When You Are United to Jesus

He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.

Isaiah 53:5

Jesus suffered under the judgement of God so that, in Him, you would be saved from God’s judgement. There’s a movie called Double Jeopardy, in which a man fakes his own death and then frames his wife for his murder. She is convicted and sentenced to prison.

While she is in prison, she discovers that her husband is not dead but very much alive and living with her son and another woman. At this point she learns about double jeopardy. The law cannot convict the same person twice for the same crime. Since she has already been convicted for her husband’s murder, she can bring him to justice without fear of the legal ramifications.

Think about the principle of double jeopardy: the law cannot convict the same person twice for the same crime. When you come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, you are “in Christ.” That’s how the Bible most frequently refers to Christian people—we are united to Christ. God does not view you alone. He sees you so identified with His Son as to be inseparable from Him.

Christ paid for your sins. Sentence has been passed on them. The law cannot convict the same person twice for the same crime. So, if you are “in Him,” no further charge can be brought against you. God cannot condemn you for your sins, because that would be double jeopardy.

Reflect on how God sees you, if you're a Christian today, or what it would mean for God to see you “in Christ.”