In the Likeness of His Resurrection
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5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
Every year we celebrate the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday as do millions of other churches around the globe. The brith, life, death and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events in the history of mankind. Everything points to this time and due to the Gregorian calendar being by far the most popular and widely excepted calendar in the world even if anyone uses another calendar system they will have to reference the Gregorian calendar. Which means everyone in the world no matter what your age, nationality, race, or faith everyone has to acknowledge Jesus every time they write the date. In the year of our Lord 2024.
The resurrection of Christ shook the world and changed everything and it is still the most significant and relevant event ever.
The resurrection of Jesus means that He was indeed who He said He was - The Son of God.
It means that everything that He said was true. That the Gospel is true
It means that Jesus conquered death.
It means that we also will be raised from the dead.
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
So we know that the resurrection means that we will also be raised from the dead and this is our Christian hope, but what does the resurrection mean for us on a daily basis? How are we impacted by the resurrection on the other 364 days of the year?
Thats what I would like ot talk about this morning and that is what Paul is writing about in Romans chapter 6.
The question that Paul put forward at the beginning of Rom 6 is “Shall we continue in sin the grace may abound. Which might seem the logical conclusion of what he stated in Rom 5:20
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
So Paul uses the death burial and resurrection to argue that we should by no means continue in sin that grace may abound. And in doing so he answers the question “how does the death burial and resurrection of Jesus impact our daily lives?”
So why does the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus have anything to do with whether or not I continue in sin?
We find the word “united”in our text.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
The word used here actually means “planted together”. So there is a union so strong that we have grown up together in Christ. So intertwined that we have become one with Christ. and this union Paul links directly with the death and resurrection of Christ.
In the previous verses Paul shows this union to be pictured in our baptism.
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
So the picture of our baptism shows the union we have with the death burial and resurrection of Christ.
So if we are united with Christ then His death is my death, His burial is my burial and His resurrection is my resurrection.
Union with the Death of Jesus Means I Am Freed from the Tyranny of Sin
Union with the Death of Jesus Means I Am Freed from the Tyranny of Sin
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Paul tells us that something happened so that something would else would happen in order that a third thing would happen.
If we reverse the order it helps to see Paul’s train of thought. The end goal is that we be freed from the tyranny of sin.
The choice of words here gives us a glimpse into Paul’s response to the question “should we continue in sin that grace might abound?” The response is hard to translate into english and maintain the strength of the phrase. The direct translation would be “certainly not” but that doesn’t have the same force as the original language. The KJV translates it “God forbid” even though “Theos” is not in the original it conveys the strength a bit better. The very idea that someone would willing choose to go back to a cruel and hateful master like sin is crazy. Once we have seen the truth about sin, that it is a lie, that although sin promises fulness of life it only provides pain, suffering, and death then why would anyone want to fine a loop hole to go back to that lier. You no longer need to be a slave to sin, you’ve been freed.
Back to verse 6
The end purpose of God is that we be no longer slaves to sin. Before we can be freed from sin the body of sin must be destroyed.
What is the body of sin? We should not confuse this with “the sinful body” The idea that the body is sinful in a Gnostic teaching not Christian. The Bible teaches us that the body is is fearfully and wonderfully made and that it is part of God’s good creation. Most likely Paul has in mind the idea of the flesh here which is not the physical body but the fallen, self centred nature. This has the first be destroyed before we can have freedom from sin.
The word destroyed here is the same word used in Hebrews 2:14
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
So it is used in the same sense in our passage.
the flesh has been destroyed in that it’s power has been taken away and it’s fate has been sealed.
So how was this accomplished?
Our old man was crucified with Christ. This refers to the person we used to be before Christ.
So through union with Christ my old self was crucified with Christ which destroyed my carnal flesh which set me free from slavery to sin
Because Rom 6:7
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
So what does the resurrection have to do with my daily life?
Union With the Resurrection of Christ Means I Have a New Life
Union With the Resurrection of Christ Means I Have a New Life
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
So just as Christ died and was raised to live unto God, we as untied together with Christ our old person was crucified with Christ so that our flesh is destroyed so that we are no longer slaves to sin. And as united to Christ in His resurrection we should reckon ourselves dead to sin but raise and alive to God.
So how does the resurrection impact my daily life? It means that I no longer have to serve sin but i can walk in newness of life and live for God.
But this is a daily choice. Reckon (conclude) yourself dead to sin. Reckon yourself alive to God
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Who reigns in our life? Who is master?
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.