Because Christ Lives...Part 2 (Selected Passages)

The Department of Social Services in Greenville County, South Carolina, sent the following letter: “Your food stamps will be stopped, effective immediately, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.” How utterly absurd to expect a reply from a corpse or to suggest that a deceased person can change his circumstances! Once you’re dead, that’s the end of your earthly story.

That’s what makes the message of the gospel so amazing. It announces to all the world the death-conquering miracle of Christ’s resurrection, together with the wonder of His sin-forgiving sacrifice on Calvary. It heralds the great exception to the universal law that death is the guaranteed end of everyone; that there is no possibility of a reappearance and a postscript added to one’s life. But Jesus, breaking the power of the grave, did reappear, convincing His doubting and troubled disciples that He was alive again. He had met death and defeated that dreaded foe, bringing life and immortality to light (2Tim.1:10). And because He lives, we who trust in Him will also live again (Jn.14:19). (ODB, Mar.21, 1998).

Last Sunday we discussed the significance of the resurrection. We learned that the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead insures our Justification. To be justified means to be declared not guilty but righteous before God. In Rom.4:25, Paul says, “He (Christ) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” In the resurrection God was in effect saying to Christ, “I approved of what you have done and I find you not guilty but righteous in my sight.” And by virtue of our union with Christ, because we have trusted in Him for our salvation, the same declaration applies to us.

We also learned that the resurrection of Christ guarantees our own Resurrection, in that we will receive perfect resurrection bodies. This is exactly what 1Cor.6:14 says: “By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.” Our perishable bodies will be changed to imperishable; our mortal to immortality; our lowly bodies to glorious ones. Third, the resurrection of Christ not only insures our justification, guarantees our resurrection- it also assures us of spiritual power. The same power that God exerted in raising Jesus Christ from the dead is working within us, who have believed in Him. Eph.1:19-20: “...his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” This resurrection power includes the ability to overcome temptation and gain victory over sin. It also includes the power to do the work of the ministry in God’s kingdom.

This morning, we ask ourselves the question, “Now that I am declared righteous by God, have the available spiritual power to live for Him and assured of a perfect resurrected body when He comes, what then? How do I respond? You see, the resurrection of Christ not only provides us with these guaranteed benefits- it also challenges us with accompanying responsibilities. Scripture gives us three powerful exhortations.

1) Let us not yield to sin but give ourselves up to God.

In Rom.6:1-14a ,Paul in this passage is arguing against those who say that since man’s sinfulness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, “Let us keep on sinning!” And where is God’s righteousness more abundantly poured out?- in our justification, when He declared us righteous not on our merit but on the basis of Christ’s righteousness. In short, what they are saying is, “Now that we have been justified by grace, let’s go on sinning. Anyway, God’s grace will prevail.

1. “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2. By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
3. Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus (brought into union with) were baptized into his death?
4. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5. “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
6. For we know that our old self (corrupt nature) was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-
7. because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. The believer (who by faith is united to Christ in his death) cannot any longer serve sin and the reason? Because he who has died with Christ is justified and therefore free from sin, free from its dominion.
8. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
9. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The reason why he cannot die again is that, when he died he died once and for all. The law that demands death as a punishment has been perfectly satisfied- it has no more penalty to inflict.
10. The death he died, he died to sin once and for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. These 10 verses say this in summary: Christ’s death and resurrection render sin powerless and impotent. It has been dethroned. When we trusted Christ for our salvation, Christ death is our death, His resurrection is our resurrection. We are united with Him in his death and resurrection. As Christ died to sin, so do we; as Christ rose to righteousness and glory, so do we. As Christ resurrection is the sure result of his death, so a holy life is the certain result of our dying with Christ. Sin no longer has dominion over us. We are freed from its penalty and control. And because of this reality, the next verse says...
11. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Here Paul is exhorting us to view ourselves as we really are- free from sin’s domination and living for God in righteousness. If this is who we are, then the admonition...
12. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
13. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
14. For sin shall not be your master.

Let me read these 3 verses in the modern translation. “Do not let sin control you any longer; do not obey it; do not submit to it by giving in to its desires. Do not let any part of your bodies become tools of wickedness, to be used for sinning; but give yourselves completely to God- every part of you- for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for His good purposes. Sin need never again be your master.” Sin, although restrained in the believer, is not destroyed. Its power to injure remains after its dominion is overthrown. The exhortation in these verses is that we should not yield to this dethroned enemy of Christ and our souls, but vigorously strive against its efforts to gain supremacy over us and to bring us into slavery again. How are we to do this? How can I, a believer avoid being sucked into “yielding to sin” but instead to willingly choose Christ? By the principle of “putting off-putting on” through the power of the Holy Spirit. Eph.5:22-24;Col.3:5-10,12 .

Because Christ lives...Let us not yield to sin but give ourselves up to God. Here’s the second exhortation...

2) Let us continually labor for the Lord.

After a long and detailed discussion on the topic of the resurrection, Paul concludes his essay with this powerful appeal: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1Cor.15:58). The “heart” of the message is the phrase “Always give yourselves to the work of the Lord.” But this can only be realized if two things must be addressed first. 1) they are to “stand firm.” They are to settle this matter of the resurrection firmly in their hearts. The reason why Paul has to explain the truth of the resurrection is that there are those in the Corinthian church who didn’t believe it. Look at v12: “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” So Paul says, make sure that you know this thing about the resurrection right on target, and continue to hold on to this truth. Oh, how important it is for believers to develop deep convictions about important truths as taught in Scriptures.

Without these truths (like the resurrection of Christ) engraved in our hearts, we are fall prey to false teachers with their false doctrines. Paul, then proceeds to warn them about the influences of wrong teachings. He says, “let nothing move you” - meaning don’t allow anything that is contrary to what you heard from me regarding the resurrection, shift you from your secure position.

For the Corinthian Christians, the only way to avoid being “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine” is to firmly hold on to the truth of the resurrection, on God’s final plan for all people and all things. Then comes these words- “always give yourselves to the work of the Lord” or as KJV translates it, “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Because Christ has risen from the dead and by his resurrection has secured our victory over sin and death and has guaranteed our own resurrection “let us continually labor for the Lord.” For the apostle Paul, the resurrection of Christ should drive us to unceasingly labor for Him; should motivate us to give ourselves wholly to Lord’s work.

Now, if this is the reasonable outcome of the truth of Christ’s resurrection when properly understood, why are the churches of Christ struggling from lack of manpower to implement Christ’s program for the building up of His Kingdom? Why does Living Hope Church always have a hard time looking for workers to fill up ministry responsibilities and offices? What seems to be the problem? Do we not sense a ton of gratitude for the resurrection of the Lord and the benefits it provides. Have we become so calloused that we ignore the impact of the resurrection of Christ and brush aside the “therefore” of the Scripture? Maybe some of us think that we have done our part, so we let others have their turn while we watch on the sidelines. But doesn’t the exhortation say, “always abounding?” While others may feel that they have nothing meaningful to do for the Lord, I say, remove such thoughts from your mind! Listen to the words of Jesus, “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’” (Mt.24:37-40). Anyone who loves the Lord and consumed by an undying gratitude for His abounding grace can do these, can’t he?

Brothers and sisters, doing the Lord’s work is a privilege, serving God is an honor. It is not something that we must, or something that we have to - it is something that we want to because of what God has done for us when He raised Christ from the dead. When we commit ourselves to God’s service, doing the work of the Lord out of our love for Him we have this wonderful assurance from Scripture: “your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” What does it mean?

It simply means that anything we do for Christ, whether great or small, open or secret, imposing or lowly if done out of love and for God’s glory is not useless in Him. It may seem to the world, but never worthless to our Lord. And don’t even think for a moment that our Lord will overlook you and your labor, because you think you are a nobody and what you do for Him is nothing of consequence. Listen to Heb.6:10: “God is not unjust; he will not forget you work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”

Because Christ lives...Let us continually labor for the Lord.

3) Let us seek the things that are above.

Another moral exhortation related to our union with Christ in His resurrection is found in Col.3:1-4, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Paul’s counsel can be summed up in this: “Let us seek the things that are above.” When Paul uses the word “things” what is he referring to? From the immediate and surrounding context, the word “things” refers to values, standards, behavior, ways and practices (3:5-9,12-14; 2:16-19). It also pertains to rules, teachings and commands (2:20-23). And when you add the word earthly “things” it may mean material things as wealth, worldly honor, power and pleasure. Now, what is Paul’s reason for his exhortation? Why should we set our hearts on things above? He then gives us three... First, We have died with Christ. Look at v3: “For you died...” This refers to our dying with Christ. When Christ died for our sin, we too died to sin. Second, We have been raised with Christ. Look at v.1: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ.” Raised to what? Rom.6:2: “... just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” We have been raised with Christ to live a new life. Third, We will appear with Christ in glory. Look at v4: “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Notice that these three reasons represent who we are- our past, present, and future. Our past life- We have died with Christ- the old self has been crucified. Paul’s own testimony in Gal.6:14 shows this: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Our present life -We have been raised with Christ to a new life- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2Cor.5:17). Our future life - We will be glorified with Christ- we will become like Christ. 1Jn.3:2 says, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” If this describes who we are, can you find any justification why we should not seek the heavenly things?

A person who has died to sin, living a new life in Christ and destined to be glorified cannot spend his earthly life running after temporary things with no eternal value to him. He is not meant to do things according to the standards, ways and practices of the world- his lifestyle is patterned after Christ’s. His allegiance, attitudes and ambitions are not earthly bound- they are directed toward God and His glory. How can we who have the “peace that the world cannot give;” who belong to the “kingdom that is not of this world;” who are indwelt with the “Spirit that the world cannot receive and does not know.” How can we who have the available “wisdom that the world does not understand, else it would not crucified the Lord of glory” focus our affections and hopes on the external, temporal and worldly?

To put these in practical terms, how much of your money, time and effort are spent on things that help you develop godly character? In your decision making, whose will and wisdom is to be considered vital? In your plans, whose interest is priority. In your profession, whom are you serving? In your life and relationships who comes first? In your service to the Lord, whose glory is desired? In your attitudes, actions and conversation, whose character is reflected? In trials and struggles whom do you trust and go to? In your victory and success, whose name appears foremost in your mind?

Three exhortations: Because Christ lives...Let us not yield to sin, but give ourselves up to God; Let us continually labor for the Lord; Let us seek the things that are above.---Pastor Glenn Diel