- Again and again the N.T. tells us that we are united with Jesus in his death and resurrection.
- Great blessings are promised if we live in the truth of being joined to Jesus.
- But how do we actually do this in practice?
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Video cover image by Nsey Benajah Upsplash
- If I only had 2 or 3 sermons to give you before I went to be with the Lord
- This would be one of them
- It has been a teaching that has been radically important in my life
- This week: 3 word summary:
- If I’m allowed a few more
1. The New Design
- Most of our problems as Christians are related to not fully understanding the two worlds we live in
- We are born into the physical world
- The old creation
- Descendents of Adam & Eve
- antagonistic towards God
- unable to defeat sin in our lives
- under the condemnation of the law
- But Jesus was also born into this world
- He triumphed over temptation
- He kept all the law perfectly
- He took on himself the condemnation his people deserved by dying for them
- God raised him up, the first of a new race of beings
- Jesus resurrection was not just him coming back to life
- This was a bigger event than even the creation of the world
- Jesus’s new body was the first evidence of an entire new creation
- One day we will all have bodies like his
- There will be a whole new universe without sin
- Jesus saved us by uniting us with him
- in his death
- so that our sin was punished on the cross
- and then in his resurrection
- so that we are part of the new creation
- which at present is just like a seed in our hearts
- in his death
Afternoon Tea
Food
- So many words and ideas—hard to grasp on one reading
- If we take some time and focus on the comparison & contrast.
Romans 6:5–14
| Old Creation | New Creation |
|---|---|
| 5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, | we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. |
| 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him | so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. |
| 7 (For someone who has died | has been freed from sin.) |
| 8 Now if we died with Christ, | we believe that we will also live with him.↓ |
| ↪he is never going to die again; death no longer is his master.↓ | 9 We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead,↩ |
| 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, | but the life he lives, he lives to God. |
| 11 So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, | but alive to God in Christ Jesus. |
| 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, 13 and do not present the members of your body to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, | but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and the members of your body to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. |
| 14 For sin will not be your master, because you are not under law | but under grace. |
based on NET Bible
- Jesus’s story has become our story
- When Jesus was raised from the dead, it wasn’t just coming back to life
- He became, what Paul calls “the Firstborn of the New Creation”
- A massive event—a new universe begun with one person.
- If we are joined to him, we are participating in that!
Two Creations
- What is the heart of the Gospel message?
- If we say it is about forgiveness of sin, we are right, but that is only half of it.
- For the New Testament writers, it is being
- “in Christ”
- Two issues here this morning:
- Freedom from sin being our master
- Not under law but under grace
2. No longer under the law & slave to sin
- Were slaves to sin —now freedom to serve God [Romans 6:8–13]
- Examples:
Larry’s goldfish
- Very sad! But that’s us if we don’t understand what we have as part of the New Creation
- Now we have a new power operating within us
- Something radically has changed
- Under law or under grace—
- Example of school speed limit
- Example of store owner
3. A Truth that can have a Massive Impact if we get it
- The audio player, playing in the background of our minds
- I’m useless, I’m going to mess up again
- I know what I’m like
- That is a lie! Speak the truth to yourself! You are a new creation in Christ Jesus
- New identity, new audio tape playing:
- I am joined to Jesus
- The Father will not withhold any good gift from me
- My mistakes are immediately wiped away
- My eternity with Jesus is secure
- Our church is named after this idea!
Romans 6:5—
| Old Creation | New Creation |
|---|---|
| 5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, | we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. |
| 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him | so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. |
| 7 (For someone who has died | has been freed from sin.) |
| 8 Now if we died with Christ, | we believe that we will also live with him.↓ |
| 11 So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, | but alive to God in Christ Jesus… |
| 14 For sin will not be your master, because you are not under law | but under grace. |
based on NET Bible
- How do you enter the New Creation?
- By being born into it!
- Born again or born from above
- Pray to Jesus and ask for this New Life which includes cleansing from the old life.