Newness of Life
TCF Sermon
Easter Sunday, March 31, 2002
A few weeks ago, we had the Bible Bowl memory buddy party at my house. The children who earn their way to this party learn verses with their memory buddy – usually a parent, grandparent or older sibling. We all have pizza and pop, and then watch a movie.
This is the third year we’ve done this, and in years past we watched Prince of Egypt, and Joseph King of Dreams. This year, we watched an animated version of the C.S. Lewis story, The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. If you’re not familiar with this story, it’s a wonderful allegory of the gospel, with a clear, compelling story of redemption.
Near the end of the movie, the Christ figure, the lion named Aslan, is killed on a stone table in place of one of the sons of Adam named Edmund. After two young girls come to unwrap the lifeless Aslan from the ropes that bind him, they turn away in grief and anguish that he’s gone.
Of course, being an allegory of the gospel story, Aslan doesn’t stay dead. He rises from the dead and startles the girls at first. Then, they rejoice that he’s alive again.
During the scene in which they’re rejoicing that Aslan’s alive again, and they’re dancing around, Aslan begins leaping around a meadow that was formerly lifeless. That’s because the witch of the story, the Satan figure, had made everything winter, and never Christmas. Everything was grey and dull.
But as the risen Aslan began to leap around the meadow, everywhere he landed, bright green grass and flowers pop up out of the ground. I had already sensed clearly from the Lord the passage of scripture we’ll be looking on this resurrection Sunday. So when I saw this scene with the Bible Bowl kids, I thought, this is but one example of the phrase we see clearly related to the resurrection in Romans 6:4, which we’ll read here in a moment.
Newness of Life – the title of this Easter message today.
As Aslan, who was dead and gone but now lived, bounced around that meadow, everything he touched became new and alive. The Word of God credits the resurrection of our Lord Jesus with the newness of life that comes from being in Christ.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
I love that phrase: newness of life.
I’ve spent a few weeks now thinking about that phrase, studying this passage and other passages that talk about the new life we have in Christ. The Word says to inherit the Kingdom of God, we must be born again. When I visited Steve and Chris Staub this week, hours after the birth of their new daughter, Eryn Elizabeth, I was again amazed and delighted by the wonder of new life.
As wonderful as new human life is, what’s even more incredible, wondrous, and amazing, is what God does in our lives by virtue of the Resurrection we celebrate this morning.
On the cross, which we remembered on Friday, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins....
The first part of Romans 6:4 says that in baptism, we are buried with him, identified with Him, in that death. But, with His resurrection, He took our dead flesh and made us new creations…
What an awesome thing to ponder! Let’s read Romans 6:4 in context now:
Romans 6:1-11 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We 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.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Charles Spurgeon said: The basis of this confession lies in the union of every believer with Christ Jesus. We are dead with him, because we are one with him. We are risen with him, because we are one with him. Every believer is, in the purpose of divine grace, identified with Jesus.
The Bible talks about being washed in the waters of baptism - washed clean from our sin. And while that’s a good picture, too, of what takes place in our being born again, the phrase newness of life here implies so much more.
Washing is just the beginning. It’s the difference between taking an old, dirty, stained shirt, putting it into the laundry, and having it come out clean and white.
That’s certainly not a bad thing, but it’s the difference between that old, dirty shirt,
and having someone give you a brand new shirt, still packaged, still with the price tag on it. But even that understanding of “new” doesn’t approach the full meaning of the phrase “newness” here.
The word “new” here doesn’t just mean new, as opposed to old. You look out in the parking lot this morning, and you’ll see our old, dented 17 year old Toyota Camry, with 208,000 miles on it. You’ll also see our “new” – at least new to us
1998 Nissan Quest minivan. That’s a comparison of new vs. old.
But that’s not what new means here in Romans 6:4. Here in this passage of scripture, it means new life of a new quality. It’s new life...... of a different nature, a completely different kind, rather than new simply contrasted with old.
That’s what Jesus brought us through His resurrection. That’s what was given us by the glory of God the Father. The same glory that raised Jesus from the grave.
Three buddies were discussing death and one asked the group:
What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?
One said: "He was a great humanitarian, who cared about his community."
Another said: "He was a great husband and father, who was an example for many to follow."
The third said: I’d like people to say, … "Look, he’s moving!!"
A little resurrection humor...
Perhaps the closest earthly analogy we could come up with is the changes that take place in metamorphosis. When a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly
it becomes a totally new creature.
A metamorphosis takes place. When we come to Christ, something similar to that takes place. This passage says we’re buried with him, we’re in the cocoon, so to speak. But when our life is renewed, we come out of that tomb, or cocoon,
Before we died, as it were, we could only crawl. Now, we’re butterflies, literally a different creature!
We can fly!!
Quoting Spurgeon again: In this there is a striking display of the glory of God. As in the resurrection of Christ we see all the glorious attributes of God, so is there in every believer’s spiritual quickening a manifestation of the divine presence. I know not how much there is of God in the regeneration of each new-born soul; but I know this, that God likens it to a new creation, and to the resurrection; and therefore we may be sure that it is one of the highest displays of divine power. We talk of conversion, but how lightly do we estimate the full meaning of conversion! Do you understand that regeneration is one of the greatest miracles that God himself can perform?
To better understand the implications of this newness, let’s take a closer look at the context of this passage.
First of all, in context, it’s applied to Christian baptism. We must remember that in New Testament times, baptism most often followed conversion very quickly. Consequently, in this context, it’s seen as part of the same package, if you will, of being born again.
Here at the beginning of Romans 6, Paul’s just finished a lengthy discussion of salvation by faith – in ch. 5. So when we get to the passage we’re looking at this morning, Paul’s making a transition. What he writes about is the importance of changing into the image and likeness of Christ. Matthew Henry notes that Paul is writing about: the absolute necessity of sanctification and a holy life, as the inseparable fruit of justification; for wherever God makes Jesus Christ the righteousness of any soul, God makes him the sanctification of that soul.
Thus, in the first four verses of Romans 6, Paul points out the two parts of sanctification, which is the fancy word for changing us into the image of Christ,
making our lives more Christ-like, making us holier people.
The first part is subdual. The second part is renewal. So we have subdual and renewal. Subdual is a fancy word for – in this context at least, killing, beating down, subduing. Iin this context, it means dying to sin.
Renewal is the flip side. Renewal is when we come out of the cocoon. Renewal is when we rise with Christ from our death to sin, and live to righteousness.
Subdual is putting off the old person. I remember a song by, I think, Petra, called “Killing My Old Man.”
Then, with the power of sin killed, put to death, dead and buried, we can see renewal, that is, walking in newness of life.
So, the conclusion of chapter 5 reveals that as a consequence of Jesus’ act of grace, grace has swamped sin, and sin’s rule in death has been matched by grace’s rule through righteousness to life.
However, as we move on to the first verses of Romans 6, it begs the question:
- has the believer been wholly removed from the realm of sin and death?
The initial answer seems to be yes, at least in the first 11 verses. But later in Romans 6, as well as in the witness of other passages of scripture, we see that the believer is vulnerable to the claims of both lordships, the rule of sin on the one hand, and newness of life on the other.
Consequently, we must continually choose between the two. On a daily basis at least, sometimes even moment by moment. That’s why I like the way the NAS puts it, as opposed to the NIV.
The NIV of the end of verse 4 says “that we may live a new life.” The NAS says, “that we may walk in newness of life.”
To me, that seems more intentional, more cooperative with the Holy Spirit. A more intentional putting off the old self and putting on the new one (Eph 4).
When we are buried with Christ. It means we died with Him to our former sinful ways of living.
If we’re to walk in newness of life, but don’t, it’s as if we are digging up the old body of death, which was buried with Christ, and trying to put on those old grave clothes again…imagine the stink!
Why aren’t we repelled by this? Why dig up the old self when we have a new life to walk in? The purpose of our identification with Christ is not just for death to sin. It’s also so we can also identify with Him in new life.
So, though we wish we could be, we’re not free from sinful temptations. However, what we learn from this phrase “newness of life,” and the idea that we can “walk in it,” is that those temptations no longer have complete power over us.
I found this illustration:
Think of sin and its effects as a motorcycle with a disconnected chain. The engine, sin, still has great power, but it can’t turn the wheels (our actions). Similarly, for followers of Jesus, the chain that drives their sinful activity has been disconnected. Their sinful motor is still there, and at times, we may re-engage the chain. But the more we realize we’re liberated from sin’s power, the more we find ourselves living free of its appetites.
If you’ve accepted Jesus’ resurrection (and newness of life that comes from that), you no longer have to pray for power over sin. You already have that. Instead, pray that you’ll use the power you have. Ask for the grace you need to stand in the freedom Jesus gave you.
As we noted earlier: The Greek word “newness” (kainoteôi) speaks of life that has a new or fresh quality.
The resurrection of Jesus was not resuscitation; it was a new form of life.
In the same way the spiritual lives of believers in Jesus have a new, fresh quality.
Also, a Christian’s identification with Jesus Christ in His resurrection, besides being the start of new spiritual life now, is also the guarantee of physical resurrection at His second coming.
2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
George Whitefield said of this passage: Since God is a Spirit, so the happiness he has laid up for his people is spiritual likewise; and consequently, unless our carnal minds are changed, and spiritualized, we can never be made ready to partake of that inheritance with the saints in light.
It is for this reason that the apostle declares it to be the irrevocable decree of the Almighty, that "without holiness, (without being made pure by regeneration, and having the image of God thereby reinstamped upon the soul) no one may shall see the Lord."
Also, Jesus doesn’t declare that unless a man be born again, he SHALL NOT, but "unless a man be born again, he CANNOT enter into the kingdom of God."
Whitefield illustrates like this:
For instance; what delight can the most harmonious music afford to a deaf person, or what pleasure can the most excellent picture give to a blind man? And thus it is with the soul hereafter; if it delighted to converse with God here, it will be transported with the sight of his glorious Majesty hereafter.
Surely if our old life, now dead and buried with Christ, was wholly sinful, the new, to which we rise with the risen Saviour, must be a holy life; so that every time we go back to the old life, to those things which represented our old self, we at the very least leave unfulfilled our resurrection with Christ to newness of life. At worst, we misrepresent this resurrection as being so much less than it really is...or prove it false in our lives.
Romans 6:5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
Since Jesus’ death and resurrection are inseparable in their effectiveness to bring salvation, then union with Him in the one, carries with it participation in the other, for privilege, and for duty alike.
The changes God promises are radical. They’re not changes where things get hidden, they’re not glossed over changes. God’s talking about a completely new and improved you. God doesn’t just clean the outside. He doesn’t just reshape it, or even enhance what’s already there.
He works from the inside out, for the purpose of recreating. So, what does this mean for us practically?
First, we have to recognize that these changes aren’t something we can do on our own. Yes, we do have to choose to die to sin. We do have to choose to walk in newness of life. But we also must remember that changes we make on our own do not last.
When you finally admit that you cannot change yourself, that’s when you’ll find that Jesus is ready, willing and able to do for you what you can’t do for yourself.
It starts by identifying with Christ in his death. Admit our sin. Admit that we can’t change our sinful nature on our own. And allow God to have every area of your life.
God will not force His way into anyone’s heart. He’ll allow you to be uncomfortable --- sometimes even miserable, until we give up fighting Him.
Because the Holy Spirit and self can’t live in the same space, we’re either in Christ or in ourselves. But the promise we see here in Romans 6, and also in 2 Cor. 5 is that if we allow God into every area of our life, He will continue to make us new. He will radically change us, and work these things for our good.
We have to want to fly so much that we are willing to give up being a caterpillar
Quoting Spurgeon again on the new person God wants to create:
If we are really saved, we are to walk in newness of life: that is to say, we shall move on....march on, going from strength to strength. We are not at the end yet; we must advance. We are not to act or grow in the energy of the old life, but in newness of life. The conduct of a Christian is in newness of life: and therefore others cannot understand him because he acts so differently from them. But, alas, all (professing Christians) are not of this sort!
I see a Christian man coming back one evening from a place of questionable amusement. Did he go there in newness of life? The old man used to go in that direction. When a man is dishonest, and has made a bargain which will not bear the light; is that done in newness of life? Be done with the things of the flesh. Put off the old man. If Christ has saved you, walk in newness of life. Say to the old man, "Down with you, sir! I am done with walking in your way."
There’s a story of an Indian chief who was one night sitting at the fireside of a friend. At one point, the friend said, "I will tell you what I have been thinking of. I have been thinking of a rule delivered by the Author of the Christian religion which, from its excellence, we call the ’Golden Rule.’"
The chief immediately asked his friend to stop. "Don’t praise it to me, but rather tell me what it is, and let me think for myself. I do not wish you to tell me of its excellence. Tell me what it is."
The friend said, "It is for one man to do to another as he would have the other do to him." "That’s impossible! It cannot be done," the chief replied.
After a period of silence between the two, the chief came to his friend smiling, and said, "Brother, I have been thoughtful of what you told me. If the Great Spirit that made man would give him a new heart, he could do as you say, but no other way.”
This Indian chief got it. He understood something immediately that we sometimes do not understand. He knew that selfless love was impossible without a new heart, without the newness of life we’ve been talking about this morning.
That newness of life that comes as a result of identifying with Christ in His resurrection, but it’s entirely God’s doing. Yes, we have to receive His gift,
that’s our choice – that’s how we cooperate in the process.
But we cannot do it ourselves. God does the building. He just wants us to give him the property to build on.
There’s a story about a warehouse property being sold by a businessman. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash around the interior.
As a realtor showed a prospective buyer the property, he took pains to say that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage, and clean out the garbage.
“Forget about the repairs,” the buyer said. “When I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different. I don’t want the building; I want the site.
Compared with the renovation God has in mind, our efforts to improve our own lives are as trivial as sweeping a warehouse slated for the wrecking ball. When we become God’s, the old life is over (2 Cor. 5:17).
He makes all things new. All he wants is the site and the permission to build.
And that’s not permission we give Him just once. We give it to Him daily.
There’s a great song by Bob Bennett about the resurrection, called “Still rolls the stone from the grave.”
I thought of that song as I prepared this message...God still rolls the stone from the grave in our daily lives.
He still gives us the choice, daily, to walk in newness of life, to choose between the stink and darkness of the grave, and the brightness and freshness of new life.
What will we do today, as we celebrate the day the stone was rolled from the grave that held Jesus? How will we respond to His love?
