sin and

our new life takes place only and exclusively in union with Christ and

never apart from Him. Romans 6:3-6 Or do you not know

that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were

baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through

baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His

death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of

sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of

sin.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new

Wednesday “In Christ”

Let us review some “In Christ” verses.Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 2 Corinthians 5:19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal

life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another,

tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God

in Christ forgave you.

2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God who

always leads us in triumph in Christ, and

through us diffuses the fragrance of His

knowledge in every place.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

Now what does Jesus Christ have to do with The Spirit and the Church—Thursday, In Christ: The Spirit and the Church.

Thursday In Christ: The Spirit and the

Church The Holy Spirit, which

proceeds from the only-begotten Son of God, binds the human agent, body, soul, and spirit, to the perfect, divine-human nature of Christ. This union is represented by the

union of the vine and the branches. Finite man is united

to the manhood of Christ. Through faith human nature is

assimilated with Christ's nature. We are made one with

God in Christ. 1SM 251.1

Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. Romans 8:10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

1 Corinthians 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

God’s atonement for us is universal. Next week’s lesson 13 is entitled:

Atonement and Universal Harmony. We are His

people and He is our God.

The memory verse is found in Revelation 21:3,4

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ ”

Happy will be that day!!