Rooted In Christ, Part Two
March 26, 2019
I want to show you a picture this morning. It’s a picture of an iceberg. On the surface, an iceberg is beautiful sitting there surrounded by water. But what you don’t see is what’s hidden underneath. When you look at the invisible realities of an iceberg, you see that it has great depth. Even though it is it’s floating in the sea it is an object that’s incredibly secure.And displays such unprecedented power. What I love about this image is that it illustrates a number of unseen realities of our union with Christ that God gave us to help us live our faith with great strength and confidence.
Today, I want to unpack some of the unseen realities of our new life “in Christ.” Like we noted last week, the moment you trust in Jesus, God doesn’t just join your life to Jesus. But now, Being “in Christ” Changes Everything About You Last week, we learned thatbeing in Christ changed your story. He’s always wanted a relationship with you. As Scripture said: He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him. Now that you are in Christ you are connected to God’s story. A Story that started long ago and continues today. You are part of the history of God’s people. And as a resulted of being connected to God’s story is that, God changed your identity. His plan was to make you part of His family, so He adopted you both legally and spiritually in Christ. And now the Spirit of Christ dwells in you so that you not only carry the spiritual DNA of Christ, but now you can call on God as your own Father. You truly and will always belong to Him as His beloved child. And this change is directly related to the next change: Being rooted in Christ changed your destiny. God joined your life to Christ, so He could transform the sin-scared image of God in you, into the image of Jesus Christ. Our destiny is to become likeJesus: to grow in obedience like him, to live in dependence like him, to think, serve and love like Him, so our lives might bring God glory.
And so today we’re going to continue to reveal how being in Christ changes everything about you, beginning with the actual picture of what happened when God united your life with Jesus’ life. It’s the picture of your spiritual baptism that took place when you believed that’s recorded for us in Romans 6, and reads like this: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. Romans 6:4
Your new reality is this: when you put your trust in Jesus, God united your life with Christ so that you were united in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. At the moment of your salvation, God united your life with Jesus in his crucifixion. At that moment you died with Christ, and were buried with Christ. The old you was put to death. But that wasn’t the end, for when Jesus rose from the dead to new life, you rose with Him. Now you have a new life. And now your life is full of all kinds of hidden realities that are meant to give your new life incredible depth, security and power that will enable you to live with a new strength and confidence in God. So let’s look at that first hidden reality:
You have a new relationship“in Christ” The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:10-11You are now alive to God in Christ. What that means is that you now have the potential to enjoy the same kind of relationship with the Father that Jesus enjoys. In fact, this new reality is the answer to Jesus’ prayerin John 17, where he prayed: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-23
Christ is now in you. That means you can know the depth of the love the Father has for Jesus. You can rest in His acceptance of you. Now you can know His approval. And now you can know what’s on God’s heart. You can know why He created you, and where true joy is found. It’s found in knowing God. This is why God saved you. This is why God united you with Jesus. God saved You to Be With Him.This is why the marriage union is such a powerful picture of our new relationship with God.
When I married Becky, I didn’t marry her so she could do stuff for me. I didn’t enter this relationship to bargain for her love. No, I married her to be with her. I married her to share in the ups and downs of life. Knowing that she would be with me in the good times and the bad. What a joy knowing that she’s in this relationship to be with me, not to just get stuff from me. When I am with her, I am home, there’s nothing to prove. I can be at rest and just enjoy her company.
That’s why God joined you to Jesus. So He could enjoy you, know you and you could enjoy Him and know Him. His love for you runs deep. He loved you before time began. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. When sin blinded you from His love, He kept pursuing you. And the moment you came to faith, He poured out His mercy on you, covered you with His righteousness and gave you all the riches of His grace. But He didn’t do all that just so you could live a guilt free life. He did it so you could experience the same unity of relationship that Jesus experiences. So you could cease striving, come home, be still and know that He is God.
Years ago, Dan Rather interviewed Mother Teresa. He asked her, “When you pray, whatdo you say to God?”
“I don’t say anything,” she replied. “I listen.”
“Okay,” Rather said, taking another shot at it. “When God speaks to you, then, what doesHe say?”
“He doesn’t say anything. He listens.”
Rather didn’t know how to continue. He was baffled.
“And if you don’t understand that,” Mother Teresa replied, “I can’t explain it to you.”
The reason Mother Teresa couldn’t explain her communion with God, is that it’s not something that can be articulated with words. It’s an experience of a heart that’s at rest in God’s presence. That’s why God united you with Jesus. So you could be alive to Him and truly know the depth of His love. That’s the first hidden reality of your union with Christ, now the second,
You have new freedom “in Christ” Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2
There is so much good news here!First of all, when you were united with Christ by your faith, the guilty verdict of judgment on your life was removed once and for all. Now there is literally, no condemnation for those who are in Jesus. This little word, “NO” means everything. It is an emphatic negative adverb of time. That “no” carries the idea of complete cessation. It means Jesus’ sacrifice for you is so final that God’s justice has been completely satisfied. So you are completely free from judgment. There will never be a time of judgment for you. And nothing you do can change that. Jesus has already done it. His work on the cross is finished. God is satisfied with Jesus’ sacrifice for you. Jesus has set you free.
You are now free from the fear of judgment. You are now free from having to live up to a perfect standard gain God’s approval. And you are now free from guilt. For now whenever you do sin, you have an advocate before the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, who paid for your sin and declares you righteous. That’s God’s grace to you in Christ Jesus, and its what makes your relationship with God absolutely secure!
For the moment you trusted in Jesus you entered a new realm – the realm of grace! The old realm, the realm of law, only condemns you when you sin. But this new realm; this realm of grace; sets you free from the rule of law, because you are “in Christ.” Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is powerful This is life changing. This means that now, whenever you do mess up, God is not going to punish you. Living under the rule of law gives no freedom. You can’t do enough religious works to cover your sin. But now, “in Christ” you are free. It’s like this:
Religion says: “I messed up. My Dad is going to kill me.”
The Gospel says:“I messed up. I need to call my Dad.”
That’s freedom. And that’s security. That’s the immovable grace of God. God placed you in Christ to set you free. This is what God saved you for: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 God doesn’t want you to have to keep trying to prove yourself as good in His sight. If you’re in Jesus, you’re good. God has accepted His sacrifice. And because He has accepted His sacrifice, He has accepted you. You don’t have to keep earning God’s approval. You have it. So now you are free to live the life He’s called you to live: You are free to live and love like Jesus! You have a new freedom in Christ. But there’s more:
You have a new confidence“in Christ” For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
This truth may just be my favorite. In verse 35, Paul asks the most amazing question: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? His answer: Nothing!Nottrouble, hardship or persecution! Nothing from the hostilities of the world. Not famine or nakedness. Nothing from the calamities in the world. Not enemies or even death! Nothing. And then here in verse 38, he says something quite powerful. He says he is completely convinced, that there is nothing in this world or out of this world that has the power to can keep God from loving you. He uses the perfect tense meaning, “I have become and I remain convinced, that nothing can and nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What Paul is talking about is the absolute, unshakable power of God’s love. Nothing can defeat God’s love for you. Nothing has the power to come between you and God. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. No matter what you may be facing: illness, rejection, death of a loved one, a struggle with sin… you can have this same unshakable confidence that God will never stop loving you. God is for you.
What that means is this: You have the power of the Almighty Creator of the Universe on your side. He is no absentee God. He is actively involved in your life, right now. So when you live in His love; there is no burden you’re carrying that He can’t carry, there’s no barrier too strong that He can’t walk you through, and there’s no adversary too intimidating that He can’t help you stand up too. That’s the hidden power of your union with Christ. Jesus has already defeated sin and death. Jesus has risen victorious over the grave. And you are now “In Christ.” And He will never leave you nor forsake you, no matter what you may face. And if this reality doesn’t give you a new kind of confidence then nothing else will. Nothing will ever be able to separate you from God’s love. This is unprecedented power. God is not simply with you; He is for you, because you are “in Christ.”
Well, there is one last hidden reality of our union with Christ that God gave us to help us live this new life. That reality is this: You have a new family“in Christ” In Romans 12, Paul writes: For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:4-5 The moment God joined your life with Jesus, God placed you in the spiritual body of Christ. So then, if you are “in Christ,” you are not just connected with Jesus, but you are connected with every single person who believes in Jesus. That’s why you can experience immediate kinship with a believer you’ve just met. It’s because of your union with Christ.
And in these verses Paul describes OUR FUNCTION within this union. It’s a perfect picture, because if you understand how your body works, all the parts work together. There are no parts of the body that work independent from the whole. In other words: If you belong to Jesus, then you belong to one another.
In other words, you are no longer an independent operator, running your life irrespective of others. You are now part of something so much bigger than yourself. You are now part of something where every person is significant, where every person has something to bring to the table, and where every person is necessaryfor the health of Christ’s body. I need you and you need me!… This is what Jesus asked for in the upper room when he prayed, I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:22-23
It is in this new family of faith that God’s glory is displayedin our unity whenever we love one another, encourage one another, bear one another’s burdens, pray for one another or, serve one another. This is our new purpose based on our union with Christ. God united you with Jesus to show the world a new way of living.
And God placed you in Christ’s body, so you can share in this miracle of grace. He’s given you a forever family. That’s why there is no such thing as lone ranger Christians.That’s why Jesus calls us to follow Him together. That’s why we have things like Journey Groups – so we can learn how to live out this new life He has given us in Christ. For when we do, then the world will know that Jesus is real and that God has loved us!
Now do you see the why it is so important for us to grasp what it means to be rooted in Christ? God has given us everything we need in Jesusto help us live our faith with great strength and confidence.
He’s given you a new relationship In Christ – you can now know God is with you
He’s given you a new freedom in Christ – you can now know God is pleased with you
He’s given you a new confidence in Christ – you can now know God is for you
He’s given you a new family in Christ – you can now know we are in this together
So what might God be saying to you today? Maybe He’s saying to you: “Stop filling your life with so many things and start filling your life with Me” Or maybe its “Cease striving and rest in what Jesus did for you.” Or perhaps He’s saying, “Let my love for you carry you through your storm.” Or“Stop going it alone and come home to your family.” Whatever it is, may you respond to His grace to you in Christ. He is for you!
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