The Fullness of Christ

Romans 6:3–11 ESV

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 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 also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

A. Partial vs. Fully Christianity

In this reading we find Paul’s famous phrase “To live is Christ, to die is gain” fleshed out a bit more. We learn what he means by the “advantage of death” and what he means “to live is Christ.”

What we have read here is the total package of Christianity that Jesus accomplishes over 3 days. Jesus’ death gives us an advantage of death, and the advantage of a new life. Before we look at these individually, a word of caution must be made. We often create a false dyconomy between death and resurrection. We speak of them as two separate things that accomplish two different results. Paul does not talk this way. Paul simply shows that one leads to the other. They are interconnected. They are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. We must emphasize this point because the majority of Christians break the two in half and at the same time separate themselves from Christ in doing so.

Here is the breakdown of what we learn from Paul concerning the death and resurrection of Christ:

There is death and there is resurrection. There is Christ and there is you.

The death of Christ atones for sins and renders sin ineffective over the life of those who will follow Jesus in death through baptism.

The resurrection of Christ affords you a new life where righteousness and holiness are now possible outcomes through the Holy Spirit, who is building a new life in you.

It is the death that comes first and then the new life forms. It is Christ who accomplishes, and invites us to share in His accomplishments. There are no division, only one flowing into the other. Christians who only concern themselves with the forgiveness of sin (accomplished in the death of Christ) are not fully Christian, only part Christian. To be fully Christian you must take on the likeness of not only the death of Christ, but also the likeness of the resurrected life of Christ (Rom 6:5). It is true that the death of Christ on the Cross deals with sin and opens up the way to having a relationship with God. But if we stop there, then we fall short of actually getting to experience the relationship with God that Jesus paid for us to have and Paul teaches us was the purpose of Christ’s Death (Rom. 6:4). Stopping at the death of Jesus only communicates a half truth. The whole truth is that the Resurrection of Jesus allows you to experience a new life walking IN relationship with God. It is not a possibility is it a reality.

No one ever asks someone to marry them just to check it off their list, but who actually never gets married. No, we ask someone we love to marry us so we can live with them. So we can experience life with them. Many of you have said “yes” to a relationship with Jesus, but have never lived out one day of being in a relationship with Him. You might claim that Jesus is your husband, but you aren’t even living together. The Resurrection of Jesus is all about life and doing life together in him and through him and for him.

If you want to experience a full relationship with Jesus where you are building intimacy with Him, there here are two things you need to do:

1. Put down the old man (Romans 6:6).

The old man seems to still have its presence in this new life. Friend, don’t confuse life with what is a mere ghost. It is a powerless spasm that often comes with things dying. It is a chicken with its head cut off that flips around not because it is alive but because it is dying. It is a fish out of water trying to grasp to get back to the place where it was living. Let the old man of sin run fatally wounded until it comes rest in the field totally lifeless. Don’t chase after it. Don’t seek to bandage it wounds. Let it die. The old man will strive to beg you for its life back. He will seek to take just a foothold if it means an extra moment of life. But kick it off and let him die never to live again. Those of us who have died with Christ and who live in Christ must never exchange the power of the new life to resuscitate the old man. Yet many of us do this. Quit breathing into the mouth that is an open grave postponing his death. Instead, conduct a funeral, and don’t be kind. Tell the truth. You body of sin are dead to me. You have no power, no effect upon me. I do not pity you. It is because of you did my savior bleed. So, do not mourn, do not look back, do not remember the old man anymore. Instead take the hand of the risen Jesus and walk with him in a new life towards holiness.

Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow him. You know why we carry a cross so that we can best to death the old man of sin and keep him from crashing our new life in Christ.

2. Pick up the new life (Rom 6:4)- to God in Christ (Rom 6:11).

Paul really answers this question best in one of our lectionary readings for today. So there is not need to reinvent the wheel here. In order to pick up the new life found in the resurrection of Christ, we need to do what Paul says in Colossians 3.

Colossians 3:1–4 NASB95

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

a. Heavenly Motivated- your actions characterize the actions of Christ as He presently sits upon the throne. He intercedes for others, Speaks to others, puts enemies under his feet, upholds everything according to the counsel of his will. All we do is motivated towards these ends. We pray, we share, we help, we put evil and sin in its properly place, we seek God’s will not our own.

b. Heavenly Minded- We take every thought captive and interrogate it with the mind of Christ. If it be not of His mind we cast it out, if it is a thought that Jesus would have we allow it to grow into action. We seek to have our minds renewed by God’s word to see things like Christ does which is contradictory to the way the world see things. We have to adjust our way of thinking and conform it Jesus’ which is revealed in God’s Word. For He has given us everything we need for life and godliness.

c. Holy Devoted- No one can tell where you end and Jesus begins. You look more like Jesus today than you did the day before. You investigate the life of Jesus, found in the gospels, and you seek to follow Him in all the ways. He spends time in the synagogues listening to teaching and teaching, growing in wisdom and stature, tend to those who are sick and poor empowered by the Holy Spirit, Spend time with the Father, Disciple others, Cast out demons, maintaining his innocence, participating in the celebrations of God’s people, forgiving sin, serving others, standing for what is right and standing against what would rob God of His glory. Giving his life for another. These are the things that the Holy life is all about, and the Holy Life is what the Resurrection of Jesus is all about. Experiencing what a full relationship with God is like. Him showing His Glory and we reflecting it.

A new day dawns by the first beam of light. A new day brings another opportunity to live into a full relationship with God. It affords those who have only been living as partial Christians to seize the day being full Christians. Where does your relationship with God fall? Are you stuck in the same place where you were set freed from sin? Or have you moved from that place and enjoying the fullness of all that Christ has accomplished. Don’t settle, Get all there is to have in Christ. Live your life in the likeness of both his death and resurrection so that you can experience the fullness of Christ and all he offers. And if you are experiencing a full relationship with God that is Holy devoted, then who are you bringing along with you. How can you help others to get to where you are? All of us have more we can be doing, so lets get going.