Because of our union with Christ, he shares his life with us—his nature, his holiness, and his adequacy. He also shares with us his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We participate in his sonship, and he brings us into his intimate fellowship with the Father and shares with us his emotions, which we participate in as ours, in the Father’s loving embrace.
The thing I’ve thought about lately, though, is that he shares his relationship with every single human being with me. I get to participate in how he sees, thinks about, and feels about them. To see humans through the eyes of Jesus is to love them immensely, even in their brokenness—maybe especially in their brokenness. It overwhelms me with compassion and affection in every encounter I have with others.
I have often, over the years… told individuals that if they had been the only person alive, Jesus would have still died on the cross for them. It is one thing to say that and to think about that objectively, but it’s another thing to subjectively, in union with Christ, see people through that lens and know it to be true. I’ve come to realize at a deeper level than ever before that every person who stands in front of me is the most important person who’s ever stood in front of me… and whatever they’re talking about is the most important conversation I’ve ever heard… because Jesus sees them that way.