Romans 5:12-6:11
“The Rent has been Paid and You now have a New Landlord!”
By: Rev. Ken Sauer, Pastor of East Ridge United Methodist Church, Chattanooga, TN
We’re all born with the same nature…
“sin entered the world through one man and death through sin…”
We are all, by nature, sinners.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like that picture so much.
I know what it’s like to be “in slavery to sin.”
There’s really nothing one can do about it.
Or is there?
Paul reminds us in verse 14 of Chapter 5: “death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.”
Sometimes when Christians sin, we might say something like: “I did this or that because of the ‘old Adam’ or the ‘old man,’ or the ‘old self.’”
Paul makes it clear that this is not possible.
In becoming a Christian, a person moves from being one type of humanity to another, and we should never think of ourselves in the original mode again.
That’s why Paul talks about people coming “into Christ” or being “in Christ.”
“For we know that our old self was crucified with [Christ] so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”
“Now if we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him…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.”
Friends, if you are a Christian, you are no longer part of the Adamic humanity…
…rather, you are in Christ!
You are a new creation.
Through Christ you have overcome sin and death and the life you live you now live for God!!!
Can we relate?
The world cries out with the rock band The Who: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!”
We cry out in Victory: “Meet the New Boss, nothing like the old boss!!!”
There is no more “old Adam” or “old self!”
Jesus represents His people.
And what is true of Jesus is true of us!
When we became Christians, we died with Christ and are raised with Christ to new life!
This means a change of status.
East Ridge United Methodist Church, it’s time for us to think about who we are…
…and thus, set off for the Promised Land!!!
The old humanity was crucified with Christ!
It can’t come back to life!
We all began life “in Adam,” and if we are honest, it often feels like we still are…but Paul insists that this is not the case!!!
Imagine renting a house from a landlord who turns out to be a major bully…
…always demanding extra payments…
…barging into the house without asking…
…threatening you with legal action or violence if you don’t give in to his demands.
You get used to doing what he says—out of fear!
There doesn’t seem to be a way out.
But then, you find somewhere else to live.
Someone pays off your remaining rent and you can leave.
You move out and settle into your new place, but in horror, a few days later the old landlord shows up at the door and barges into the house.
He’s angry and demands more money.
He threatens to take you to court…
…and the old habit returns…
…you are strongly tempted to pay him what he demands just to get him to leave.
But you know that you are not his tenant anymore.
You have seen the paperwork; his final bill was paid.
Trembling, you get up and tell him to leave!
He has no claim on you!!!
You’ve moved, and your new Landlord is GRACE!!!
And Jesus paid the bill with His blood!
“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
It is vitally important that we remind ourselves every minute, every second of every day of who we really are!
Don’t give in to the voices that tell you that you are still in Adam after-all…
…resisting temptation is a matter of thinking straight and acting on what you know to be true!
You were crucified with Christ!
When Martin Luther used to get tempted he would cry out…scream at the top of his lungs: “I am baptized.”
In other words, “Get out of here you old landlord! That ‘old self’ no longer exists. I am no longer yours; I am Christ’s!!!”
A colleague of mine told me that when he got ready to head off to school his mother, knowing the temptations that were lying in wait, would tell him: “Johnny, remember. You have been baptized!!!”
Remember.
You have died with Christ, and are alive in Christ forevermore!!!
God has placed God’s seal of ownership on you!
How amazing and awesome is that?
And it even gets better yet.
Because the “new self” is much more superior than the “old Adamic self.”
When God does things; God does things right!
“the gift is not like the trespass. For if many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow…”
Imagine that a town decides to build a statue for a hero…
…somebody who has saved the town from disaster.
Then one night some kids come to the town square.
They are bored, and looking for trouble.
So they begin to spray paint the statue.
Then they start to kick the statue.
They kick it and kick it until it finally falls to the ground in pieces.
Well, the next morning the townspeople find that statue, and they still want to honor their hero,
So they have a meeting with the sculptor.
They ask him to build another statue in the same place.
Do you think that sculptor is going to build the new statue with the same flimsy material so that some more kids can come again and kick it back down?
No.
Of course not.
That new statue will be built with better and stronger material!
It will be an altogether greater statue.
It will withstand all the trials.
It will be built to last.
And this is how it works with God!
What God has done in Jesus Christ is far, far more than simply putting the human race back to where it was before the arrival or sin or the Fall.
It isn’t a case of “what they knocked down God will put back up.”
God has done far, far more!!!
“Again,” writes Paul, “the gift of God is not like the result of one man’s sin…
…For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”
God, in putting humankind right has done much more than simply a reversal of Adam’s sin and its results!
“Trespass” and “gift” are not equal and opposite!
Gift is much greater!
“How much more shall we reign in life through the gift?”
Believers, we will reign with Jesus Christ!!!
The Bible, in Revelation 22:5 tells us that believers will, together with God, “reign forever and ever.”
In 2 Corinthians 6:2-3, Paul says,
“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?...Do you not know that we will judge angels?”
And in Matthew 19:28 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you, who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Are you awaiting the reign of those who receive the new status of “being right with God” through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Will you be part of that reign?
There is a huge contrast between the two types of humanity.
There’s a huge difference between the not knowing Christ, and being a disciple!
Now, imagine that instead of a statue being knocked over and replaced…
…think of two different statues…
…facing each other across the town square.
The first statue is a sad, grim figure.
It’s the death mask of one who, through a life of sin, faces the signs of decay.
The second statue is ALL LIFE and EXCITEMENT!!!
It looks as if it might spring out of its statue-ness and start doing summer salts!!!
Which statue are you?
Who’s your landlord?
What side of the town are you living on?
Meet the New Boss…
…is he or is He not the same as the old boss?
Have we really grasped the lavish scale of God’s generosity and love?
A new type of humanity has been let loose into the world through “the obedience” of Christ!
Let’s remember who we are…
…and then…
…and then live accordingly!!!
Amen.
