PARTAKERS OF CHRIST! -- Monday:
"For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." (Heb 3:14)
This affirmation is wonderful! You can read it with differing emphases, all of which are unusually powerful. Read it as something intensely personal. "WE are made partakers of Christ!" Read it as something God has accomplished in us. "We are MADE partakers of Christ!" Read it as something in which we participate. "We are made PARTAKERS of Christ!" Read is as the ultimate possession. "We are made partakers of CHRIST!" Here is a revelation rich with blessing, and laden with benefits. It is not the statement of a desire, but of an accomplishment. It is not something that will begin in the future, but something we presently enjoy. It is not for the spiritually elite, but for all who are justified.
The NIV translates the key phrase, "For we have come to share in Christ." What a blessed contemplation. We "share" Him experientially and judicially. Experientially, it is known, bringing personal joy, empowerment, and satisfaction. Judicially, it is thoroughly legal, or right, and honored in heaven. No adversarial power in earth or hell can negate this truth, take it from those who believe it, or neutralize its effectiveness.
TWO VIEWS. There are two ways to view this verse, and both of them are true. It is further essential that our hearts perceive both of them, and that our perceptions are properly arranged. The truth of God is often arranged for us. For example, there is a first, or primary, commandment ("love the Lord thy God"), and a secondary one ("love thy neighbor as thyself") –Matt 22:37-39. Both are obligatory, but the first is primary, with the second depends upon it. From another perspective, there is a single commandment with two sides. "Believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ," and "love one another" (1 John 3:23). Both are requirements, but the first is major, with the second results from it.
Our text also has two necessary views. One is objective, emphasizing what God has done. The second is subjective, putting the stress upon what we do.
OBJECTIVELY. Here, what our experience proves is the point, and not the experience itself. The OBJECT of our faith and hope is the fundamental point. Thus, we maintain our confidence because we have been "made partakers of Christ." Partaking of Christ has made us equal to the challenges of this "present evil world" (Gal. 1:4). In this case, maintaining our confidence steadfastly is the EVIDENCE that we have been made "partakers of Christ." It proves that what we have is real and effective.
SUBJECTIVELY. In this sense, the EXPERIENCE that we have is the focus of attention. We are to devote ourselves to maintaining our first joyful confidence until the end, being discontent if we do not possess it. We personally conclude, therefore, that we are "partakers of Christ" because we maintain our confidence in Him. Thus we read, "For we are made partakers of Christ, IF we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." In this case, our effort is underwritten by the power of Christ Himself.
To share in Christ is to possess Him in His salvational capacity. The things that He has accomplished regarding deliverance from sin become ours. It is as though our names are written upon the precious promises of God – they belong to us. Whether it is, "He shall save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21), "I am come to seek AND to save that which was lost" (Matt. 18:11), or "their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Heb. 8:12), the individual possessing Christ has them all!
To be a partaker of Christ is to have everything He accomplished regarding sanctification: i.e., the separation of our spirits from the world and bringing us to glory (Heb. 2:10b). As the "Captain of our salvation" (Heb. 2:10a), Jesus will bring us all the way home. He will "keep us from falling" (Jude 24), and "perfect" those things that concern us (Psa. 138:8). Whoever possesses Jesus will "not be ashamed" (Rom. 9:33). The purposes of God will be realized in them. How glorious to be a "partaker of Christ!"
This is the summation of it all. In salvation we participate in Jesus. Just as we are not complete without Him, He is not complete without us. After all, we are His body, the "fulness of Him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:23). This benefit is conditioned upon the maintenance of spiritual confidence and assurance. By "confidence," I mean knowing who we are and where we are going. This is knowing the One we trust, and being persuaded of His commitment to finish what He has begun in us.
When we were inducted into Jesus, we came in with confidence. We were glad our sins were remitted, and everything was obviously new. We did not care for the applause of the world, and longed to be with the Lord. THAT confidence must be preserved at all cost. The day we lose it, we are no longer partakers of Christ! This is a most serious thought, but it is also a most profitable one!
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the extent of salvation.