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Our new series will be titled:

Living the Resurrected Life

We just celebrated the weekend to remember.

We celebrated the world famous Passover.

And we celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus the Christ.

So, what do we do now that the Resurrection has happened?

How does knowing He got up change us now?

What kind of impact should it have on my day to day living?

That’s what I want to talk about today.

Today’s Message Title is:

“Living in the Power of the Risen Christ”

Question?

What does it mean to live daily considering the Resurrection?

What’s the point of all the hoopla and celebration if it has no benefit to me and others I come in contact with on a daily basis?

Turn to Romans 6.

Romans 6:4 ESV

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.

We are connected to Jesus through the Resurrection to walk in a newness of life.

Say, “Out with the old, in with the new.”

Let’s first look at this culturally and historically in its proper context.

Apostle Paul is using some Roman Baptism imagery here.

In the Greco-Roman world, baptism wasn’t just symbolic, it marked a radical shift in identity.

There was something called a mikvah that Jews did (ritual immersion) and it represented cleansing and conversion.

But Paul redefines it as a burial and resurrection with Christ.

To Paul’s readers in Rome, both Jewish and Gentile converts, dying to one way of life and rising into another was a serious and radical commitment.

Question?

Did you just have an emotional moment and repeat a prayer of salvation, or did you have a radical change?

Romans 6:5-6 ESV

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.

In the passage Paul uses some sin and slavery language.

The Roman culture was very familiar with slavery so they would be very familiar with these terms.

It’s estimated that 30-40% of Rome’s population were slaves at one point.

So, when Paul talks about being enslaved to sin and freed through death, his readers would immediately have understood the total control and loss of autonomy that sin once had over them.

And they would have understood the freedom and new allegiance they would now have in Christ.

When we read the writings of Apostle Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit we should be free from our prior enslavement to sin.

Before Christ I was bound to lust.

Before Christ I was bound to addictions.

Before Christ I was bound to self centeredness.

Before Christ I was bound to hatred.

Before Christ I was bound to my stinking thinking.

Before Christ it was all about me and what I wanted.

But post-resurrection and my acceptance of Him, I should be free from lust, addictions, self centeredness, hatred, stinking thinking and selfishness.

I should be living with a greater purpose.

Romans 6:7-8 ESV

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.

Question?

Have you really died with Christ?

Because the word is clear that if you have, then you should also be living with Him.

Why does it seem as if a lot of confessing Christians are still living the same way as they were with the exception of going to church on Sunday’s?

We should see a major difference in our lives.

Romans 6:9-11 ESV

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.

I think it’s pretty clear the expectations God has for His followers.

The question is, are His followers clear about the expectations?

As you read Paul’s writings there are some concepts we should know.

Let’s investigate some of the key concepts Paul used in his writing.

A. Baptism – Burial and resurrection (v.4)

How many of you have been baptized?

Baptism is not just a ritual that believers do.  

It’s the outward sign of our inward decision to die to our old self.

We should connect to Paul’s imagery.

Jesus was buried, so were we.

Jesus was raised, so were we to walk in a new life.

B. Crucifixion of the old self (v.6)

The “old self” is this phrase that in the Greek (Palais Anthropos) refers to our pre-Christ identity.

That person that existed prior to the knowledge of Christ doesn’t exist any longer.

C. Freedom from sin – Freedom from death (v.7-9)

In Roman law death was the end of a slave’s service.

We used to be alive/slaves to sin.

When we die with Christ, we are free from sin’s mastery over us.

When Jesus was resurrected, although he was alive, it meant that he couldn’t be crucified again. (Double Jeopardy)

We should see our old sin natured lives as dead and free of control by sin any longer.

D. Live unto God (v.10-11)

Jesus died once and that death was fully sufficient, complete and final.

So, now in response to this, we should live unto God with purposeful intent to live free from sin.

We discussed the earlier, what it means to live daily considering the Resurrection.

Additionally, it means that we have Victory over Sin and Shame

Let’s read the first few verses of Romans 8 and see how we can connect it to life after the resurrection.

Romans 8:1–11 ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those, who are in the flesh, cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

This passage helps understand the transforming role of the Spirit and how Jesus replaces the law as the requirement for righteousness.

Again, let’s investigate some key concepts Paul uses and how they should affect us.

Romans 8:1 – “No condemnation for those in Christ Jesus”

· Remember the tension from Romans 7. I do what I don’t want to do but what I want to do I don’t do.

· Paul, here is bringing relief to that tension. Don’t be in condemnation.

· Paul says the believer has no legal guilt before God, because of Christ our advocate.

· This also ties in with post Passover and resurrection living.

Just as the blood of the lamb in Exodus spared the Israelites from judgement, the blood of Jesus, our Passover lamb removes condemnation for those who are “In Him.”

Romans 8:2 – “The law of the Spirit … has set you free”

· “Law” here doesn’t mean the Torah. It’s the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit.

· Israel was delivered from Egypt, but the Law couldn’t change their hearts.

· It only exposed sin but couldn’t free them from it.

· Jesus did what the Law couldn’t do.

Romans 8:3 – “God did what the law could not do…”

· God had to send His son in the likeness of flesh. Jesus was fully human, yet without sin.

· He had to walk it out and deal with sin once and for all.

· Let’s not forget or overlook that Jesus gave us the example of how to live and not be enslaved to sin.

Romans 8:4 – “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you…”

· The Resurrection wasn’t just a historical event to look back on and celebrate.

· It is a new mode of existence.

· The Holy Spirit that raised Jesus now lives in believers.

· 1st, He brings spiritual renewal in the present time.

· 2nd, He will resurrect us in bodily form later as we get our spiritual bodies.

How can we apply this to our lives?

1. Live Forgiven – You’re no longer condemned. Don’t let guilt be a driver in your life.

2. Live Empowered – Tap into the Spirit that is in you to help you.

3. Live Differently – Don’t live as a slave to sin like the world. Walk in your Spirit empowered freedom.

4. Live with Hope – There is nothing to be hopeless about as a believer. Your future is secured. Live like it.

What is Holy Spirit saying to you?

Thank you for tuning in and we’ll see you next week.