The Hope of the Resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus was a profound event, and the implications and significance of the resurrection of Jesus are profound. The reality and the implications of the resurrection are of the utmost significance for those who believe. I invite you to consider these things with me. Let’s begin by reading John 20:1-18

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’“ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” – and that he had said these things to her.

This passage is what we call a historical narrative. Historical narrative is one of the kinds of writing that we find in the Bible. Historical narrative is just what the name implies; a story – a narrative – about something that happened in history.
Do you find history interesting? If not, you are not paying attention. History isn’t about facts, history is about people. If you think about an event in history only in terms of facts, it is boring. What makes history interesting is that it’s about people. Real people like us. History is the story of real people in real times in the past. What makes history compelling is the same thing that makes any good novel or good movie compelling, the people, the characters. If we don’t relate to and care about the people in a story we will not care about the story. History is the story of people in the past, real people, people like us. People that laugh and cry and love and grieve.

The passage is not a myth or an allegory; it really happened. Jesus was a real man and more than a man. He was really executed, He was really dead, He was really in a sealed tomb from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning, and He really rose from the dead. Mary Magdalene was a real woman. She came to the tomb where Jesus lifeless body had been laid, grieving over the loss of the one she loved so much.

Jesus of Nazareth was a man who at the same time and in the same body was God incarnate, God in flesh. Before He was miraculously conceived in the womb of a virgin named Mary, Jesus was eternally God. He was God as His humanity took shape inside of His mother; He was God at his birth. He was God lying in a manger borrowed for a cradle, and He was God as His mom and dad taught Him to read. He was God when He got hungry and tired and God when His bones ached from sleeping on the ground. In His incarnation Jesus was fully God and fully human. In every way Jesus was human, and at the same time Jesus was fully God. This reality is beyond our finite minds, yet we cannot ignore it, we must embrace it by faith. It is on this reality, the truth of Jesus being the son of David and the Son of God that the atonement and the resurrection stand.

Mary Magdalene knew Jesus and she loved Him. She loved Him enough to watch His execution and to come early in the morning, before the sun was up, to care for His body. The darkness that surrounded her might have seemed fitting, or she may not have noticed because her heart was dark. Mary Magdalene walked to the tomb that Sunday morning with a broken heart. The gospels of Matthew and Mark tell us that she was not alone, but came to the tomb with another woman named Mary.

People followed Jesus. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were some of those people. Everywhere Jesus went He healed the sick and gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the mute. People were set free of demon possession and the lame walked. Leprous skin was without blemish and withered hands were made strong. Because of all of this, people followed Jesus.

There was another reason that people followed Jesus; He taught with authority. He taught words of life. Because of this some hated Him, and their hatred blinded them to the truth that He was the anointed one, the Messiah, the son of David who had come to be their King and the Son of God who had come to be their Savior.
But some, like Mary Magdalene, loved Him.

Many of us have heard the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus all of our lives. The reality of the betrayal by a friend, the mocking, the unjust sentencing, the brutal and bloody beating, the excruciating pain of being nailed to a cross made of rough wood with the flesh of the back laid open by the scourge eludes us. The words on the page are clean and safe. They don’t turn our stomachs the way seeing it would. We have not experienced the reality of seeing a man hanging in humiliation and dying publicly in agony while those who hated him enough to watch or loved him enough to watch looked on, some mocking and some weeping. Mary Magdalene had seen Jesus die. Not just the crucifixion of a stranger; that would be horrifying enough. Not the death of an evil criminal who deserved to die for his crimes. Mary Magdalene watched as Jesus was unjustly and mercilessly and brutally executed, this man who had set her free from seven demons, this man she had followed and had heard teach and had watched and had never seen do anything but good.
Now she had come to the tomb to do the only thing she could, anoint His body with burial herbs and mourn.

John’s account says she got there early. The passage doesn’t tell us, but I suspect it was in part because it was her first opportunity. She could not go out on the Sabbath which had ended at sundown on Saturday evening. So she came early Sunday morning, so early it was still dark.

To her surprise, she found the stone that sealed the tomb rolled away from the opening. This was not a job that would have been done easily or by one person. Mary ran to tell the disciples, and Peter and John, the author of this account, raced to the tomb. John, the younger of the two men, got there first, but didn’t go inside. He stopped to look in, but when Peter got there he went in to the tomb.
They saw the cloths that His lifeless body had been wrapped in, but Jesus was not there!

John followed Peter into the tomb, and something profound happened. Verses 8 and 9 say:

Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

John was given a revelation of the resurrection before he saw Jesus. Then the text tells us that they went home. But Mary stayed and wept.

We don’t know how much time has gone by, but I suspect that it was getting light. Mary looked into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus had been. The angles asked her why she was weeping. She replied; “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

In her mind, Jesus is dead and someone has moved His body. Then she turns around and sees someone else, but she doesn’t know who it is. He asks why she is weeping and who she is looking for. Thinking that He is the gardener, she says; “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

Then Jesus says her name; “Mary.”

Now she sees. Now she knows even if she doesn’t fully understand. This is Jesus! She turns and says to Him; “Rabboni!”

Jesus is alive!

I imagine that Mary’s first response would be to embrace Jesus. The text says that Jesus said; “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Looking at the language and at different translations, it seems that Jesus wasn’t saying; “Don’t touch me.” Rather He was saying; “Don’t hold on to me.” Both John Calvin and Matthew Henry suggest that Jesus said this to Mary because she may have had a misunderstanding of the nature of Jesus’ resurrection, thinking that things would be as they were before. Things would not be as they were before.

Mary Magdalene did as Jesus said and went and told the disciples that she had seen Jesus and what He had said. She told them; “I have seen the Lord.”

This isn’t the only resurrection story we have in the Bible. People had been raised from the dead before. In the Old Testament we have accounts of Elijah and Elisha being instruments in restoring life to someone who was dead. We even have an account of a dead man who was raised from the dead when his body touched the bones of Elisha in the grave. Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus from the dead. Being raised from the dead was rare, but not without precedent. We even have two examples recorded in the book of Acts that happened after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
But Jesus’ resurrection was different.

John 11:1-53 tells us the story of the resurrection of a man named Lazarus. He was the brother of Mary and Martha. Jesus knew Mary and Martha and Lazarus and had been in Martha’s home. John 11:5 tells us that Jesus loved them. He had a particular relationship with them and a particular love for them.

When Lazarus got sick, the sisters sent word to Jesus, but Jesus, knowing what was going on and that these events were being orchestrated for the Father’s glory and His, did not go to them right away. After two days Jesus and the disciples left to go see Lazarus. John 11:17-27 says:

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Jesus got there, but it seemed to be too late. Lazarus was dead. Jesus knew this before he got there, as did the disciples because He had told them. Hearing that Jesus was coming, Martha went out to meet Him and they had a short but profound dialogue.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Martha was confident in Jesus’ ability to heal whatever disease had killed Lazarus, had He been there. She was also confident that God was able even in this circumstance and that God would give Jesus whatever He asked.

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” In Martha’s mind, Jesus had come too late to save Lazarus from physical death. He’s dead. But, Martha has a confidence in the resurrection of God’s people on the last day. She has lost hope for Lazarus in the present, but has hope for him in the future.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Jesus is declaring who He is. He is the resurrection and the life. He is teaching about the resurrection and He is the resurrection. For Martha and for us the resurrection is about Jesus. All who believe in Him will never die.

He’s not saying that we won’t die like Lazarus. We will die like Lazarus unless we are alive at Christ’s return, yet we can live and never die because of Jesus. He was resurrected never to die again and all who believe in Him will be resurrected and never die again.

Jesus asks Martha if she believes this. She replies; “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Does this remind you of another passage? Matthew 16:13-16 says:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

This is our primary confession; Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one promised to come and save God’s people from their sins. This same Jesus was crucified as a sacrifice for the sins of all who would believe. This same Jesus rose from the dead and reigns in Heaven in glory while He prepares us for the day when He will come back and destroy all of His enemies and reign in glory over all of creation.

Jumping ahead in the story of Lazarus, we pick it up in John 11:38-53 says:

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Martha still doesn’t get it. Jesus has come to raise her brother from the dead and she’s worried about the stink. This is not unreasonable; nothing smells worse that rotting meat. Jesus says; “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” Jesus is there to show Martha and all who are there the glory of God.

Don’t be too hard on Martha, we are just like her.

Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave and he came out of the grave, but this was only temporary reprieve. Lazarus was born heading toward the grave, and after Jesus raised him from the dead he was heading toward the grave again. Jesus resurrection was not so, He rose from the dead never to die again.

There were many witnesses of Lazarus’ resurrection and some believed in Jesus, but some hated Him because their hearts were dead and they were blind to who Jesus was. They claimed to serve the living God but could not see that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. They only saw a man and that man had to be stopped. The events of Lazarus’ resurrection gave faith to some, but increased the resolve of others to put Jesus to death.

Consider the futility of man’s wisdom. The Jewish ruling council thought that they would stop Jesus by killing Him. Killing Him would not stop Him because the grave could not hold Him.

Caiaphas prophesied; “it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” Jesus did die for the people, but not to protect Israel’s standing with the Romans. Jesus died for the sin of all who would believe, for all of the children of God, Jew and Gentile, that would become His people, a people that would no longer be defined as the nation of Israel but as the Church of Christ.

In most of his first letter to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul rebukes the folks for their sins and encourages them in holiness and love. But before he closes he writes at length about the resurrection of Christ and the future resurrection of the believer, because there were some who were denying the resurrection of the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 says:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, [Peter] then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

This is foundational, so why did Paul save this for the end of the letter? I don’t know, but I do know that a strong conclusion, in writing or preaching, is important because we tend to remember best what we read or heard last.

In his defense of the future resurrection of the dead, Paul goes to the past resurrection of Jesus. In fulfillment of the prophecies, the Christ had come and died for the sin of God’s people and had risen from the dead. In this is our hope of our future resurrection. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies, validating that He was the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus rose from the dead, validating that the sacrifice for sin was complete and accepted. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 says:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Our reconciliation with God is in the atonement accomplished by the finished work of Christ in His death on the Cross and applied by the Holy Spirit as we are born again. Our future resurrection is in the resurrection of Christ. Apart from the resurrection of Christ the preaching of the gospel is in vain, indeed our faith is in vain. Charles Hodge writes:

"This is the first consequence of denying the resurrection of Christ. The whole gospel is subverted. The reason why this fact is so essential is that Christ rested the validity of all his claims upon the resurrection. If he did rise, he is truly the Son of God and the Savior of the world. His sacrifice has been accepted, and God is propitious. If he did not rise, then none of these things is true."

If Christ did not rise from the grave we are to be pitied because we have a Savior that cannot save us. The resurrection is essential to our salvation. If the resurrection of Christ is denied the gospel is subverted because the resurrection validates the gospel. The resurrection is essential to the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 says:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

The truth of the resurrection is the truth of the gospel and the truth of the gospel is the truth of the resurrection. Jesus did rise from the dead, and He is the firstborn from the dead. He is the first; in our resurrection we follow Him. Because of His resurrection all who believe will rise from the dead and live forever with Him.

Paul opens the epistle to the church in Rome opens with this:

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, (Romans 1:1-5)

The Christ, the Messiah, was promised and foretold in the Law and the Prophets. He was foreshadowed in the covenants and the tabernacle and the sacrifices for atonement. He was born a son of David as was prophesied to be the forever king on the throne of David. He was born the Son of God as was prophesied to be the forever sacrifice for sin. He fulfilled His mission in his death on the cross, paying the full penalty for all of our sin as our substitute. On the third day, He rose from the grave, conquering death.

By grace through faith His victory over sin becomes our victory over sin. By grace through faith His victory over death becomes our victory over death.

God is Holy, and we are not. Apart from Christ we are sinners by nature and behavior and we are condemned by our sin. God’s righteous judgment for sin is death and His wrath will be poured out for sin. It will be poured out in future eternal punishment for the unrepentant sinner. Here’s the good news. The wrath of God was satisfied in the sacrifice of Christ. God’s justice was met at the Cross. Because of the Cross, God can show us mercy instead of judgment.

But this good news is not universal. It is only for those who believe and repent. If you are not in Christ by faith you are condemned. Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and trust in His sacrifice for your sin. Repent, turn from your rebellion, turn from your self-reliance, turn from your self-righteousness. You cannot save yourself; your best works are worthless before a holy God.
In the substitutionary sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross full atonement for sin was mad. The complete debt for sin was paid. The full penalty for sin was laid on Jesus. The full wrath of God was poured out on Jesus. Because of the Resurrection we know the sacrifice for sin was accepted and that by grace through faith in the sacrificial death of Christ for us we will be accepted by God.

Our hope of a future resurrection is in the historical reality of the Resurrection of Christ.

A Life Well Lived

Death is a fact of life. Setting aside the possibility of being alive when Jesus returns, we will all die. Our physical bodies will not be able to sustain life, yet the end of our bodies is not the end of life. We who are in Christ, redeemed by His sacrifice and born of the Spirit, have the promise of eternal life with Him. This promise is secure in what Christ has done, received by grace through faith apart from anything we do. At the same time, the life new life given to us by Christ is to be lived for Christ.
At our church we are preaching through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7). In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches about the kingdom of heaven as it is displayed here on earth in His people. The past two Sundays we have looked at Matthew 6:19-24 and 25-34 considering that we are to live this life for the next. We are to make heavenly investments; we are not to be anxious about food and clothing but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing that He will supply what we need to live as long as he intends.
If you have been in church very long you have probably heard these passages preached. Of course we agree with them, but how well and how purposefully do we live them? After all, the here and now demands our attention.
This week we put the here and now on hold. We upended our schedules and gathered in the middle of the day on a Thursday to share our grief over a sister who passed from this life to the next, and to rejoice that she passed from this veil of tears to the presence of Jesus where there will be joy everlasting.
Hers was a life well lived. She was good at many things, but what she left behind was the most important thing. People loved her and knew that they were loved by her. Her life was hard, but her heart was not. When she came to the end of herself and embraced Jesus she was not old and she didn’t know it yet, but she was near the end of her life here. In the short time she had to live after she was born again she lived for the kingdom, she invested in eternity.
Diagnosed with advanced and aggressive cancer, much of the end of her life was in treatment, but she used that time as an opportunity to testify to doctors and nurses and technicians and patients – none of whom would she have been talking to if she wasn’t there for treatment – of the goodness and grace of Jesus who had saved her. As her life here was coming to a close she invested in eternity by investing in people.
This world is not our home; we are passing through this world on the way to our true home. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is hard, but we are not anxious because our Father knows what we need and He is seeing us through this journey every step of the way.
We seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness as we move toward Him. Our sister has passed over to the other side and she knows in full what we know in part. She knows all of the meaningless things she did and she knows the benefit of everything she did for Jesus. I suspect that if could send us a postcard she would say something like: “This is so much more amazing that I ever could have imagined. I can’t wait until you get here. Until you do, live your life with wild abandon for Jesus and His kingdom.”
Live this life with wild abandon for the next. That is a life lived well. Invest in the kingdom. How do we do that? How do we live in this realm and invest in the realm to come? Invest in God’s people. Invest in His Church. Invest in the gospel. Invest in discipleship.
That’s what we have been commissioned to do; preach the gospel and make disciples here and around the world. You won’t take anything with you but, by God’s grace to save and power to save, take as many as you can along with you. That is a life well lived.
Thank you, Sister. You displayed Jesus for us, and showed us how to live well. We will miss you, but only for a little while.

a new creation

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
How many times have you heard a Christian say; “I’m a sinner saved by grace.”
I submit that half of this statement is correct. Christians, those who are in Christ, redeemed by the blood Christ, the perfect and forever and only atonement for sin, made alive in Christ by the Holy Spirit who indwells them, are indeed saved by grace.
Half of this statement is incorrect. Christians are not sinners.
I know this may challenge your paradigm. If you are a Christian and you disagree with me, consider why you would refer to yourself and other Christians as sinners. I think there are primarily two reasons Christians say this. First, because we have heard it said many, many times. We have heard it from church leaders and pastors. We have heard it from the pulpit. Second, because we sin it seems to fit our experience. I submit that both of these are poor reasons to embrace something as truth.
Scripture should inform our thinking about everything. As Christians, our worldview is to be biblical, not informed by popular sayings or by forming our own truth around our experiences. Scripture says; “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” I submit that saying that we are a new creation in Christ, the old having passed away and the new having come, and calling ourselves sinners is a contradiction.
Before I was born again, I sinned because I was a sinner. I still sin, but I am no longer a sinner. I say this because before I was born again I was dead in sin, I was a sinner by nature and behavior; unregenerate sinner was my identity. Now I am alive in Christ. I have a new nature and a new identity. My identity is not sinner, one who is in sin; it is Christian, one who is in Christ.
Yet I live in a body corrupted by sin and in a world corrupted by sin, and I sin. My new nature produces new behavior and at the same time I find that I still do things that I did when I had the former nature. Does this mean I now have two natures, the old and the new? No, I am a new creation, the old has passed away.
The apostle Paul wrote: I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Romans 7:15-20)
The apostle Paul battled with sin. He did things he didn’t want to do, things that didn’t conform to his new nature. Paul was a man; he lived in a corrupted body in a corrupted world. He was redeemed and regenerate, a new creation in Christ, living in the old body in the old world. In these bodies and in this world we will be tempted and we will sin, but in the new nature sin is not what we want so we fight against it. We keep fighting or sin wins, there is no other alternative, but we will keep fighting because we are in Christ it is in our new nature to fight. Note that this isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. We can battle some sin and at the same time give in to other sin. I can avoid committing adultery and at the same be a liar. I can tell the truth and at the same time be proud. Most of us will not commit murder, but who of us has not been angry enough to try and beat another to death with our words?
I suspect that Paul was man who did battle with every sin in his corrupted body and put up a defense against every temptation in his corrupted world. Yet he must not have won all of those battles, or else why would he say; “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”
Before we go on I need to say something about this passage. There are those who believe that Paul is talking about himself before he was a believer. This is not correct. I come to this conclusion by reading the text in context. The reason I bring it up is because if this is your thinking you will not get what this passage is about. This is the apostle Paul relating his ongoing battle with sin as one who has been born again, who has been given a new nature, and is indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit, yet lives in a body corrupted by sin.
If you are a Christian, that describes you. You have been born again, you have been given new nature, and you are indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit, yet you live in a body corrupted by sin.
All who are in Christ are fully redeemed. We were slaves to sin, but the blood of Christ purchased us for himself, setting us free from slavery. Imagine you were a slave, the property of another, and could do nothing but what your master commanded. The only alternative is to die. Now imagine that someone comes to your master and negotiates to buy you. You leave with your new master, but instead of pressing you into service he sets you free. You are no longer a slave, you are free! Would you continue to call yourself slave?
We were slaves to sin; we were by nature and identity sinners. We are no longer slaves to sin; we are not by nature or identity sinners, yet we still sin. There is the rub. Why do we act like slaves when we are free?
Imagine being a slave your whole life. Freedom might be a dream, but you would not think like one who is free. If suddenly you gained your freedom, you would still think like a slave and act like a slave. It would take time for your thinking and behavior to change.
In Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin, but we still think like slaves and act like slaves. As we live as free people we learn what it is to be free, we learn to think like we are free, and we learn to act like we are free. We become progressively like Jesus, the One who set us free. We call this sanctification.
The illustration of being a slave doesn’t work for us because we cannot consider ourselves as slaves. We need a more accessible illustration. Think of how many things you do in a day where you are reacting to what you have learned. If you’re driving down the freeway and the guy in the car in front of you locks up his brakes you don’t consider what to do, you react to what you have been taught. Your training takes over. The brain moves the foot to the brake pedal with all urgency because that is what the brain and the foot have been trained to do.
Think of soldiers and police officers and fire fighters and athletes; they devote themselves to many hours of ongoing training so that when they are doing what they were trained to do their training takes over. When they don’t have time to think they react to their training.
Consider a perfect double play. The pitch is hit and the runner at first base takes off for second, the ball, grounded to the short stop, is tossed to the second baseman who tags the base and then rifles it to the first baseman ahead of the batter. This happens because these guys have trained and they are reacting to their training. Each player does what he does because he has been trained to do it.
Now imagine what happens when a right fielder becomes a shortstop. He must be retrained, leaving his right fielder training behind and learning to react like a shortstop.
Our experience is somewhat like this. We have a new position – we are in Christ – but we have to learn our new position. We bring to our new position everything we learned in our old position, and sometimes we react like we did when we were in our former position. Yet, regardless of what our experience suggests, we are not what we were.
Our position is secure. No one who is in Christ is going back. Our redemption is complete because it is complete in Christ, yet we do not completely experience our redemption because we live in corrupted bodies and in a corrupted world. We live with our former training as we are being retrained. There is a tension between the old and the new. Christians live in the tension of being alive in Christ and at the same time living in bodies corrupted by sin. We live in the tension of the new nature and the old training, but we do not live with two natures.
In the new birth we receive a new nature, the old nature is no more, yet we still live in the old body which has been trained by the old nature and will sometimes react to its training. God has changed our position. Our job is to apply ourselves to retraining for and living in our new position, and this will be our job as long as we live here. The best shortstop is the best because he applies himself in practice and he practices throughout his career.

Love Like God Loves

The gospel requires of us that which we cannot do, and it empowers us to do what we cannot do. The power of God in the gospel by the Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification changes us. Apart from the finished work of Christ providing atonement for sin, and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit giving us spiritual life and a new nature, we are hopelessly lost (condemned) and helpless to do anything about it.
Once we have been born again (regenerated) by the power of God in the gospel, we begin the process of sanctification, the process of growing in grace to be more like Christ. We participate in this by pursuing spiritual disciplines – prayer, Bible reading and meditation, fellowship with other believers, being active in a local church, evangelism, etc – but sanctification does not happen apart from the Holy Spirit in us. We grow in the grace of sanctification as the Holy Spirit informs our thinking through Scripture and empowers us to do what we cannot do.
The hardest demand on us is to die to self, being obedient to the Lord and loving others sacrificially. We are called to love others when we will not benefit from it. We are called to love others when we will suffer for it.
Consider the demands made on us in the Sermon on the Mount, specifically in what Jesus says about not getting even with someone who has wronged us, and that we are to love those who persecute us (see Matthew 6:38-48). This passage is part of a record of what Jesus said while teaching His disciples. He is showing that the common interpretation had tweaked the Law of Moses, making it easier for the people to obey, and He is telling the disciples – and us if we are His disciples – that His demands are far more stringent than the Law.
Jesus teaches that we are not to seek retaliation or retribution, that we are not to resist the one who is evil. We are to turn the other cheek, we are to give more and go farther than is asked. We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
I summit that these demands are impossible. These demands go against our human nature. I’m not saying that some won't do this in a limited way, but what Jesus is demanding is not self-willed good behavior. What Jesus is demanding is different behavior from a different heart. What Jesus demands is real love, love that costs the lover, love that is given regardless of the response of the one loved, love for those who don’t love back, love for those who persecute and revile.
What Jesus is demanding cannot be done apart from regeneration, the Holy Spirit giving us spiritual life, and sanctification, the Holy Spirit empowering us to die to ourselves and live with Jesus as Lord of everything, and putting others ahead of ourselves.
Yet, even as we have been given a new life and a new nature we are still influenced by our old life and our old nature, and will struggle to love our enemies and not keep a record of offenses. What is our weapon in this struggle? It is, as always, Scripture. Our consideration of those who oppose us must be informed by Scripture.
Matthew 5:43-46 says: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
With this, Jesus is calling His disciples to love like God loves. God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Since most of aren’t farmers, the timing of the sun and rain are not quite as important to us as it was in the agrarian economy of Jesus’ time. The sun and rain at the right time meant prosperity, or at least survival. The sun and rain at the wrong time meant disaster. God, in His love for all of mankind, makes the sun rise and the rain come and all mankind shares in the blessing. Sometimes He withholds the sun and the rain, and all mankind shares in the suffering.
Consider how many of these people that God blesses with the sun and the rain are His enemies. They rebel against his righteous commandments, they revel in their sin, they use His name as a curse, and some even curse him openly. Consider that kind of love.
Consider the grace that God extends by holding back His wrath, instead blessing His enemies with air and water and food and work and people to love. God does this for all, it is called common grace. Not that it is common in what it is, but that it is common to all.
God will not always hold back His wrath. His justice will be met. The penalty for sin will be paid. Grace has been extended for sin, but not to all; only to those who are born again and believe in Jesus and embrace His finished work on the Cross for their sin and repent, turning away from their sin. This grace, grace for salvation, is not common to all.
Consider the love that God has for those who have rebelled against Him. He sent His Son, incarnated as human, God putting on a body and living as a man in every way, yet without sin. Then this man, Jesus, was falsely accused, wrongly arrested and executed, having committed no crime. He was beaten nearly to death, his features marred beyond recognition, in a way that brought the maximum pain but not the relief of death. Then He was stretched out and nailed to a Roman cross to die in the greatest humiliation and in the greatest pain imaginable.
As he hung on that cross, every nerve in His body sending non-stop, unrelenting screams of pain to His brain, knowing that as bad as it was the pain would get worse, knowing that taking the curse of humanity’s sin would cause God the Father to turn away from Him, Jesus looks at the soldiers who drove the nails and the ones that accused Him and the ones that were there to mock Him, and says; “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”
What! How can this be? How can Jesus not want every one of these people dead and burning in Hell?
This can be because Jesus is God and He loves like God. He loves those who are persecuting Him as they are persecuting Him. He prays for those who are persecuting Him as they persecuting Him.
By saying; “they don’t know what they are doing” Jesus is not saying that they didn’t know that what they are doing was evil. They did. He is not saying that they weren’t responsible for what they were doing. They were. What He is saying is that if they knew who He was they would be on their faces worshipping Him.
The persecution was real, the pain was real, the humiliation was real, and these people were guilty of every offense, yet Jesus loved them and did not retaliate. This is the kind of love that Jesus calls his disciples to, to love like God loves.