The believers are joined to God the Son by having the Son revealed in them (Gal. 1:16a). The Son of God as the embodiment and expression of God the Father (John 1:18; 14:9-11; Heb. 1:3) is life to us (John 10:10; 1 John 5:12; Col. 3:4). God’s heart’s desire is to reveal His Son in us that we may know Him, receive Him as our life (John 17:3; 3:16), and become the sons of God (John 1:12; Gal. 4:5-6).
In Galatians 1:15a and 16a Paul says that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. This indicates that to reveal the Son of God brings pleasure to God. Nothing is more pleasing to God than the unveiling, the revelation, of the living person of the Son of God.
It is significant that in Galatians 1:15 and 16 Paul does not say that God revealed Christ in him, but says that He revealed His Son in him. Speaking of Christ does not lead to the same kind of involvement as does speaking of the Son. The reason for this difference is that whenever we speak of the Son of God, we are immediately involved with the Father and the Spirit. According to the writings of Paul, to have the Son is to have both the Father and the Spirit. The Son is the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the Spirit for our enjoyment. Hence, when Paul says that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him, this means that the One revealed in him was the embodiment of the Triune God realized as the processed all-inclusive Spirit. Such a wonderful One has also been revealed in us that we may be joined to Him.
The believers are joined to God the Son also by being baptized into Him. Galatians 3:27a and Romans 6:3a tell us that we have been baptized into Christ. To be baptized into Christ equals to be baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit because the very Christ into whom we have been baptized is the embodiment of the Triune God. By being baptized into Christ we enter into an organic union with Him and thereby are joined to Him.
As those who have been baptized into Christ, we have put on Christ. Galatians 3:27 says, “As many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” To put on Christ is to be clothed with Him. In baptism we were immersed into Christ and put on Christ. On the one hand, Christ has been revealed in us; on the other hand, Christ has been put upon us. Hence, we have Christ both within and without. He is our center and also our circumference, our inside as well as our outside. Christ is our inward content and also our outward expression.
Speaking of God, 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus.” God has put us into Christ, and now we are in Him. Formerly, we were in Adam, but we have been transferred out of Adam and into Christ. This is not an outward transfer; it is an inward transfer of life. In life we have been transferred from one realm into another, from Adam into Christ. Now we can declare boldly that we are in Christ.
Being in Christ is a tremendous matter. Far from being a mere doctrine, this is a marvelous fact. We are in Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of the processed Triune God. How marvelous it is that we are in Him!
What we believers, as the new creation, are and have in Christ is of God, not of ourselves. It is God who put us in Christ, transferring us from Adam into Christ. It is God who has made Christ wisdom to us. God has transferred us out of Adam into Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) through Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection (Gal. 2:20) and by our believing and being baptized (John 3:15; Gal. 3:26-28).
Furthermore, the believers are joined to God the Son by being identified with Him. We are identified with Christ in His death, burial, being made alive, resurrection, and ascension.
Romans 6:3b tells us that we have been baptized into Christ’s death. Then Romans 6:6a goes on to say, “Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him.” Galatians 2:20a says that we have been crucified with Christ, and Colossians 2:20a, that we have died with Him. Because we are in Christ, whatever He has passed through is our history. He has been crucified, and His crucifixion is ours. This is a glorious fact that we need to see. We should pray that the Lord will give us a clear vision of the glorious fact that we are in Christ and that we have been crucified with Him. Such a vision is basic to our knowing. God has accomplished the glorious fact of putting us into Christ, and we are identified with Him in His death. What Paul means by “knowing this” in Romans 6:6 is actually the seeing of a fact in a spiritual vision. Therefore, we should pray that the Lord will deliver us from contentment with a mere doctrinal understanding of our identification with Christ in His death and grant us a clear vision of this fact in our spirit.