How Alive Are You?
Romans 8:6-11
INTRO:
People look a lot of places to find “life”
Possible, popular sources of “life:”
Jesus said:
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. NIV
My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. NLT
I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. The Message
Jesus Christ claims to be able to give you more and better life than any of these other sources, better than you can imagine.
What does this mean? Our first inclination is to think that this has something to do with heaven, with extending our life after we die. That is true, but it is only part. It obviously has to do with the life that you and I have, that we experience right now. If you watch certain folks on television, you might come to think this has to do with wealth, with prosperity. As attractive as that sounds, it is not what Jesus means. He’s not just promising to dump on you a load of cash. He is promising something far better than that. He’s promising the most real, satisfying, best life you can imagine.
How does he do that? Have you ever wondered how?
The vehicle of this new life, this great and eternal life, is the Holy Spirit.
This is what Jesus told his followers before he left them:
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
When you believe in Jesus Christ, you receive the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who comes to dwell inside of you. And this Spirit gives you life. The Holy Spirit is the source of new life that Jesus gives you.
PREV: Today we will see 3 vital parts of you that the Spirit brings alive. 3 key aspects of who you are that the Spirit of God gives life to. 3 ways the Spirit gives you the best life ever.
The first place that God’s Spirit brings you life is found in Romans 8:5-6.
A. You have a mind
Paul begins here talking about your mind. Today we are going to talk about your mind. Do you mind?
When I ask you to define your mind, what comes to mind?
Probably something about your brain, the part of you that thinks, reasons, understands things. When we say, “What’s on your mind?” we mean “what are you thinking?” But your mind is much more than that. Your mind is also your outlook on things, your assumptions, values, desires, and purposes. It is what you think, how you respond. These things make up your ‘mindset.’
We say, “I have a mind to…” and that shows determination, purpose. We say, “Make up your mind,” and that has to do with choices, decisions.
And your mind often governs your body, it determines how you act, the course you take.
Illus.: Lately I’ve heard some of the women in our church talking about tackling some of Colorado’s 14ers this summer. Nobodies body just pops out of bed one morning and starts hiking up a mountain. No, it begins with a decision, a determination in your mind.
Your mind is a significant aspect of the immaterial part of you – what we might call your soul. Your mind represents the rational side, whereas we refer to your heart as the more emotional component of your soul, your inner being.
B. You experience mind control
Did you notice what Paul said about our minds? Paul describes two kinds of minds: one belonging to someone who lives according to the sinful nature, and one belonging to someone who lives according to the Spirit. To live “in accordance with” means ‘to be under the control of.’ That’s clear in verse 6, where it talks about the mind controlled by the Spirit. In other words, Paul is talking here about mind control.
In fact, he says each of us is subject to mind control. That’s right, mind-control. One of the things we like to think about our minds is that they are independent. We pride ourselves in having a “mind of my own.” But Paul points out that none of us has a truly independent mind. They are controlled, either by “the sinful nature” or by “the Spirit.” The sinful nature (also called “the flesh”) refers to your nature left to its own devices, infected and impacted by sin.
As we saw a few weeks ago, this is our natural state, the way we are born, because of sin running rampant in the human race. If your life is dominated by, controlled by your sinful nature, it effects your mind. Your outlook, disposition, values, desires, purposes, etc., are shaped, literally controlled by this sinful nature. This mindset results in death. It produces nothing but death.
Romans 8:7-8 shows us why.
The sinful mind, the mind dominated by the sinful nature, is by nature hostile to God. It resists doing things God’s way, preferring it’s own way. By definition, it does not follow or obey God, thus it cannot please God, and that leads to death.
The other kind of mind-control is when your mind is dominated or controlled by the Holy Spirit. This person, by definition seeks to live for God. The Spirit-controlled mind results is life and peace.
There it is. Did you see it? The Holy Spirit gives life to your mind. He brings your mind fully alive. This is a key component of who you are. God says that with his Spirit in you, controlling you, your mind can be fully alive. That means your outlook, your perspective, your decisions, the course you choose, all of that can be more and better than you can imagine. Your mind can produce, result in life, real life. And peace. Would you like a mind characterized by peace?
You see, eternal life begins now. It isn’t just about living on after you die, although that’s pretty good too. It begins now because part of the rich full life Jesus came to give you includes a mind that is fully alive, full of life and peace.
C. A Christian’s mind is controlled by the Spirit
Now, look at Romans 8:9. Paul says if you are a Christian, if you belong to Christ, you have the Spirit of God in you, and you are no longer controlled by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit. There is no such thing as someone who belongs to Christ but doesn’t have the Spirit in him. That’s what that verse says.
So let me ask you a question: Who is in control of your mind. Is your mind characterized by life and peace? That’s the test for who is in control of your mind. Is your mind, are your decisions, outlooks, choices, purposes characterized by life and peace, or by hostility and rebellion against God that leads to death?
If you are not yet a believer in Jesus Christ, the solution is simple. Let Christ free you from the control of your sinful nature. Believe in his death and resurrection. Admit your need for his forgiveness, and this wonderful Spirit will live in you, and will control your mind so that you can please God.
If you are a believer, but you aren’t characterized by life and peace, the key is back in Romans 8:5. We must learn to live in accordance with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 says “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” A lot of us never take seriously this business of living by the Spirit. He is in us, but we don’t let him control us, we let our sinful nature have control. The results are disappointing at best, disastrous at worst.
Living by the Spirit, in accordance with the Spirit is a daily process of humbling ourselves before God and learning to hear and obey his leading. This is a big subject, but suffice it to say that you will never accomplish it if you don’t stop thinking you are in control and if you don’t take time to stop and listen, really listen to God, primarily as he directs you through his Word.
I. The Spirit gives life to our minds
God’s holy spirit, that lives in us when we turn our lives over to Jesus Christ, brings our minds to life, resulting in life and peace.
Transition: Now, let’s read Romans 8:10 and see what else the Holy Spirit brings alive in us.
The second crucial part of you that the Spirit brings alive is your spirit. Did you see that? Paul says “If Christ is in you” and that is equivalent to the Sprit of Christ back in verse 9 which is equivalent to the Spirit of God also in verse 9. Paul uses all of those phrases interchangeably. They mean the same thing.
If Christ is in you, literally in the person of the Holy Spirit, your body is dead because of sin. That means your physical body still dies – you and I experience physical death as a consequence of sin that infects the world. But, he says, your spirit is alive because of righteousness. Your body may die, but your spirit is made alive. This is the result of righteousness, meaning the effect of Christ’s perfect righteousness being placed in you, replacing your own faulty righteousness. The Spirit of God makes you spiritually alive. In theological circles, this is called regeneration. The Spirit of God regenerates your dead spirit into an alive spirit.
Just as you have a mind, which makes up your inner man, your soul, you also have a spirit. You are, at your core, a spiritual being. There is far more to you than just what you see in the mirror. The Scriptures tell us in Genesis 1:27,
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
The Scriptures also tell us that God is spirit, (John 4:24a)
This means you, who are in the image of God, are also spiritual.
Your spirit is the part of you that can communicate with God. It is the part of you most connected with God. This part has to come alive before you can have a relationship with God. Your spirit is literally dead until you come to faith in Christ, and receive the holy spirit. The Spirit brings your spirit to life!
The Spirit gives life to your spirit. You now have the capacity to truly connect and commune with God. You can hear his word, understand him, know him, communicate with him, love him. You now speak the same language, on the same terms, with God. This is a profound spiritual resource for your life!
II. The Spirit gives life to our spirits
God’s holy spirit brings your spirit alive. His spirit makes your spirit alive!
Transition: A mind that is alive and a spirit that is alive – that’s pretty good, don’t you think? But there is more. There is one more component of you that God’s spirit brings to live. Notice what it is as I read Romans 8:11.
It’s not just your mind and your spirit that come alive through God’s spirit. He also gives life to your body – your physical body. Paul tells us here that if the Spirit dwells in us, we can be assure of the resurrection of our bodies. If the spirit that raised Christ from the dead is in you, your body too will be raised from the dead.
Although your body is still subject to death, because of sin, you have the promise of resurrection. The logic is, if he could do it for Jesus, he can do it for you too.
Paul describes a little bit of what this will be like in the book of 1 Corinthians. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15:50-54.
That’s quite a scene. The gist of it is that the body you have, the one you will die with, isn’t fit for eternity. That’s no big surprise to most of us, is it? If my body can’t even make it out of bed some mornings, how is it going to last for eternity? So your body will be changed. What is currently perishable, will be made imperishable when your body is raised from the dead. This is made possible by the power of God, who’s Spirit lives in you.
This is the one area we are most familiar with – our bodies. We sense that they won’t last, so we spend a lot of time, money, and effort trying to keep them going, even looking for some secret to longevity. But Jesus says I have the key to the life you are looking for. Sure, it involves your body, but it involves far more. If you will come to me, I will give you life!
III. The Spirit gives life to our bodies
God’s spirit, with the power that raised Christ from the dead, will raise our bodies from the dead.
CONCL: That’s a lot of life! Will you enter into his life today?
