Jesus Offers New Life
From Death to Life • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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***Play the Video after I pray and dismiss the children***
Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Today we celebrate new life that Jesus gives us by what he accomplished. Let’s read first from Luke chapter 24...
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Each of the Gospels tells of this scene. The tomb was empty. In each account, we see where the disciples were a bit perplexed by what they saw. As it says here in Luke, Peter went away wondering.
Fortunately, we are no longer wondering. Jesus rose from death just as he said he would. It would take the disciples a little bit to grasp fully what was accomplished. Today we have the writings of the New Testament to lay it out for us.
This morning, I am going to let scripture do most of the preaching. Let’s start first with Romans chapter 6...
As we read this morning, make note of this pattern of death and then life.
In Chapter 5, Paul outlines for us that the result of sin coming into the world through Adam was death, but the act of Jesus dying on the cross and being resurrected resulted in life. Not just eternal life, but new life.
The result of what Jesus did was that our sin, which deserves punishment, would instead be met with grace. That’s where we then pick up chapter 6...
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
In verse 2, we see the first of several times Paul uses the phrase “died to sin” or “dead to sin”. Have you ever heard the phrase “you are dead to me”? When someone says that, it doesn’t mean someone is actually dead, it means that person is being cut off from the other’s life. In the same way, God, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit has provide us a way to have died to sin…to cut it off, to make it no longer part of our regular life.
It doesn’t mean that we won’t ever sin again, but it does mean that in Christ we have a way to be free from sin and no longer live in it.
And Paul emphasizes that just because we have grace, that doesn’t give us a free pass to continue in our sin.
Verse 3...
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.
I love how our obedient act of baptism identifies us with Christ. We acknowledge the work of the cross in putting sin to death, and then in baptism we are buried into that death, and raised to new life.
Jesus’ Resurrection means that we may live a new life. Not only eternal life, but a new life here and now. Jesus did that for us.
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 sin might 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.
Did you catch that - our old self, ruled by sin was crucified with Christ. Our old self has been put to death in order that we would be set free from sin. In order to have new life, death of the old must come first.
Unfortunately, there is this temptation to continue to hold on to our old self. To continue to be slaves to our sin. This is the lie of the enemy. He convinces us that our sin is no big deal and as a result, we maintain our slavery to sin. What will it take to be fully united with Christ in his death. Death that put sin away for good. Death that offers an abundant life.
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.
Christ’s death was a one and done event. We no longer have to pay for our sin as Jesus already did that for us. If a debt is paid, we don’t keep sending a check. Likewise the penalty for our sin has been paid by Jesus death on the cross.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Christ’s death and resurrection make a way for us to live life in a way that we are dead to sin, but alive to God. The world’s greatest problem with Christianity is not with Christ, it’s problem is with Christians who act no different than the world.
Paul continues with what this practically looks like:
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
I want to read that again...
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Who sits on the throne of your heart? Have you invited Jesus in to that role in your life? Jesus went to the cross as our sin, in our place, not just to cover our eternal debt, but to bring us from death to life. Life in this place, in this time. To set us free from our slavery to sin.
I imagine some of us, if we are brutally honest, at times we kick Jesus off that throne and we put our sinful desires in charge. When we do that, we invite death into our life. Jesus desires for us to have life and life abundantly. We are to not offer an part of ourselves to sin, rather we are to offer our entire selves to God.To live as though we’ve been brought from death to life.
Let’s read a little further...
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Sin = Death, obedience to God = righteousness.
17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
Again, Paul reiterates that the benefit we reap of sin is death. Death in our relationships, death in our spirit, death of our joy, death of our hope. DEATH. BUT...
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The benefit of what Jesus did is that we reap holiness and the ultimate result is eternal life.
I want to ask again…who sits on the throne of your heart and your heart’s desire? Jesus offers you a free gift. He has paid the entire penalty of your sin. He has suffered death, but he didn’t stay there. He rose again showing that he has conquered death once and for all. He offers a free gift of eternal life and the gift of life now.
Have you accepted his gift? If not, today Jesus offers you this free gift of life. What will your answer be? Will you personally accept that gift?
I am going to have the worship team come back up and sing. While they are singing, if you would like to accept Jesus gift of life, please come. There will be people waiting at the front to pray with you to accept that gift. Don’t leave here today with inviting Jesus to be on the throne of your heart.