The other means of grace highlight our union with Christ too. Think of the Lord’s Supper. There, Paul tells us that when we drink the cup at the Lord’s table, we participate in the blood of Christ. And the bread that we break—it is a participation in the body of Christ. That’s union with each other, and with Christ himself. As we drink the wine and eat the bread, Jesus himself says: “whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” So we are united with Jesus as we enjoy the Lord’s Supper together. That we are one body is emphasised by the fact that we form one loaf—as a church, together.
And then, we’ve seen how the preaching of the word emphasises our union with Christ—in all the references I’ve given you from the Scriptures about union with Christ. But there’s something that happens when the word is actually preached and read and prayed and sung. It is by the word that we are born again and united with Christ. We trust in Jesus through his word. We are bound with him in marriage through his word. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. It is in him that we hear the word of truth. And we believe in him, and are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. When we hear preaching, when we hear the reading of the word in church, when we sing together as a church, when we pray—our union with Christ is expressed, strengthened and celebrated.
