04/12/2023
On April ninth we concluded that we can, and should, find ourselves crucified with Jesus, so this morning we will ask ourselves another question... are we resurrected with Him as well, and what does that mean in our lives.
“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.”
Romans 6:5 ESV
Paul makes this bold statement about the new life we will find within ourselves once we have been crucified with Jesus. We then, following the death of our old selves, find ourselves inoculated with a full dose of Jesus, and our recovery from sin goes into full swing. Oswald Chambers writes about this conversion in these words...
"I can have the resurrection life of Jesus now, and it will show itself in holiness.
The idea all through the Apostle Paul's writings is that after the moral decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus invades every bit of my human nature." - Oswald Chambers
Our life changes with the infusion of Jesus and the Holy Spirit into our lives and bodies. The good work begins within us and continues to increase as it defeats the remnants of sin and completes the work that the cross began; such that when Jesus returns to claim us we will be the full likeness of Him, and ready for His seal and to walk with Him into judgement.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6 ESV
I have a letter that my father wrote my grandmother from a hospital in England after he had been badly wounded while fighting in Germany during World War II. After telling her that he was alright and was recovering he made an incredible statement... he said "This penicillin is a wonder drug!" You see, this antibiotic was new at that time, and it defeated the infection that had invaded his body when shrapnel riddled it.
Sin riddles our bodies from birth and its infection begins killing us as it does; just as was the case with my father's body when it was opened and filled with metal, mud, and microscopic creatures that rode in among those things. The doctors could clean out as much as humanly possible, sew him up, and treat the wounds, but it took something new, something amazing, to defeat the microorganisms that were killing him from within. It took penicillin.
Before we are resurrected with Jesus, we can try to heal ourselves. We can attempt to lead moral lives and do good things, but our body has been invaded by sin, and we have no hope in defeating what is thriving within it. We need an amazing new breakthrough... we need to die and then be resurrected with Jesus Christ... but we also need to be inoculated with the life that is Him so that He can combat and defeat the sin that has permeated our bodies and lives.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6 ESV
We feel the effects of our new life the moment we are resurrected with Christ. His impact is immediate, but there is a recovery period in which He continues to heal us. My father returned to the front lines, but it took a few weeks after being treated, it took him a while to recuperate, and for the penicillin to eradicate all traces of infection. It is the same for our spiritual lives... although we are saved and the sin is forgiven, it takes a period of time for our new injection of life to complete its work in us.
“Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
John 8;10-11
So yes, we are resurrected with Jesus, and yes, we are forgiven and saved, but that is not the end; our convalescence lasts most, if not all, of our lives. But we have indeed been resurrected, and we have been injected with that full dose of life, that is Christ. So the recovery is certain and our letter home to all who would hear should read... "This Jesus is a wonder! I was dead but now I live. He has saved me from death and sin!"
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus who has redeemed me. I thank you father for the restorative properties of his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. I feel His presence within me every day and know that in Him I am saved. Lord, I was filled with sin and without hope, but through your grace and mercy I am now walking with your Son and becoming more like Him with each passing day. Give me the strength to recover completely from the effects of sin by His sacrifice and a lifetime of welcoming Him within me. Forgive me Father for my sins, and heal me now of their ravages. Let my skin that is pocked with the sores of a sinner become like that of Naaman the leper who you healed... for you are merciful and full of grace, and your Son Jesus is in you, and you are in Him.
“So he [Naaman] went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
2 Kings 5:14 ESV
Rich Forbes