MADE ALIVE WITH CHRIST
Text: Colossians 2:13 and 14
When we consider the forgiveness and mercy of the Lord, we know that God has certainly accomplished many great things in us. At one time, we all were living a miserable life in our sins. That’s when Jesus came and saved us. I have thought about that often this past week.
As we grow older in our Christian life, some of us loose sight of all that God has done for us. I have found that when (some) new believers first get saved, they can easily see the real meaning of forgiveness for their lives. A new believer will be confronted with the need to repent of their sins. But what happens next (in their new life in Christ) can be confusing.
It was Christ Who spoke to the church at Ephesus in Revelations 2:4,
Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
What was Christ talking about?
What did Christ mean by saying this?
It is the same problem that many Christians still have today.
What can happen to a new believer is that they will sometimes grow older in the Lord, but don’t seem to mature in their understanding of the forgiveness of God.
They understand forgiveness when they first come to Christ, but later will “loose sight of all that God has done for them.”
The fact is if we “loose sight” and don’t live or grow in the forgiveness and mercy of the Lord, we tend to fill our spiritual lives up with works and religion.
Listen. Man is in desperate need of forgiveness every moment of everyday.
I am convinced that man somehow knows this. But if a new believer does not learn how to grow and how to live in the forgiveness of Christ, he/she will try to accomplish forgiveness on their own.
I have met many people (who have been a Christian for many years) who have tried to duplicate God’s forgiveness with their good works. This may seem to work for them for a while. Some people get comfortable in just doing lots of good things for the church they attend.
But eventually we all have to realize how much we need what Christ has done.
Our good works are simply not enough to save our souls. But the work that Christ has done for us on the cross is enough.
And that is why we must remind ourselves of what Jesus has accomplished in us and for us at the Cross of Calvary.
By reminding ourselves of this great sacrifice, we will be encouraged with what God has for us in the future.
God is not through with you, yet. He has a lot more that He wants from you…
When we think of the His sacrifice on the cross, we will also remind ourselves of how much power there is in prayer.
Jesus conquered it all on the cross for us.
Every situation, every crisis, every need (physical, emotional, or spiritual) has been resolved and reconciled at the cross. We haven’t anything to worry.
We really can count on Christ to meet all of our needs in the future.
All of this makes me love God more everyday. I can never repay Him for all that He has done. None of us can. What I can do is continue to thank Him daily.
My friend, verse 13 (in our text) tells us that God has done something that no one else could do. You and I were once “…dead in our trespasses…”
The New Living Translation says that we were “….dead because of our sins…”
Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Christ has saved us from not only from our sins, but the death that sin causes.
Verse 13 of our text tells us we have been
“…made alive together with Christ…”
Our lives have been restored from the destruction of our sinful past.
Perhaps we become so busy with our duties (here at church) that we forget what Christ has done.
Verse 14 also tells us that Christ has erased (or cancelled out) the “handwriting” (the records) against us. Thanks be to Christ and His forgiveness, there isn’t any record of any of our wrongdoings.
Verse 14 says that Christ has taken all of records of our sins away and they have been nailed to the cross.
Do we sometimes become complacent about the Cross of Calvary when we keep thinking about what happened weeks, months or (even) years ago?
The fact is Christ wiped the record clean when He forgave us.
But the problem is we keep rethinking and reliving those old sins that happened years ago. We start all over again with the accusations, and the guilt, and the condemnations.
Far too many believers allow their past sins to haunt their memories. These may be the sins they once asked Christ to forgive them of when they first got saved. These are sins that were once “nailed to the cross”. But this victory (for some believers) was short lived.
Some folks have never forgiven themselves for what they did wrong, even though Christ did. The result is old regrets, old guilt and old condemnation.
Jesus once told Nicodemus that –
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Christ never came to condemn you or make you feel guilty for your sins.
His love and forgiveness for you is – Endless! Eternal!
He was condemned - that we might be justified.
He bore our sin – that we might be set free.
He died - that we might live.
He suffered - that we might be redeemed.
He was made sin - that we might be made righteous.
Jesus paid it all!
II Corinthians 5:21
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
What Christ did for you is unlike anything anyone could ever hope to do for you.
The sacrificial love of Christ is truly unique.
Romans 5:6 - 7
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly...But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
When talking about the crucifixion and death of Christ on the cross, I have often heard it referred to as the “bitter cup”.
And oh what a “bitter cup” the sufferings of Christ must have been?
Consider this. Christ never once tasted of any kind of sin. He was pure and holy. His mouth and lips had never touched any kind of evil or ever spoken evil.
Never, that is, until the day Jesus took upon Himself my sins, and your sins, and the sins of the whole world.
That sweet innocence was replaced with the bitterness and the vile sin that would take His life and destroy it.
My friend, Jesus drank that bitter cup.
Jesus drank it –
For the adulterer, the fornicator, the idolater, the homosexual, the child molester, the prostitute, the murderer, the liar, the drunkard, the drug addict, the thief... the slanderer, and the backbiter.
How could Jesus have withstood the shame, the pain and the humility of it all?
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God"
(2 Corinthians 5:21).
If the Gospel were to ever be condensed down into only one verse, it would be this verse (in 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Charles Spurgeon said this verse is the “Heart of the Gospel”. Everything you would ever want to know, or were capable of understanding, is here in this verse.
Miss this verse and you will miss God.
Take it from a student of the Bible, there is a lot of theology out there to be learned. You may become confused with all you might think you need to know. Most any other verse you can miss and still get to heaven. But take care not to just glance over this profound truth.
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God"
(2 Corinthians 5:21).
Don’t concern yourself with trying to get it right. The fact is what you know or what you think you know about religion will mean nothing if you do not embrace this simple truth of the Lord.
You will never solve the world’s woes or right all of the wrong. But you can lean on the saving grace of Christ and “become the righteousness of God"
My friend – you have been
MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST!
This morning, I want us to consider what the Cross of Calvary meant to Christ. When He began the long ordeal of suffering for us, with the first slap to the face, and the first time He was spat on, Jesus sensed something far worse than physical pain. He sensed the weight of the world’s sin beginning to rest on His shoulders of innocence.
To this point, this wonderful and loving Son of God had never known sin to touch Him in any way. He was once without any fault or any evil. But Jesus became the sinless sacrifice for each of us.
The death of Jesus personified the lambs that were once slain on the night of the final plague on Egypt in Exodus 12. The lambs that were slain were without spot, or blemish, or any physical defect before they became the “Passover lambs”.
Each of these lambs that were slain protected the families of the Children of Israel from the plague of death.
That lamb had to be presented on the altar as a perfected lamb to be slain.
And so it was with Christ. That is why -
Revelation 5:11 - 12
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
This is what the Cross of Calvary meant to Christ. He tasted the bitter cup, but He knew that He was the only One worthy to be slain.
We know that Jesus was worthy because
Ø It was the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, who spoke for the world and said, “I find no fault in Him!”
We know that Jesus was worthy because
Ø It was the Roman Centurion that saw the Sacrificed Lamb of God closer than anyone else and he said,
"Truly this was the Son of God"
Ø It was even Jesus who spoke of His innocence when He asked in John 8:46 “Which of you convicts Me of sin?”
Ø It was the writer of Hebrews who said, “He was tempted in all points as we are, yet he was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus was worthy to be slain, but He gave of Himself on a cross that stood between the two guilty thieves being judged for their crimes.
How is it that Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, could die on cross between two sinners? Because Isaiah 53:12 prophesied that “He was numbered among the transgressors.”
Jesus never once distanced Himself from sinners.
That is because He has a heart for sinners. No matter where they are found, Jesus will always identify His reason for living His life and giving His life with how destitute a sinner really is.
The two thieves had been condemned to death for their crimes. If it had not been for the sacrificial death we would be judged for our crimes as well. You see, Jesus took our place of execution between the two thieves that day.
Christ died in the place of guilty sinners.
Think of it this way. His nails were meant for you, the crown of thorns should have been on your head, the spear should have pierced your side, and all of the mocking and insults were meant for you. It should’ve been you hanging on a tree.
But it wasn’t. Jesus suffered and died on the cross in your place.
There is no easy way to tell this gruesome story, but tell it we will. Over and over. Until everyone who is to be saved is saved.
The death of Jesus being reported (at our theatres) has recently drawn sharp criticism all over the world.
The ones who make a living on grotesque violence have complained the most. Nevertheless, we will never stop telling the story of His sacrifice.
Without the shedding of blood this is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).
My friend – the death of Jesus has
MADE YOU ALIVE.
He was condemned - that we might be justified.
He bore our sin – that we might be set free.
He died - that we might live.
He suffered - that we might be redeemed.
He was made sin - that we might be made righteous.
