Alive Together
The Core of Your Identity
For many years, I lived with the quiet, nagging suspicion that I was always one mistake away from losing God’s smile. I loved Him, and I spent over fifty years in ministry trying to prove that love through church planting in the mountains of Peru and mentoring leaders. However, throughout much of that journey, I was operating under a heavy misunderstanding of how life actually works in the Kingdom. I thought I had to keep myself “spiritually alive” through my own consistency and fervor.
When I faced Stage 4 Kidney Cancer and later a terrifying battle with COVID, my ability to “do” vanished. I couldn’t pray long hours, I couldn’t preach, and I certainly couldn’t maintain a “performance.” In those dark rooms, the Holy Spirit began to whisper a truth that changed everything: I wasn’t just following Jesus from a distance; I was Alive Together with Him. My life was no longer a solo act.
If you have been feeling exhausted by the requirements of “religious living,” I want to invite you into a deeper rest. This is Part 6 of our DNA of Grace series, and today we are looking at the miraculous reality of our union with Christ. Specifically, we are exploring what it means to be “together” with the One who has already won the victory.
The Miracle of Relocation
Most of us view our relationship with God as two separate entities trying to get along. We are down here, and He is up there. Consequently, we spend our lives trying to bridge that gap with our prayers, our service, and our “good days.” But the Apostle Paul gives us a completely different map of reality.
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”
Notice the language here. He didn’t just give us some “help” or a few “tips” for living. He quickened us: He made us alive: together with Christ. Therefore, your identity is not something you possess independently. Your identity is a shared life. You are not a branch trying to survive on its own; you are a branch that has been grafted into the Vine.
I often tell the men I mentor that “God is not disappointed in you. He is not measuring your worth by your consistency.” Why? Because your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When the Father looks at you, He sees the same life, the same beauty, and the same “alive-ness” that exists in His Son. You have been relocated from the kingdom of death into a shared life with Jesus.
Sitting Before Running
The most counterintuitive part of the DNA of Grace is the order of operations. In the world, you work so that you can eventually rest. In the Kingdom, you rest so that you can eventually work. Paul continues this thought in Ephesians with a staggering claim about our current location.
Ephesians 2:6 “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”
We are not just “alive together”; we are sitting together. In the ancient world, sitting was the posture of a finished work. A king sat when his enemies were defeated. A priest sat when the sacrifice was complete. Specifically, the fact that you are “sitting” with Christ means that the pressure to perform for acceptance is gone.
I remember a young leader once asking me how he could become more “spiritually powerful.” I told him, “Son, you can’t get more power than the position you already have. You are already sitting in the highest place in the universe because you are in Christ.” Consequently, the Christian life is not about climbing a ladder to get to God; it is about realizing you are already at the top because of your union with Jesus.
Union vs. Imitation
For a long time, I tried to “imitate” Christ. I thought that if I could just act like Him, talk like Him, and be as disciplined as Him, I would finally be the man God wanted me to be. However, imitation is a weary business. It’s like a plastic apple trying to act like a real one. It looks okay from a distance, but there is no juice, no life, and no nutrition.
The DNA of Grace is about union, not imitation. It is the difference between trying to act like a family member and actually having that family's DNA in your blood. When you realize you are Alive Together with Christ, you stop trying to be “like” Him and start letting Him live “through” you.
Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
This is the core of your identity. “Rest doesn’t come after you fix yourself. Rest comes first.” You are not a project that God is trying to complete; you are a person with whom God has shared His very life. This reality removes the fear of being “canceled” by God or others because your standing is not based on your performance, but on His presence within you.
Living from the Finished Work
When Betty and I were in Peru, we saw many people trapped in religious systems that demanded constant sacrifice to appease a distant God. It broke my heart then, and it breaks my heart now when I see believers in the West living under the same cloud of performance. They feel like they are “behind” or that they aren’t “doing enough.”
But if you are “Alive Together” with Christ, you can never be “behind.” How can you be behind when you are already joined to the One who has finished the race? Specifically, your growth is not about adding things to your life; it is about the “unveiling” of the life that is already there.
“The Christian life was never meant to be powered by fear, pressure, or performance. It was meant to be lived from being loved first.”
When you wake up in the morning, your first thought doesn’t have to be, “What do I need to do for God today?” Instead, it can be, “Thank You, Lord, that we are doing this day together.” This shift changes your marriage, your parenting, and your leadership. You stop relating to people out of your own empty cup and start relating to them out of the overflow of His life in you.
The Big Leap: Believing You are Loved
The hardest part of this journey is simply believing it is true. Our minds are so wired for “merit” that the idea of “togetherness” without “earning” feels dangerous. We think if we stop worrying about our performance, we will stop being holy. Meanwhile, the opposite is true. Holiness is the natural fruit of union. A branch doesn’t struggle to produce grapes; it simply abides in the vine.
If you find yourself struggling to believe that God loves you exactly as you are: without the filters, without the ministry titles, and without the “good” behavior: I encourage you to read the cornerstone of this entire series: The Big Leap of Faith: Believing God Loves You Exactly As You Are.
You are not being graded. You are being held. You are not a servant waiting for orders; you are a son or daughter who is “Alive Together” with the King.
Deepen the Journey
This article is just a “spoke” in a much larger wheel of truth we are building. To see how this “Together” reality fits into the broader picture of your identity, I invite you to explore the full pillar article and our central hub:
Read the Pillar Post: DNA of Grace: Alive Together: Union with Christ
Explore the Hub: The DNA of Grace Identity Hub
Stay in the rest, friend. You are closer than you think, because He has already brought you home.
Common Questions About Union with Christ
Does being “Alive Together” with Christ mean I’ll never feel lonely or depressed?
While your spiritual reality is a union with Christ, your emotions live in a broken world. You may still feel lonely or struggle with depression, but those feelings do not change the fact that He is with you and in you. Your identity is anchored in His presence, even when your feelings don’t align with that truth.
If I am “sitting in heavenly places,” why does my life still feel so messy?
We live in the “already but not yet.” Your legal standing and spiritual identity are already perfected in Christ, but your daily experience is a process of learning to live from that reality. The mess doesn’t disqualify you; it simply becomes the place where you learn to depend on His life rather than your own.
How do I practically “abide” or stay “together” with Him?
Abiding is not a work; it is an acknowledgment. It is simply turning your heart back to the reality that He is there. You don’t have to “get back” into Christ: you are already there. Practically, it means throughout your day, you rest in the truth that you are not doing life alone.
#DNAofGrace #IdentityInChrist #AustinGardner #UnionWithChrist #FinishedWork