John Murray once wrote that there is no other truth “more suited to impart confidence and strength, comfort and joy in the Lord than this one of union with Christ.”[1] If he was right, it goes without saying that now is a good time to meditate on this precious doctrine.

A global pandemic wreaks havoc on our once robust economy—we are anxious.

Weddings and graduation ceremonies are canceled—we are disappointed.

Statistics are rising, and the threat of death is ever before us—we are fearful.

Families are shut up in their homes together for days on end—we are irritable.

Unlike the godly woman in Proverbs 31:25 who laughs at her unknown future, the world is desperately longing for answers; it simply doesn’t have. How bad is this going to get? Is the end in sight? As believers, we, too, desire answers. But amid a world that is terrified of the unknown, we have the joy of standing upon the rock of what we do know—namely, everything God has revealed to us in His word. The Christian’s union with Christ is one of those rocks.

To be sure, the believer’s intimate union with Christ is not a magical doctrine that causes sin, sorrow, and sighing to disappear from life; knowledge of it will not typically change unfortunate circumstances. Nevertheless, it is an important truth that when factored into life will greatly affect the way we think about and respond to those circumstances. Let us briefly consider one great encouragement (among many others) we can draw from this doctrine: our union with Christ comes with the comforting promise of conformity to Christ.

For many of us, one result of the current pandemic is that we see our sinfulness in a new light. Our tempers are shorter than we thought. We are more anxious about the numbers in the bank account than we’d care to admit. And perhaps we are saddened by the ways we have chosen to use our extra time, realizing we are not as hungry for the things of God as we desire to be. It is a mercy of God to expose these things to us, but when we begin to see the extent of our sinfulness, we can quickly grow discouraged.

Our union with Christ confronts this discouragement with the precious promise of conformity—that, for the remainder of this earthly life, the Spirit will be daily at work in me, causing me to be “transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor. 3:18 ESV). Every day the Holy Spirit not only sustains my union with the risen Christ but applies to me the sanctifying benefits of that union, making me more and more like the person of Christ. And as that Spirit causes me to gaze on the risen Christ and better understand the effects of His redemptive work, I increasingly come to know, love, imitate, and obey Him.

Life may indeed get harder, but the Spirit of Christ in us is indeed making us holier—day by day, month by month, year by year—through both seasons of pandemic and seasons of prosperity. The Spirit of Christ is sanctifying us now in ways that will better prepare us to face the trials of tomorrow. This does not mean that future trials will be a walk in the park. No matter how mature we are five years from now, we will still have much to learn about following in the footsteps of the Suffering Servant. God will go on sanctifying us then just as He is now. But this does mean we ought to anticipate the joy of witnessing how the Spirit has been at work in our lives, teaching, preparing, and equipping us for whatever is down the road. Come what may, our union with Christ compels us to look to the future and anticipate not the increasing misery of sin but the increasing miracle of steadfastness.

This article is adapted from Laughing at the Days to Come: Facing Present Trials and Future Uncertainties with Gospel Hope by Tessa Thompson.

[1] John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, 171.