Risen With Christ

Text: John 11:20-26; Romans 6:

Introduction: Most Easter services will center around the events of the Sunday after Christ’s crucifixion on Friday. However, if we pay attention to what Jesus said to Mary at Lazarus’ grave, and to what Paul later wrote to the Romans, Ephesians and Colossians, we find that there is a deeper meaning to the resurrection...it includes those who are “in Christ Jesus”. This morning I want to unpack those messages and make application to our lives going forward.

Examination:

I am the Resurrection and the Life.

John 11:20–26 “As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?””

Martha was theologically correct, but she did not have the whole picture. She was right in her assumption that her brother would “rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” What she didn’t understand at the moment was that because Lazarus believed in Jesus, he was already resurrected even though his earth suit (body) was in the tomb.

Our resurrection comes before our re-unification. If we are “in Christ” which happens when we surrender to Him, we are resurrected when He is resurrected. What happens at the “last day” is that our being (spirit) is re-united with our body, which has been totally transformed into a body just like the one Jesus had after His resurrection.

Paul explained this to believers in three different NT churches.

2. Baptized into Christ Jesus

Romans 6:1–11 “What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him, because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, will not die again. Death no longer rules over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all time; but the life He lives, He lives to God. So, you too consider yourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God IN CHRIST JESUS.”

We don’t have to wait until heaven to live the resurrected life. The moment we surrender to Jesus, we become part of Him in His past, present and future.

How old and how big is the ocean? If I were to go to either the Atlantic or the Pacific coasts and jump into the ocean, how much of it have I jumped into? Is it possible for me to jump into the “now” ocean without jumping into the “then and future” ocean?

In the same way, when I was baptized into Christ Jesus (not water baptism, but rather spiritual baptism that happens at the moment of surrender) I became part of Jesus past, Jesus present, and Jesus future. But, just like a human baby, there is growing and maturing that is needed. Paul reminded us of this when he wrote in Romans 8:29 “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” That is called discipleship. Discipleship is not completing book or a study, but it is learning to surrender daily to the Holy Spirit in you so that He can “guide you into all truth” (John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.” ) and empower you to tell your story of salvation to people. (Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” )

3. Raised up and seated with Christ in heaven.

Ephesians 2:4–10 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

You may have been told when you are going through a tough time “Keep looking up”. If you are in Christ, the right direction for you to look is DOWN because you are now seated with Christ in heaven. We talk about people “going to be with Jesus” when they die. If they die without “being with Jesus”, they will never be with Jesus.

The moment you surrender to Jesus, you are relocated to headquarters. You will still spend time here on earth, but your time spent here is like a business trip. You will be serving as an Ambassador for Christ 2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.””

4. A New Mind-set

Colossians 3:1–4 “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

One of the ways you can be sure of your salvation is that you will think more and more about heaven and less and less about “earthly things”. In v1 of this passage there is a small word with HUGE importance. The word, of course, is IF. If you have surrendered to Christ, you are at the FRONT END of the Christian life. There is more than walking an aisle, being baptized, and taking a new members course. There must be a new way of thinking. You will need to (and want to) begin setting your mind (like setting a clock) on “things above”. John wrote all about “things above” in the book of Revelation. That is why he wrote in the introduction to the book Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.”

We should not read it to get a time-line for the second coming of Christ, but rather to get a picture of what heaven is like. Reading Revelation will whet our appetite for “things above”.

APPLICATION:

Have you been “baptized into Christ Jesus”?

Are you “seated with Christ in the heavens”?

Do you have a new MIND-SET that causes you to seek the things above over the things on the earth?

If you can’t say a resounding “Yes” to each of these, perhaps today your should consider that the reason Christ died on the cross, was buried for 3 days, and rose from the dead was so that you could say “yes” to each of these questions. As I pray in a moment I will include one sentence that I will ask you to pray after me...if you have never done so. If you pray this from your heart, you’ll be able to answer the questions asked today with a hearty “Yes”.