Living with Christ

Romans 6:3-11 -

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 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sinmight be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

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. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

As I prepared for the message this morning, I could not help but to think of the differences between Christ and myself.  We spend our entire lives comparing our inadequacies to the perfections of Christ.  When we do this, we soon realize that we will never measure up.  So, the question then becomes why?  Why should we strive for perfection when it is more than impossible to obtain.  Should we do it so we can guarantee our seat in Heaven?  Should we do it so we can show others just how pious we really are?  Should we do it so we can feel better about ourselves?  These inadequacies eat at us and drive us away from our faith.  They discourage us from doing things we know we should because we know we will fall short regardless of how hard we try.  The differences between you and I and Christ create a gap that is so large it seems to go on forever and gives us the impression that we will never reach the other side.

When I read this scripture I think that Paul is comforting the Romans about those same doubts.  What is the one thing that every single person here and across the entire planet have in common with Christ?  This is not a trick question and if you paid attention to the scripture, you know the answer already... Every single person dies just as Christ died.  Our earthly bodies will all perish just as Christ’s did.  No matter the life we have lived, no matter which part of the world people are from we all have this commonality with Jesus.  You are probably thinking, “Good job captain obvious, you can say this about anyone who has died.”  But Christ’s death was different, it was special.  It wasn’t just special because of how he died; it wasn’t just special because we often view his death as a punishment of our sin; it wasn’t just special because he was the Son of God.  More than each of those things, it was special because of how he lived.  The reason Christ’s death was so special is because of what he did with his life.  And this morning, I want to encourage you to do the same.  I want you to live like Christ.  Sure, you won’t go around turning water into wine, but if you do, I got a business idea for you, but we can impact lives just as Christ did.  We can help those in need just as Christ did.  We can feed the hungry just as Christ did.  Since we have died with Christ, verse 8 says, “...we believe that we will also live with him.”  This morning we celebrate a risen Lord! Paul goes onto to tell us that once we die, we cannot die again, therefore death no longer has mastery or rule over us.  But once we die, Christ has shown us that we can definitely live again!  And that is exactly why we are gathered here this morning, to celebrate exactly that.  We are here worshipping a God who continue to live.

Jesus died only once but he lived twice.  Let that sink in, Jesus died once, but he lived twice.  Let us carry that with us in all that we do.  Our faith is not about death, it is about living and how we choose to live.  But you still may be thinking to yourself that I have not lived even close to the way I should, I am here to tell you that I don’t care and believe it or not, God most likely doesn’t either.  The issue with sin is that it makes us feel that there is nothing that God could do to forgive that sin.  We may know that Christ died and God rose him from the dead, yet that sin still seems to heavy to let go of.  I am here to tell you this morning that there is no such thing.  There is nothing greater than the love and grace of God.  If we were to read a little further in Romans we would see Paul also making this argument in chapter 8: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine, or nakedness or danger or sword?...  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither life nor death, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  There is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God.  Even when we turn our backs on God, he will still welcome us as the story of the prodigal son demonstrates God’s love through a son who left and spent his inheritance and a father that welcomed him back home with open arms.

However, it is easy to think that if God truly loves us this much and forgives us despite 

everything then we can go about our lives without really giving much thought to God and faith.  While 

it is true that God would love you despite this way of thinking, don’t you want more though?  Don’t 

you want to live for something more than giving into the temptations of this life?  Do you remember 

the questions I asked in the beginning about why we should have faith at all?  Here is where we find 

the answer: we have faith so we can truly live.  Just as Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was a symbol 

of God’s love we too can carry on that love in the actions of everyday life.  If you want to live and to 

truly be alive, take up your cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus.  Don’t do it out of guilt or 

shame; instead, do it as an example to your family, to your friends, to complete strangers that God 

has found a home in your heart.  This morning we are celebrating the risen Lord and this morning we 

are celebrating a new beginning, a new life with our hearts and minds firmly entrenched in love, 

mercy and grace of God.  Amen.