Introduction
I wrote this piece because I know that I have an idolatrous need to achieve things. I have an intense fear that I will die without having ever accomplished anything worthwhile. I began exploring participation in Christ both because I want to come to a place of repentance over my striving to achieve things, and because I want to have peace. I have known for some time that there are some things which I am called to do with my life and my gifts. I also know that achievement is an idol in my life. I have been struggling to come to a place where repentance from this idol fits with fulfilling the call of God. I am sure that I am not alone in my idolatry and the need for repentance. I hope that this discussion will help others as well as myself to surrender achievement to Jesus, who has achieved all that the Father gave him to do. “It is finished” (John 19:30).
Participation in the Sonship of Christ
1 Corinthians 1:9 reads “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Since the Greek sentence begins with “Faithful is God” the emphasis here must be on the faithfulness of the God who calls us. Whatever “the fellowship of the Son” may mean, the God who calls us into that fellowship is faithful. He is the one who brings this about. The direction is from the Father to the believer. It is not something which is accomplished by a believer doing something. Rather it is a gracious gift of the God who is utterly faithful.
One commentator calls the Christian life “communal participation in the Sonship of Christ”.[1] What would “communal participation in the Sonship of Christ” mean in the Christian life? Communal suggests that believers participate in the Sonship of Christ within the community of the church. This suggestion fits well within the context of what follows in 1 Corinthians, where Paul spends much time exhorting the church to unity. Secondly, participation in the Sonship of Christ is just that, participation in Sonship. Jesus is the Son of the Father; theirs is a relationship of intense intimacy. As we are also sons of the living God through the Son (Gal 3:26) we share in that relationship of intimacy with the Father. But Jesus’ Sonship is also a relationship of trust and obedience. He is the one who always does the will of his Father. So our participation in his Sonship involves being obedient to the will of God. Freedom to obey is one of the blessings of the new covenant (Rom 8:1-4; Gal 5:1).
Since God our Father is faithful in dealing with his Son Jesus – in guiding him, in empowering him, and in raising him from the dead – he will also be faithful in his relationship with believers. God the Father is faithful in all his dealings with us. Whatever the cost of obedience to him we know that he is faithful and will raise us from the dead to an eternity of glorious sonship through the Son, Jesus. This means that striving to achieve something is not the way of sonship. Sonship is characterised by trust in the Father’s faithfulness, since God’s Fatherhood is characterised by his faithfulness to his sons.
Participation in the body and blood of Jesus
We also participate in the body and blood of Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
Here there is a contrast between the Christian participation in the blood of Christ and the body of Christ and the pagan participation with demons. People who worship, who offer sacrifice, participate in the altar and what the sacrifice is offered to. As believers, ours is a participation in Christ, in his body and blood shed for our sakes. Participation in Christ excludes the possibility that we can participate in demons, so we must flee from idol worship.
Participation in the body and blood of Christ in the Communion meal is a participation in his sacrifice on the cross. In other words it is participation in the cross. We participate in Jesus’ self offering to the Father in his death. This means that we share in Jesus’ perfect worship to the Father. It surely also means that we will be participants in his resurrection, if we share in his death.
Given the immensity of sharing in the death and resurrection of Jesus, by partaking of bread and wine in the Communion meal, how can anything I do add to that? If I am vicariously partaking in the truly holy work of Jesus in his death (and resurrection) through the gracious gift he gave us in the Last Supper, then I cannot accomplish anything more. I can only participate in what he has done. Yet, because we are a participants in his sonship, the ongoing work of God is done through his people as we continue to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, as participants in the sacrifice of Christ. Anything which I do in the obedience of ongoing worship is a participation in what Jesus has already accomplished.
Participation in the gospel
Philippians 1:3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
The Philippian church partnered in the gospel. Commentators agree that this means that they participated in the work of the gospel. I do not think that this simply means evangelism. The gospel is not something which is given to unbelievers and then becomes irrelevant to believers. The gospel is the means by which we are discipled and by which we are sanctified and transformed into the image of Jesus. The work of the gospel comes in many different forms – evangelism, pastoring, teaching, prophecy, mercy, healing, discipling, training, apologetics and more. The central key is that the church is a participant in the gospel. The church does not initiate or direct the work of the gospel, but they are entrusted with the gospel as a gift given by Jesus, whose word is the gospel and whose work is proclaimed in the gospel. It is Jesus who gives the gospel. Ours is only to participate in the gospel.
I know that it is possible to lose sight of this partnership, to begin to think that the work of the gospel depends on what I do. This is not so. I am not the one who died and rose again for sinners. I am simply granted participation in what has been done and in the word which is spoken about these wonderful events. Participation in the gospel, like participation in the Sonship of Christ, is not something to be achieved, but something given as a gift of grace. The grace of God has granted me a role in the great drama of proclaiming the gospel to the world and making disciples. It is the sovereign choice of the Spirit which gifts he gives for that task (1 Cor 12:4). It is the sovereign choice of the Lord Jesus what service I am to perform with those gifts (1 Cor 12:5). And it is the sovereign choice of the Father how he works his works through me (1 Cor 12:6). I can achieve none of this through striving and a decision of my will. It is all grace.
Participation in the suffering of Jesus
Philippians 3:7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
Paul had accomplished a lot in his career as a Jewish leader. He lists his qualifications in verses 5-6: circumcised on the eighth day, an Israelite, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, and zealous for God, and a man who blamelessly obeyed the law. This was no doubt a very great set of qualifications and accomplishments. Yet he counts it as loss because knowing Jesus is far greater. He forsook his qualifications and accomplishments in order to know Christ. Righteousness, that which Paul had been striving for all his life, cannot be accomplished, but only received by faith in Christ. Alternatively, we might understand verse 9 as saying that righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Christ. Again it is not something accomplished by anything we do. It can only ever be received.
Paul’s desire, which must become my desire, is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death in order to attain the resurrection of the dead. This participation in the suffering of Jesus is not something to be avoided, but something which is a privilege, because when we conform to his death we know that we will also experience his resurrection. This is the intended destiny of humanity. It is greater than anything which could ever be accomplished or anything we strive to achieve. Conformity to the death of Jesus and sharing in his resurrection will satisfy all the desires of the human heart in a way which human achievement cannot. This is why, instead of striving to achieve a series of things in this life, Paul’s desire was to participate in the sufferings of Jesus.
Paul knew that he was not yet perfect but he could walk towards the goal knowing that Christ had made Paul his own (v 12). Since Jesus has made me his own, what I long for will be found in him. It cannot be accomplished, but it can be received. We must press on to receive the prize of knowing Jesus. This goal is a gift of God. It is never the result of my achievements, but truly a by-product of the faithfulness of Jesus. I know that my participation in Jesus’ sufferings, death and resurrection are certain because Jesus himself has gone before and accomplished the goal before me and for me.
There are many passages about sharing in Christ’s sufferings. Each has a promise.
2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
When we share in/participate in the suffering of Jesus we also share in the comfort which comes from him. But the participation goes further than that. As we share in suffering and receive comfort we are able to pass on that comfort to others who share in suffering. Participation in the suffering of Jesus leads to participation in the ministry of Jesus to others. Participation in the comfort which Jesus gives leads to participation in the ministry of comfort which Jesus provides to others. In this way Christians can share in the ministry of Jesus. We become a conduit through which Jesus ministers to others. This kind of ministry is never accomplished through self-effort but only through submission to the experiences which God brings into the Christian life. The powerful ministry of sharing God’s comfort to others is given to us, not achieved by us.
1 Peter 4:13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.
It is given to some to suffer for Christ more than others. This privilege is not chosen by us but appointed by the Father. It is clear that Peter considers it a privilege since he exhorts believers to rejoice according to the degree of participation in the sufferings of Christ. But what if we are chosen to share in the ministry of Jesus to various degrees in other ways apart from suffering? We do not choose the degree of participation, but it is determined by the Father. There are many aspects to the ministry of Christ and the degree to which we are given to participate in them is not a matter of self-will. It is only a matter of gift, of grace.
Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
John understood that in Jesus we participate in tribulation but also in the kingdom and in perseverance. Being in Christ includes participation in difficulties but also in the ability to persevere through those difficulties. We are also partakers of the kingdom of God, which will never end and which is glorious beyond imagining. But like Jesus the way of glory is the way of the cross. Jesus had to go to glory through the cross, but now he is the one who is alive forever more and who holds the keys of death and Hades (Rev 1:18). Participation in Christ, in his path to glory, results in eternal life.
Participation in the divine nature
God promises that believers will become like him. “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (2 Peter 1:4). So those who are in Christ will participate in the divine nature. This is made possible because Jesus participates in our humanity. “Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). So 2nd century theologian Irenaeus could say: “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.”[2]
Since we are to participate in the divine nature, Christians are warned to not participate in the evil deeds of the world.
Ephesians 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not associate with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.
Participation in Christ and in his work is not compatible with participation in “the unfruitful works of darkness.” So Paul warns, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14). But the deeds of darkness are not simply those which we might associate with obvious wickedness. If our deeds are driven by the desire to be something, to be fulfilled, by restlessness and meaningless searching, then we have not done them in faith. And whatever is not done in faith is sin (Rom 14:23). The people of the world who do not know Jesus act out of their lack of faith and they strive in various ways to give meaning to their lives. This, I have come to realise, is not the way of faith. Instead of worldly striving, faith knows that what pleases God is done through participation in Christ and in his work.
The bride of Christ becomes fit for him through participation
When writing about marriage Paul says: “”For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery– but I am talking about Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:31-32). The union of Christ and the church is indeed a mystery and marriage is created to point us to just that. If we look back at Genesis we discover this: “The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him”” (Genesis 2:18). God made Eve as a helper fit for Adam. Yet this is a mystery in that it speaks of Christ and the church. The church is made as a helper fit for Jesus. How can the church be a helper fit for Jesus? It is so because the church participates in Christ. The church has no existence independent of Christ. The church is not intended to make autonomous decisions or to achieve something without Christ (John 15:5). Instead the church is a fit helper for Jesus because she shares in what Christ has done and is doing. It is in participating in Christ, in what he has done and is doing, that we can be a fit helper for him.
Conclusion
Since I have realized that my restlessness and striving to become ‘someone’ through a constant need to achieve things is quite bluntly idolatry, I have wondered how I can still fulfil the call of God on my life to do certain things and yet still be repentant. I believe that answer to that lies in coming to grips with the fact that I am a participant in Christ and in his work. This has been the goal of my exploration of the scripture. Working through this has helped me to come to repentance from my idolatrous desire to achieve. I have a great deal more peace. What I do now is done as a participation in Christ rather than as a way of trying to gain the approval of the Father (something which I realise I was subconsciously doing). I know that I am called to certain things, but I can now do these without striving, because those things are not done independently of what Jesus has done, but are merely a share in his work in the world.