1 Corinthians 15:48

The head and members are of one nature, and not like that monstrous image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The head was of fine gold, but the belly and thighs were of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet, part of iron and part of clay.

Christ’s mystical body is no absurd combination of opposites; the members were mortal, and therefore Jesus died; the glorified head is immortal, and therefore the body is immortal too, for thus the record stands, Because I live, ye shall live also. As is our loving Head, such is the body, and every member in particular.

A chosen Head and chosen members; an accepted Head, and accepted members; a living Head, and living members. If the head is pure gold, all the parts of the body are of pure gold also. Thus there is a double union of nature as a basis for the closest communion.

Pause here, devout reader, and see if you can, without ecstatic amazement, contemplate the infinite condescension of the Son of God in thus exalting your wretchedness into blessed union with his glory. You are so lowly that, in remembrance of your mortality, you may say to corruption, “Thou art my father,” and to the worm, “Thou art my sister”; and yet in Christ you are so honored that you can say to the Almighty, “Abba, Father,” and to the Incarnate God, “Thou art my brother and my husband.” Surely, if relationships to ancient and noble families make people think highly of themselves, we have reason to glory over all of them.

Let the poorest and most despised believer lay hold of this privilege; let not a senseless indolence make him neglect to trace his pedigree; and let him not allow any foolish attachment to present vanities to occupy his thoughts, to the exclusion of this glorious, this heavenly honor of union with Christ.