UNION WITH GOD

Union with God is generally considered the highest state man can reach and is directly or indirectly the expressed goal of most religions and philosophies. Be it through realization in Hinduism, renunciation in Buddhism, observances in Islam and Judaism or through reason, duty and knowledge taught by various philosophers, the ultimate goal is union with God which is also the highest state man can reach here on earth. The Biblical concept of union with God is expressed well by Paul, the apostle.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

To summarize what Paul is alluding to-

1. The process of union is initiated by God. If you wish to have an interview with the President of a country, you cannot just walk in and expect to have a meeting. The invitation must come from the President. The finite and imperfect man cannot reach up to the infinite, perfect, God and expect to consummate union. So recognizing one’s helplessness and putting away the self-sufficient smugness generated by pride is critical to initiate union.
2. Faith is the key to union. There is only so much that reason and knowledge can accomplish. Man cannot know everything and his insistence of going through the door of knowledge will eventually prove to be self-limiting. On the contrary, faith gives him wings and lands him at the doorstep of union.
3. Mechanism of union is the indwelling Christ. God has to come and dwell within man-and that is an impossibility because just as there can be no compatibility between light and darkness, there can be no union between the holy God and the sinful man. God by definition is holy and pure, whereas man by birth is steeped in sin and cannot but sin despite his best intentions. God provided a solution to this dilemma when God came down to earth as Christ, lived a perfect life, which is unique among the many incarnations we hear of, and then took on the sins of the world when he died on the cross. There is no other example in any other religion or philosophy of the perfect God identifying perfectly with the sinful man, thereby providing a mechanism for union to take place through the act of faith in Christ.
4. Ongoing work of union through the Spirit. What was initiated by faith through Christ is maintained by the strength provided by the Holy Spirit, who comes and dwells within man’s spirit. Just as union cannot be initiated by man, it cannot be maintained by man. But for a willing man, the Spirit strengthens the inner being and helps man to progress in the journey of union.
5. Primacy of love. God is love and it is the fullness of love that defines union. When God comes home to man, love is established within and so man experiences all that comes with the love of God- peace, joy, purpose, hope and compassion. This love surpasses knowledge of any kind or the reward received by any human endeavor or possession. As this love takes root, love is expressed through his life in acts that are exceptional and his love then increasingly unites with the love of God, which is the consummation of union. 

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