Week 12: I am alive together with Christ and by grace I am saved.
“But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-6 NASB
Easter is about Christ’s resurrection after His death on the cross, and Easter is about you and I.
What does Christ’s resurrection mean for you and I?
The Message Bible answers this question better than I could.
“Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection.
We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word.
You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.”
Romans 6:6-11 Message
I have to be honest with you. I set out to write a short study for this truth — being alive together with Christ — and I’ve found it to be anything but short. The more I delved in, cross referenced scriptures and read through whole chapters from the Old Testament and New, I realized this is the Gospel.
It can be summed up in one short sentence, yet its meaning and implication cannot be contained in all the books that this world holds, nor in our finite minds. I feel I am at a loss to convey it. The benefits are innumerable, though I will name two:
Freedom from Sin and Newness of Life.
From near the beginning of the Bible and time, God spoke to Cain before he killed his brother Abel, “Sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:7 NASB
Sin is crouching at the door.
Sin is eager to control you.
Sin’s desire is to dominate you.
You must subdue it.
You must master it.
You must rule over it.
Yet, Cain could not. Sin mastered Cain, and he killed his brother.
Cain lived before Christ’s physical death on the cross and His resurrection. We live after. Sin no longer has to be our master, nor do we have to be its slaves.
“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.” Rom 6:6 NLT
What does it mean for us to be crucified with Christ?
This. “Christ died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.” 2 Cor 5:15 AMP
We no longer live for ourselves, but for Christ.
I also attempted to answer this question last week, here.
And, this is our promise for newness of life.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Cor 5:17 NKJV
“Immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on His own, with no help from us! Then He picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.” Eph 2:5-6 Message
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