Alive in Christ

Outline

Have you ever thought or ever prayed, ‘Lord, surely there is more to it than this?’

Let’s look at some verses from Romans that make it very clear that there is definitely more.

Key Points & Scriptures

Romans 6: 1- 14

• Verses 1 – 10 tell us what happens to us when we say yes to Jesus. And Verses 11-14 deals with what our response to these truths should be.

THE SPIRITUAL TRUTH

• God hasn’t just rescued us FROM something; He’s rescued us FOR something.

• God hasn’t just dealt with our past; He’s given us a future.

• We haven’t just been rescued from sin we’ve been rescued for a life in the Spirit.

• When we say yes to Jesus, God brings us to life. And it’s because we’re Alive in Christ that we’re in a position to realise ‘The More’ that God has in store for us .

• When Jesus died on the cross and was raised to life it more than compensated for the death and destruction that was caused when humanity decided to rebel and do its own thing. 

• The cross didn’t re-balance the universe. It didn’t just smooth things over and bring harmony. It totally and utterly destroyed the strangle hold that sin and the devil had on humanity.

• Human logic might argue that we should continue to sin because it gives God more opportunity to demonstrate His awesome, powerful amazing love and grace.

• But in verse 2 he says “STOP”! We’ve actually died to sin, so it’s not something we should be living in any more.
  
• His next words are incredibly important – “or do you not know” – In other words, if that’s your argument you fundamentally misunderstand what happened to you when you became a Christian.

• So what did happen to us? Well, simply put we died.

• Verse 3 tells us that in that moment when we became a Christian, something inside us died. Our old rebellious, sinful, independent nature was killed off.

• Verses 6 & 7 show us that we have to be united with Christ in his death, so that our relationship towards sin can be changed. It no longer has any hold on us!

• God didn’t just cancel our debt and leave us to struggle on; no he set us free from what was enslaving us in the first place.

• The cross made it possible for the old nature to be dealt with and done away with.
• Not only is there a death but there is also a resurrection! Galatians 2: 20

• God replaced the old life with a new life, a life to be lived towards God.

• It’s a life no longer dominated by our old ways of thinking and living. 2 corinthians 5: 17

• To put it another way, we’ve had our citizenship changed. Colossians 1: 13 – 14

• To sum up this section – When we are born again, the spiritual reality is that all the old stuff was dealt with and that God exchanged our old life with a new one. And out of this new life comes ‘The More’ that we all want to experience.
  

OUR RESPONSE TO THAT TRUTH

• Perhaps you’re thinking, “well that’s all very nice and theoretical but you don’t know the stuff I’m struggling with. My experience is that the old self is very much still alive and kicking.”

• The challenge is, do we lower our theology to align with our experience, or, do we allow God to align our experience with His word? 

• Closing the gap between our daily experience and the objective spiritual truth that we are dead to sin is a journey that will last a lifetime and one we won’t complete this side of eternity.

• The first thing we need to do is really get hold of what Paul is saying in verses 1 – 10.

• Verse 11 – We then need to respond to that revelation – “Count yourself”

• When we get hold of these truths our perspective changes. The angle from which we view things changes.

• It’s not just about being dead to sin – This can lead to us putting in place rules and regulations to make sure we don’t sin – It’s about being alive to God.

• We’re to decide to live out the truth that we are people who have been brought from death to life. And to offer ourselves to God. 2 Tim 2: 20 – 21
    

Conclusion

This passage ends starts and ends with grace   

Verse 14 – For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Grace doesn’t give us freedom to sin; it gives us freedom from sin!

When we get hold of this revelation and start applying it, it will completely change our spiritual lives. BIGGER, BOLDER AND MORE EFFECTIVE. We’ll step into ‘The More’ that God has for each of us.

Life application questions

1. Are there any areas of my life where I need to die?
2. What does the “More of God” mean for me?
3. What actions is God asking me to take to step into “The More”?