Preached by Gregory W. Lee
16 March 2008
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Romans 6
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 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 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.
8. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
-- there once was this rich man who found out that he was dying -- and he got really sad, because he was really rich -- he had just recently become a Christian and believed in the power of prayer and so he set out praying to God day after day after day, "God, I look forward to coming to heaven, but I'd really like to bring some of my wealth with me when I go"
-- after many days of this fervent prayer, God finally spoke with the man and said that people normally were not allowed to carry anything with them when they died, but that He would make an exception for this man -- God said, "I'll let you take one bag with you when you die" -- so the man got excited and he cashed in all his money and put it in gold bullion and had it put in a bag and kept it there on his bed
-- when he died, he found himself standing before the pearly gates holding his bag in his hand -- St. Peter met him there and said, "Whoa -- wait a minute! You can't bring that bag in here. God doesn't allow anything from earth to come to heaven." -- the rich man protested, "But God gave me special permission -- He said I could carry one bag"
-- St. Peter scratched his head and said, "Well, if God said you could, come on in. But before you come through, can I see what you brought?" -- the man proudly opened up the bag and showed Peter the bars of gold -- Peter looked at him and said, "I don't understand. Why did you go to all that trouble just to bring a bag of pavement with you?"
-- well, it's a corny little joke, but it makes a point -- the things of earth have no value in heaven -- and, as we talked about last week, nothing from the old kingdom -- nothing from our old life -- can enter into the kingdom of God
-- in order to be made ready to enter the kingdom of God, all of the old things of your life -- your material possessions -- your self -- even your life -- must be destroyed -- because nothing from the old kingdom can enter through the gates into the new kingdom
-- this is a hard thing -- it is difficult to go through a life experience where you lose everything, but we see people around us doing it every day
-- sometimes it happens in natural disasters -- when hurricanes or tornadoes or fires sweep through and destroy everything that someone owns -- leaving them with nothing
-- sometimes it happens in economic disasters -- like the Great Depression or during a bankruptcy, when all of our material possessions are taken away
-- sometimes it happens in other ways -- I remember a time in my own life when I had to give up everything that I had and start over again -- my possessions -- my allegiance to my family -- even my own identity -- it happened a little over 17 years ago
-- in my case, it didn't happen because of a natural or economic disaster -- it happened because I got married -- as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."
-- when I got married, I had to get rid of all my childish things and my childish ways in order to enter into this new life with Kim -- the furniture I had growing up -- the bed I had since I was 6 years old -- just wouldn't work in this new life and had to be left behind
-- even my family allegiances had to be left behind -- growing up, my family was very close -- and every Christmas and every holiday and every major life event, we would gather -- but now I had to leave that old life and those old allegiances behind in order to form a new life and a new family
-- I think that's one reason why Christ used marriage as a metaphor for our Christian life and our relationship with Him
-- marriage is a life-changing experience that requires you to leave the old behind in order to enter into this new relationship and this new life
-- we call this, "Leaving and cleaving" -- leaving means leaving your old life -- your old family -- your old ways behind
-- cleaving means a separation or a split -- in this case, it means that you leave your old life --you separate from it -- you part from it -- and you join together with your spouse to form a new life and a new family
-- this is the picture we see from Scripture concerning our spiritual life -- as we talked about last week, there are two kingdoms -- the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God -- we are all born into and held captive by the kingdom of the world -- we are bound by sin and by death and by our flesh -- it's like this great big bag of stuff that we carry with us everywhere we go and that we just can't let go of
-- and because of this great big bag of sin and flesh and death we can't leave the kingdom of the world and enter the kingdom of God -- because nothing from this world -- not our material or our spiritual possessions or anything we might have in our bag -- not even pavement -- can pass through the gates leading to the kingdom of heaven
-- in order to go to heaven -- in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, then, we have to get rid of all this stuff and separate ourselves from it -- in other words, we have to leave and cleave it
-- but we can't -- there is no way we can do it in our own strength -- we are too corrupted and too sinful to put all of this aside
-- so that's where the cross comes in -- the cross put an end to sin -- it put an end to death -- it put an end to our sin nature and to all the old things of our life -- when Jesus went to the cross, He paid the price with His own body and blood to separate us from the things of the kingdom of the world
-- when He died on the cross, He carried us with Him, along with our great big bag of stuff -- and when He died, we died with Him
-- look back at verse 1 in this passage
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 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 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.
-- Paul tells us quite clearly here that our old self was crucified with Christ -- we were united with Jesus in death so that we might be able to leave and cleave from the old things of this world
-- hold your place here and flip over to Colossians 2
13. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
14. having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
15. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
-- all our sins -- everything that we had in our great big bag that we carried with us -- all of it was nailed to the cross with Christ and we bear it no more -- that is why Jesus cried from the cross, "It is finished"
-- when Jesus died on the cross, He made the cross a great eraser for us -- all of our old life -- all of our sins -- and our sin nature -- and our bodies -- and our very life -- was erased and taken away and we were left with a nice clean slate
-- that's the purpose of the cross
-- but the story of Christ doesn't end on Good Friday, does it? -- Christ did more than just die on the cross to make us nice and clean and leave us in the kingdom of the world -- look at verse 8
8. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
-- when Jesus was on the cross and the one thief repented of his sins and put his trust in Jesus, Jesus told him, "Today you will be with me in Paradise" -- when Jesus died on the cross, He changed addresses -- He opened the gate that led to the Kingdom of God and went through it, carrying with Him all those who believed and trusted in His name and in His finished work on the cross
-- in this verse, Paul is basically telling the Romans, "There's more to it than the cross -- after we have died on the cross with Christ -- it's time to change addresses"
-- and that's where the resurrection comes in
-- the word "resurrection" means that something that was dead is made alive again -- Paul says, "we died with Christ, now we will be alive with Christ" -- but we will not be the same as we once were
-- when we were baptized with Christ in death, all of our old was washed away -- all of the old was nailed to the cross and destroyed -- it no longer exists -- so we enter into a new life with Christ -- we cross over into the new Kingdom
-- if you would, turn over to 1 Corinthians 15 and we'll end there
-- in this epistle -- in this letter to the Church at Corinth -- Paul is trying to help the carnal, worldly minded Corinthians understand what happened when they put their faith and trust in Jesus
-- they were thinking that they were made clean and new at the cross so they could live a better life here on earth as part of the kingdom of the world -- but Paul says, "No, you're not part of that any longer -- all of the old has passed away and you now have a new life and a new body"
-- look down at verse 42
42. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;
43. it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44. it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
45. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being" ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
46. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
47. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
48. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
49. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
50. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--
52. in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
54. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
55. "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
56. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58. 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.
-- now here's what Paul's saying -- when you were in the kingdom of the world, you were a natural person and you carried with you the things that marked you as a member of that kingdom -- your flesh and blood -- your life -- your sin -- and your sin nature
-- but now, because of the cross, all that was of the old has been destroyed -- it has been executed -- put to death -- crucified with Christ
-- and now, because of the resurrection, you are changed -- where once you had a mortal body, now you have an immortal body -- where once you lived in dishonor, now you live in honor -- where once you were weak, now you have the power of Christ -- where once you had a natural body, now you have a spiritual body
-- the resurrection did not just make the old better -- but it made the old new
-- working in the Environmental Office at Moody Air Force Base, we are caught up in this green movement that's sweeping this country -- everybody wants to recycle and to protect the environment -- companies are touting that they are "green" companies -- and I read a news article this week that said even the Baptists are now on board with being green
-- but I want to make one point clear -- God doesn't recycle -- God doesn't take the old and make it usable again -- He didn't die on the cross to fix us and make us better suited to live again in this world -- God's into making new things -- not making the old things better
-- in Ezekiel 36:26-27, God tells us, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh -- and I will put my Spirit in you"
-- in 2 Peter 3:13, Peter tells us to look forward to the new earth and the new heaven that God is making
-- and in Revelation 21:5, Jesus says, "Behold, I make all things new"
-- the cross was about getting rid of the old and the resurrection was about creating the new
-- when you come to Christ -- when you trust in Him in faith for the forgiveness of your sins and believe in your heart that He was God and that He paid the full price for your sins -- God doesn't just recycle you and make you better -- He makes you new so that you might be able to enter into His kingdom
-- that's why we call salvation being "born again" -- Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus that he had to be born again -- first, he had to be born of water -- born into the kingdom of the world -- born into natural life -- but then he had to be born of the Spirit -- born into the kingdom of God
-- the cross and the resurrection are God's way of birthing us into the new kingdom -- of separating us from the old -- of helping us leave and cleave our former way of life -- and to enter into a new life with a new body and a new heart and a new spirit -- as we enter His kingdom
-- the Bible tells us that this is the only way -- the old just can't enter the new -- you can do whatever you want to do -- you can read all the self-help books that you want -- you can follow all the latest fads and cleansings -- you can become legalistic and try to live a morally perfect life -- but it doesn't matter -- you're still part of the old can't inherit the new
-- like the old saying goes, "You can take a pig, dress it up, put lipstick on it and call it whatever you want to, but it's still a pig"
-- the only way to enter into the kingdom of God is to be born again -- to be made new -- not recycled -- not reincarnated -- but made new
-- to come into the kingdom of God by way of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus
-- in my opinion, one of the greatest hymns that was ever written was, "Just As I Am" by Charlotte Elliott
-- just listen to the words in the first two verses of this song:
Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bidst me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
-- Jesus wants us to come to His cross just as we are, warts and all, because it's not about making us better -- it's not about dressing us up and putting lipstick on us and making the outside new -- it's not about cleansing us and giving us a fresh new start in this kingdom
-- No, Jesus wants us to come to His cross just as we are, so that He can put to death all our old life -- all our old ways -- all our old sins and our old sin nature -- and so He can make us new creatures through His resurrection
-- 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
-- can you say this about your life? -- if not, then I'd invite you to respond to God's word as you feel led
-- Let us pray
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