“Jesus Was Resurrected To Make Us One”

Romans 6:3-8

3) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

7) For he that is dead is freed from sin.

8) Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

Preface

M

ost people either unsuccessfully serve the Lord, or do not end up serving Him at all because of not understanding what He requires. Why is this? Because far too many believe that salvation is "complicated." Instead of simply "accepting," they attempt to understand what the Lord requires.

Main Thought

We are exploring this series (and this particular subject) that we might ultimately understand that Jesus did not come to the World to die for Himself, but rather, for us.

The difficulty for pastors who would help the people of God and for us in receiving help is our thinking that because Jesus died, we can automatically account that death to ourselves, without having to undergo any change, or accepting anything of God. In order to be unified, we must all accept His death in the same way and apply it in the same way.

Most often, we find doing anything the "same' way" next to impossible. This is because human beings, being born selfish beings. "think" for themselves, meaning that anything that is done, is done in one's own best interest. Since our interests differ, we have our own individual ideas about what we feel is "right" and "wrong." Because of this, Jesus must be allowed to "short-circuit" our human thinking that we might think as Christ did.

All who are born into the World are born to be unified in and with Christ. Either we will accept "death with Jesus" or we will remain lost and in sin.

The sad state of even the true Church has been brought about largely because its members believe that though they accept salvation, they can still remain independent. This defeats the purpose of the sacrifice of Jesus, for if we had been "good enough" as we were, He never would have had to have given His life.

Remaining independent of Him would mean that there is something that one can accomplish in and through his flesh that will be acceptable to the Lord. This is not the case, for the Bible says that one who is in "in the flesh" cannot please the Lord.

We cannot take the admonition lightly that once we are brought into salvation, we are delivered from being a human being. By now, we should understand that our "success" in salvation hinges upon our being willing to accept this. One thing that impedes our acceptance is the fact that we underestimate the danger and disgust inherent in being a human being. Under these circumstances, we are locked in a "vicious cycle," because the reason that we cannot "see" is because of being and operating as a human being in the first place!

Everything about our spiritual lives hinges upon our operating as, living as and being "spiritual beings." You see, "human being-ness" is fraught with turmoil, insecurity, pain and strife. All of these things operate in and upon the mind, which in turn, is influenced by the flesh. Because of this, by living in the flesh, we are constant fodder for the devil' s tricks and games, and therefore, kept "occupied" by our "business" as opposed to being able to concentrate on the business of God.

We worry so about those things that are "temporal" (e.g. our relationships with others; our "reputation"), when God's "business" is about the "saving of souls." When we place so much emphasis upon our natural lives, we neglect to develop the "skills" necessary to be able to "battle" the true enemy. We end up "displacing" the "anger" that we should have for "the enemy of our souls" onto anyone who would seem to correct us for our anger. This leads to the development of bitterness - and bitterness kills its host!

No matter what was done to Jesus; no matter what lie was told, no matter how badly He was "mistreated," He never became bitter. Our problem is that though we don't know this, we really aren't bitter at our brothers and sisters, our friends and neighbors, our relatives, or even our "enemies!" The One at whom we are bitter is really the Lord - and that because of His standard!

We have become familiar with the fact that the DNA of any living being "dooms" that being to a very prescribed, virtually unalterable existence. In the case of the human being, it specifically leads to sin. There is no other way that this could be, for this is part of the physical law established by God.

The only solution, then, is that we be made a "new" being - and this is possible only is we will accept Jesus' death as our own. Now, this should not be too much to ask since we were willing to accept His death for something that we wanted. We "wanted" salvation, so we were willing to "let" Him die for us. But then, when it comes to accepting all that accompanies that death, and though it leads to our "life," we maintain our "right" to "re-tain" our individuality.

The truth of the matter is that we became "one spirit" when we were joined with Jesus. It is impossible then, for us to operate in our "own" spirit, yet still be considered 'joined" to and with Him.

We cannot be unified when we do not share a common focus. Frequently, though we try as hard as we might to "straighten up," we remain "messed up" because of believing that things should "go" a certain "way" for us—then, when they don't, we react. What we must always accept is that in our lives, the things that happen, happen because God needs to get our attention! The "attention" He needs is that which acknowledges that we know that we cannot "make it" without Him.

The one who is saved exists to be a representative of God, rather than to continue representing ourselves. We cannot represent Him if He does not know us and He will know us only as we conduct ourselves by His "code," rather than our own.