Dare To Live Again: “Up From the Grave – Lent 2003”
April 5/6, 2003
Intro:
When was the last time you felt really alive? Like all your senses were on “high alert,” your energy up, enthusiasm radiant, you felt “on top of the world?” Can you even remember the last time you enjoyed life so much that you laughed till your stomach ached, or the last time the alarm went off in the morning and you smiled when you heard it because you just couldn’t wait to launch into another day?
Or do you more often feel like life is dull, dull, dull. Insignificant. Unexciting. You find yourself hanging a poster of Ecclesiastes 1:2 on your fridge door – “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’” Do you feel that life is drudgery, disappointment, and disillusionment. Nothing but routine.
I’m not talking about temperament here – we all know people who are just naturally “bubbly” and seem to be really “alive” all the time. That is often a function of temperament – I’m talking about more than that. I’m talking about how you feel about your life – does it feel full and meaningful and significant and alive, or does it feel empty?
I’m also not talking about what I call “beer commercial” living. You know what I mean – beautiful people, nothing wrong, happy happy happy, fun fun fun. That is not reality, it’s marketing. It is a deliberately false image carefully designed to sell a product.
I AM talking about how you fell about your life in those quiet moments of reflection – those moments, however brief, when someone who cares about you looks you in the eyes and says, “how are you really doing?”
Jesus is Alive!
Jesus said, in John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” By “the thief,” He means of course the devil. And He contrasts the devil’s desire – to steal and kill and destroy, meaning to rob us of life and joy and happiness – with His desire, which is to bring life “to the full.”
So it is clear to me from Scripture, both here and elsewhere, that God’s desire for us is to know a fullness in life here on earth. His desire is that we could in all honesty respond to that question, “how are you really doing?” across the coffee shop table by saying: “life is good. It isn’t easy, it isn’t uncomplicated, but at the root it is good.”
If that is not your response to my earlier question, it is possible that you have been robbed of the life and the joy that God desires. The thief has slipped into your life and stolen something that does not belong to him, and has replaced the true life that God desires for you with misery and disappointment and disillusionment.
Let me clarify once again: I’m not talking about an easy life devoid of difficulties or challenges. I’m not suggesting that Jesus is here promising a life of ease and luxury and without any pain. I’m talking about how you feel about your life one step deeper: in the midst of all that is “life” here on earth – which includes challenges and disappointments and sickness and loss – in the midst of all that, are you still truly alive?
Dare to Live Again:
As we walk through Lent, towards the Easter season, we’ve been focusing on what the fact that Jesus is Alive means to us and to how we live. The first week in lent we asked, “Will you dare to believe again?”, looking at Mary Magdalene’s response to meeting the resurrected Jesus. Next we asked, “Will you dare to receive again?”, considering Jesus’ appearance to His disciples the evening of the day He rose when He breathed on them and said, “receive the Holy Spirit.” Then we looked at being free again, talking about how Jesus rose from the dead so that we could be free of all kinds of sin and free to live in Christ. And last week we asked, “Will you dare to journey again?”, finding ourselves in the Emmaus road story in Luke 24.
There is a deliberate progression: it begins with belief. Believing brings the gift of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit comes, there is freedom. When we are free, we can journey with Jesus again.
And that brings us to today: in the journey, Jesus’ desire is that we have “life to the full.” Will you dare to live again?
Rom 6:1-14
Would you turn to Romans 6 with me. I want to read vss. 1-14, which talk about the life we have in God because of what Jesus did on the cross.
A. Life begins with death (vs 1-4):
The first four verses talk about the effect Jesus’ death on the cross has on our sinful nature. He talks about us being “buried with Jesus” – about participating in Jesus’ death – and uses the imagery of baptism to convey this idea. As we go under the water, we participate in Jesus’ death – we become partakers of it. Verse 4 makes the reason clear: “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.” The point is so that we can live a “new life” – the new life Jesus talked about in John 10 which is full and rich and satisfying.
B. United in resurrection (vs 5-10):
Verse 5 makes the transition: “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” Paul completes the circle – since we are united in Jesus’ death, we are also united in His resurrection. This is the second part of the baptism imagery – we rise again.
If you stop and think about this, it is really an amazing thought. We share – not just for eternity but now as well – in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We participate in it on a spiritual level – we are part of it – it effects us. The next couple of verses make this clear – our old nature, the sinful nature, is crucified with Jesus on the cross and now, since it is dead, it no longer holds us in slavery. Instead, we have new life – life no longer controlled by our sinful nature but rather by the new creation that god gives us. We are “in Christ,” both in His death and in His resurrection.
I think many of us kind of grasp the first part – being united with Jesus in His death. We understand that He took on Himself our sins, and our old nature is buried with Him through His atoning death on the cross. That part we sort of understand. But this second part needs work – I don’t think we really understand what it means to be united with Him in His resurrection. Perhaps that is because part of it is in the future – when we will actually participate in resurrection ourselves after our own death. But that is not what Paul is talking about here in Romans 6 about being united with Jesus in His resurrection – he isn’t talking about the future.. He is talking here about the new nature we have NOW after our old nature is put to death. He is talking about how we are to live and experience life now as a result of participating now in the resurrection of Jesus.
To put it really simply, now we are new. Now we are re-created, we have a new nature that is not controlled by sin but is controlled by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is not just that our sins have been paid for – but it is also that we now have new life! We have resurrection life!!
Imagine for a moment that you live in an old, run down, dilapidated shack. One like one you see on World Vision pictures from 3rd world countries – rusty metal kind of thrown over top of a couple walls full of holes. No running water. No toilet. Dirt on the floor when it is dry, mud when it is wet. Crude fire pit in the middle for cooking – when there is anything to cook. Imagine that is where you live. Spiritually speaking, that is the old nature. When we are united in Christ’s death, that rusty shack is instantly removed, and in its place we receive a gorgeous, beautiful palace. Clean, spacious, elegant, extravagant. When we are united in Christ’s resurrection, we receive the incredible gift of a new nature that is as different from the old as that shack was from the palace.
And all of that means we are to live differently.
C. New life lives differently (vs. 11-14):
That is what vss. 11-14 are about. Paul basically says, since you have new life in Jesus’ resurrection, live like it! He says: “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God” (vs. 11); “do not let sin reign” (vs. 12); “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin” (vs 13); and “sin shall not be your master”. In other words, stop living in the shack and live in the mansion instead.
And he describes what the alternative, new life looks like: “count yourselves alive to God in Christ Jesus” (vs. 11); “offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness” (vs. 13); and this wonderful truth, “you are not under law, but under grace.”
He is talking about living a holy life. Living a life in service to God instead of in service to our own selfish desires and sinful thoughts. He is trying to teach us that this old, sinful part has been put to death and we need to live in the new life instead of returning to the old. And this new life is so much better than the old one!!
What does it mean to “live”?
Let me get really practical. If you feel like you “exist” more than you “live”, what can we do about it? The first is to know the truth – and that is why I walked through Romans 6. The truth is that we participate in the new, resurrection life of Jesus. In practical terms, let me suggest four things that I observe as characteristics of this new life:
1. Love with abandon.
This new life is characterized by holiness, and the secret to living a holy life is to be abandoned in love to God. Guilt doesn’t work. “Striving” in our own strength doesn’t work. The only motivation powerful enough to sustain us is to love God with everything.
In challenging us to “live again,” I’m really challenging us to love deeply. And I know that is risky. I know sometimes that hurts. It means being open, being vulnerable. And it means being really alive. When we love deeply, we experience life like God wants us to.
Isn’t that the heart of the cross and the empty tomb – a love we didn’t deserve but was lavished on us anyway? God loved us with abandon – without borders or limits or caveats! Truly living means loving God with abandon.
And it also means loving others with abandon. Start with those closest to you – your family, your church family, your friends. Love them deeply, with abandon! Do something a little bit unexpected to demonstrate the depth of love you have for them. Do it for your family, or if it is for someone else do it with your family! Because you see it is never enough for us to just feel deep love without expressing it.
The other day I had a good conversation with a friend, and at the end of it all I said, “I really care about you.” I’ve come a long way! I never used to be able to say things like that, I felt all funny and awkward and a little bit silly. I mean, that is expressing emotion, and as a man not afraid to get stuck on his roof doing “manly” stuff, I wasn’t comfortable doing that! But I’m growing, now I’m more comfortable expressing those feelings. And after I said that, this friend said, “that is the most important thing I’ve heard this whole conversation.” So love with abandon, and express that love.
2. Invest in relationships:
This is very similar to “love with abandon,” but I don’t mind being repetitive. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that most of the times you have felt truly alive were experienced within the context of relationships. And even for those few that weren’t – a personal victory for example – you probably couldn’t wait to share it with someone close to you.
If you want to truly live, invest in relationships. Take time to be with people – make a new friend, kick-start a friendship that has been on the back-burner, get together with one of those good friends that you never spend enough time with. I know it takes time – that is why I use the word “invest”! And take the conversation to a deeper level – talk about what you are experiencing in God, share your joys and pains. Share your soul.
This too is at the heart of the cross and empty tomb. Jesus walked through all of that so that we could be restored in relationship with God.
3. Do something really significant:
If you want to experience more of the full life that Jesus talked about, spend your time on things you know to be significant. Serve God, help someone in need, do the things that are important rather than the ones that are urgent. It goes without saying that this is also demonstrated in the cross and the empty tomb.
4. Take a risk:
Finally, take a risk. God does – every time He creates a person, He takes the risk that they will not return His love. I’m not advocating doing something foolish here, but doing something that you know will be beneficial to you and others that is a little bit outside of your comfort zone. Step out, take a risk in your relationship with God and watch what happens!
Conclusion:
Will you dare to live again? To know the life that is united with Christ in His resurrection and to live it “to the full?” If your life is more “empty” than “full,” I want to encourage you to make a change. Begin right now – around the communion table. Allow your “old self” to be crucified with Jesus according to Romans 6. Receive the “new life” united with Jesus in His resurrection.
If you look at your life and feel like your joy has been stolen by the “thief” Jesus talked about in John 10, claim it back! Because God’s desire for us is to experience life “to the full.”
