CROSS PURPOSES 6: NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
In our study, “Cross Purposes,” we have asked, “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” The answer is multi-faceted, and every angle we take yields profound insight into the grace of God:
The cross demonstrates the love of God.
The cross is God’s answer to human suffering.
The cross satisfies God’s justice and mercy.
The cross reconciles people to God, and to each other.
The cross redeems believers from slavery to sin and evil.
Hallelujah for the cross! Yet there is something more—something deep and profound, yet simple enough for a child to understand.
***Many year ago, I was visiting a 96-year-old woman in Chicago. As we sat in her old, decaying house, she told me a story about her son, who died at the age of 6. Shortly before he died, he said to her, “Wasn’t Jesus a good man to die so we don’t have to die?”
Of course, the boy died, as we all do eventually. Yet in unquestioning faith, he believed that the death of the man Jesus meant that his death would not be the end, but a new stage of life, which would never end. Jesus died so we can live.**
But why was it necessary for a man—a man named Jesus—to die so we could live? If God gave life to humanity in the first place, couldn’t God simply raise the dead and give them life that lasts forever?
Yes, but what kind of life would it be, if nothing else changed?
***If you could go to a cemetery and raise from the dead all who were buried there, what would you have? Some pretty good people, some difficult people, some scoundrels, and perhaps some dangerous people! Even the best would be imperfect, for that is the condition of humanity.**
It would not be enough for God to give immortality to humans, without dealing with the corruption of human nature, which touches every human being. We see that corruption in our attitudes and actions, as we find ourselves saying, “Why did I do such a foolish or evil thing?” We see it in people we love, as we might want to grab them by the collar and talk some sense into them. We see it in the political realm, leading to cynicism and frustration. We see it in business, in culture, and even in the church.
The Bible identifies the cause of human corruption as sin—rebellion against God and his ways. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God created us to share in his glory, but sin corrupts us at the core, so that we fall short of the glory for which he created us. None of us escapes corruption. We even say, “We are only human,” recognizing that humans, by nature, are not as they should be.
Humanity is corrupted by sin, and sin leads to death—physical and spiritual death.
How did we get into this fix? The apostle Paul gives a puzzling answer. Read Romans 5:12.
Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden in uncorrupted bliss. They were in touch with God, in harmony with God’s world, and unafraid of the animals. They lived without shame: Adam took delight at staring at Eve, who was perfect in his eyes. They had a perfect relationship with each other: no power struggles, no fear, nothing to hide.
Then Adam and Eve sinned; they rebelled against God. Sin corrupted their nature and their perfect lives. They were ashamed of their bodies, and their shame reached to the depths of their personalities, as they hid from God. Their relationship was cursed, as God told Eve, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Work became painful toil, with thorns and thistles.
This was not the glorious life God intended for humanity! God refused to allow humanity to exist forever in this fallen state, so Genesis 3:22 tells us, “The LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, into a world where all people eventually die.
The story of Adam and Eve is not confined to the far-distant past; it is OUR STORY. (In fact, the Hebrew word for man is “adam.” God intends us to understand that Adam and Eve represent humanity.) Paul connects us to Adam and Eve, when he says, “…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…”
How could the sin of Adam and Eve bring sin and death to us? In our individualistic Western worldview, we think we independently make our own choices and reap the consequences for ourselves. That is partially true, but we also have to recognize our connections with others. We are profoundly influenced by family background and cultural heritage. We are shaped by our environment—our access to clean air, water, sanitation, healthy food, medical care, education, accumulated knowledge, and technology. Our personalities are molded by the actions of people around us.
Still, our primary connection to Adam and Eve is not genetic or cultural, but spiritual. We are like Adam and Eve, as Paul reminds us by saying, “…death came to all people, because all sinned.” Adam’s story is our story, because we also sin. Adam’s death is our death, because, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
Adam represents us all. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Adam sinned, Eve sinned, I sin, you sin.
Every human who ever lived has sinned and fallen short of the glory God intends for humanity—except One. Hebrews 4:15 says, “We have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
That One is Jesus, of course. The Son of God took on the flesh of Adam. Jesus lived on the earth, facing the challenges humans face. He lived in a family, with jealous brothers. He lived in a community, with people who later in his life tried to push him off a cliff. He was tempted to sin, many times. People in power despised him, and tried to bring him down. The friends he trusted most misunderstood him, and abandoned him in his time of need. Finally, he was betrayed by a friend, condemned by a corrupt system of justice, jeered by a crowd, and hung on a cross to die. Only then was his human body raised, transformed into a spiritual body that would never die.
Why did our Savior take on flesh, becoming “adam” (small a)? Hebrews 2:14-15 explains: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
In his flesh, Jesus broke the power of sin and death.
***One of the most deadly diseases known to humanity is Ebola. The virus is deadly, and death is hideous and gruesome. There is no known cure, but one of the most promising approaches is based on one man who survived an Ebola outbreak 25 years ago. The man, identified as “Subject 1” in the respected journal Science, contracted the virus in 1995, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He survived, and one of the antibodies in his blood was identified as effective in saving his life. Scientists are now trying to determine whether that same antibody might save the lives of others infected with the disease. (Nature, 25 February 2016)**
By being exposed to the corruption of humanity, Jesus overcame the corruption of sin and death. Irenaeus, a prominent theologian of the second century, expressed it this way: “[Christ] overcomes through Adam what had stricken us through Adam.”
How does Jesus’ victory over sin and death affect us?
***Imagine that you have an 8-year-old daughter (or son) who is struggling at school. The work is hard, and the teacher is not helpful. Your child is being bullied, and not handling it well. She is being influenced by the pressures of an unhealthy culture, and you see her attitude deteriorating. In fact, a lot of her problems are of her own making. She is caught in a death spiral, and she seems to be unable to break out of it.
What can you do? You can write a scathing letter to the principal. You can give her advice and encouragement, or you can ground her until she fixes her behavioral problems. You can try to shield her from destructive cultural influences. But nothing works.
Suppose you could take on her identity, living in her body for a few weeks. You would go to her school, and ace those tests. You would stand up to those bullies, and help the teacher see the light. You would apologize those she had wronged, and clear up her detentions. You would see through the lies of the culture, and stand for truth and righteousness.
It wouldn’t be easy. To assume her identity, you might have to take on the mind of an 8-year-old. Everyone might gang up against you. People in authority might be threatened by your strength, and life at school might be unfair. You might be mocked for refusing to play the popularity games that others are playing. You might even be beat up by the bullies.
In going through all that, however, you would be giving your daughter a great gift: a new identity. No longer would she caught in the death spiral that was dragging her down; now she can lean into the new life you gave her. Her old life is dead; a new life has begun. As she becomes more like you, that new life will grow.**
The analogy is imperfect, but Christ did something like that. He humbled himself to take on our human identity. In his sinless life, he broke out of the spiral of sin and death that has controlled humanity ever since Adam and Eve. In his death, he took on the powers of evil that controlled the people around him. By overcoming the power of sin and death in his resurrection, he opened up a new way of life for us—a new way of being human, like he was human.
In Romans 5, Adam represents the reality of sin and death in our lives. Christ, however, breaks the power of sin and death, to open up a new way of life.
Paul talks about what Christ did in Romans 5:15-21. We are going to read parts of it three times, because there is so much in these verses. (Preacher: Project verses with highlights if you can.)
The first time through, we will focus on the GRACE of God—the GIFT God gave us in a new identity in Christ: “The GIFT is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man [Adam], how much more did God’s GRACE and the GIFT that came by the GRACE of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the GIFT of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the GIFT followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of GRACE and of the GIFT of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!... where sin increased, GRACE increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also GRACE might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus gave us a new identity—his identity.
As we read the second time, we want to focus on the kind of life Christ gives us. The recurring word is “righteousness,” and the meaning here is “getting life right.” Sin and death is not right. Jesus was righteous, and he makes it possible for us to get life right: “…how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of RIGHTEOUSNESS reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! …so also one RIGHTEOUS act (the cross) resulted in justification and life for all people…so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made RIGHTEOUS…so also grace can reign through RIGHTEOUSNESS to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus took on sin and death, to make humanity right.
Looking one more time at the text, we see the word “reign.” What controls us? “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death REIGNED through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness REIGN in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!... so that, just as sin REIGNED in death, so also grace might REIGN through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Sin is not our master, killing everything good in us. Grace is our master, making us right and giving us life.
How does grace reign in righteousness? We RECEIVE his GRACE through FAITH. (Yes, that is how salvation is always received!) God’s grace must be received, as Paul says in verse 17: “…how much more will those who RECEIVE God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”
The gift of our new identity in Christ is received when we accept him for the first time, AND it is received when we live by faith every day.
This is very practical. In Romans 6:11, Paul says, “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
When we are caught in the corruption of lies, rebellion against God, destructive behavior or addictions, we dare to say, “I am dead to you.” I don’t live Adam’s life of sin and death; I live a life of righteousness in Christ.
When we are oppressed by fear, shame, anxiety, or a cloud of depression, we look to Jesus and say, “Death shall not reign in me, grace shall reign in making me right.”
When we are caught in a spiral of destructive relationship patterns, in our family or work or school, we take on the identity of Christ, living in meekness and strength, in purity and power.
And finally, when physical death comes to us, we have the faith to believe what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:22, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”
Jesus Christ died as a man so we could live as he lives. So, “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
