414. Joined to the Lord
Zechariah 2:11 And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day; and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
The prophecy is that many nations, or peoples, will be joined to the Lord in the Messianic Age. All these people that are united with the Lord will be His People, and the Lord will dwell in the midst of them all. The prophecy is being fulfilled in the days of the New Testament since the Christ-Event. The promise for us is that we will be joined to, or united with, the Lord. This is good news because we are born alienated and separated from the Lord, and we have no way of getting back with Him until we are cleansed of sin. Jesus Christ brings us from separation to union, from alienation to oneness, from isolation to connection, from darkness to light, and from death to life. This is the wonderful promise of “joining.”
This “union” with God is not an easy concept to grasp or to understand the meaning of. It is hard to explain what it means to be “in Christ.” But such ignorance on our part does not deny the truth of the promise. God and me are One, although not in the same sense that God and Jesus are One. We are in God and God is in us, but we do not become gods. Nevertheless, we are one is some mysterious way with Jesus the God-man and therefore with God the Father (who did not become human). We take the promise of “joining” by faith and we enjoy the benefits. We do not need to have the mind understand or explain it. It just is. How are we all one with God? We don’t know how; we believe the fact.
We are also His people and He dwells with us. Jesus made us the people of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in us. The bond that we share with other believers and with God is deep, intimate and profound, but it is also wonderful, comforting and thoroughly enjoyable.