August 24

And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence. — Col 1:18 BSB

That the Lord Jesus Christ would have a people in whom He would be eternally glorified was the original promise the Father made to the Son. “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession” (Psalm 2:8). This was the joy set before Christ, for which He endured the cross, despising the shame. It was His “purchased possession,” the fruit of the travail of His soul, and the reward for His humiliation and suffering (Phil. 2:9-10). These people, His chosen ones, form the members of His mystical body, all of whom were written in His book, the book of life, long before their actual existence (Psalm 139:16). They were given to Christ in eternity, when He was appointed as their covenant Head in the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. In this way, they became, even before His incarnation, “members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.”

How tenderly does the blessed Redeemer remind His Father of these covenant promises when He prays, “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.” Since they were given to Christ and made members of His mystical body, they are as secure as Christ Himself. He is their Head, and since He possesses all power, love, wisdom, mercy, grace, and truth, how could He allow any of His members to fall away or be lost? Would a man willingly allow his own eye, hand, or foot to be cut off? If any part of our body perishes, it is only because we lack the power to save it. But Christ has all power in heaven and on earth, so no member of His mystical body can perish because of any lack in Him.

Though this is a profoundly blessed truth, it is only when we are made alive to God by a spiritual birth that we can truly know and experience it. We are led into this truth through a process. First, we feel our need for Christ as our Savior—our need to be saved from the wrath to come, from the fear of death, the curse of the law, and the accusations of a guilty conscience.

When the Holy Spirit enables us to receive Christ by faith, we begin to experience a saving interest in Him. We then feel our continual need for grace and strength from His fullness. Through various trials, temptations, and revelations of our own weaknesses, we learn to depend on Christ more and more. Every new discovery of our helplessness makes us look to Him for wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.