Alive in Christ.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] All right, go ahead and have a seat. [0:02] Welcome to Village Church. [0:03] If this is your first time here. [0:05] My name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:07] And as always, I am thankful and grateful [0:09] to see each and every one of you this morning.

[0:13] Let me just start by saying Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers [0:16] who are here this morning. [0:18] And I say that in full understanding [0:21] that for some of you, this is the most joyous of days [0:25] as you gather your children around you. [0:27] But for others of you, this is also a hard day.

[0:32] Maybe you’re unable to have children. [0:35] Maybe you’ve lost children. [0:38] Maybe your children are causing you grief. [0:41] And so I want to empower both of you, [0:45] those of you that have children, those of you who are struggling [0:48] through the day, that today is a day just like any other day

[0:53] where I urge you to find your identity in Jesus Christ [0:57] above anything else, that if you’re a mother [1:01] who has great joy in your motherhood, [1:04] understand that you are here [1:07] through the power of the Holy Spirit to steward [1:10] that responsibility for the glory of God.

[1:13] And if you do not have children [1:16] and it’s a it’s a point of grief for you, it’s a point of hardship. [1:20] May that not become an idol for you. [1:24] But instead, may you just take joy in the place that God has put you. [1:30] Because understand that for both of you, God has put you into the unique position [1:35] that you are currently in to steward that situation

[1:39] and to steward all those things that God has put into your life towards his glory. [1:45] And so the crazy thing about about being a sinner is that [1:49] we have this unique ability to take lots of things [1:52] and turn them into ultimate things for us. [1:54] And they become very idolatrous things where we find our identity, [1:58] we find our worth, we find our validation or our lack of validation in those things.

[2:03] And so my plea for you this morning [2:06] is to find your identity in the gospel of Jesus Christ, [2:09] because that is the only thing that can make you whole. [2:12] That is the only thing that gives you true purpose and true meaning. [2:16] And so because of that, the gift that I will give all women [2:21] and men today is the same gift I try to give every week,

[2:24] and that is I want to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to you for a while. [2:27] But if you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Romans, Chapter six. [2:31] We’re going to be starting in verse eight. [2:33] If you came in after the announcements, you missed the fact [2:36] that we will not be here next Sunday, but instead we’re going to be at our new building [2:40] at one service at 10 a.m. at 233 North Courthouse Road.

[2:45] And, you know, we’ve been in this building for about two and a half years. [2:48] And by God’s grace, he has used it to grow us [2:53] as a corporate expression of the Church of Jesus Christ. [2:57] But he has also changed many lives. [3:00] We’ve seen many baptisms in this building. [3:02] We’ve seen people make major life changes as they’ve been a part of our church

[3:06] as we are in this building and understand that next week does begin [3:10] what what’s really going to feel like a new chapter in the life of our church. [3:13] But the mission is unchanged. [3:16] We want to worship Jesus and we want to live his mission. [3:19] That’s what we’re here for. [3:20] That’s what we’re going to gather for next week and beyond.

[3:22] So please come next week and we’re going to celebrate. [3:25] We’re going to sing songs to Jesus. [3:27] We’re going to preach the word of Jesus and we’re going to pray to Jesus next week. [3:30] And it’s going to be a great time. [3:32] There’s going to be a lot more room. [3:34] And so I’m really looking forward to that.

[3:37] But pray with me before we get into the word. Our father. [3:40] We are so thankful and grateful to all gifts [3:45] that you’ve given us. [3:47] Lord, you bring things that are easy [3:51] and you bring things that are very hard into our lives. [3:56] But God, you promise in Romans eight that if we love you,

[3:59] if we are called according to your purpose, [4:02] you will work absolutely every bit of it to the good. [4:07] And we trust you for that. [4:10] We believe you for that. [4:12] And we thank you for that. [4:14] I pray today as we talk about the life in your son, Jesus Christ,

[4:19] I pray that you’d give us grace upon grace [4:22] and you would enable us to respond to your word today in faith. [4:25] In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. [4:29] Well, Romans, Chapter six started last week with a bit of a transition [4:33] in the book of Romans, where Paul has dealt with in Romans one through three [4:38] what we have done for God, and that is we’ve rebelled against him,

[4:42] we’ve sinned against him. [4:43] And then in chapters the end of Chapter three through chapter five, [4:47] we dealt with what God has done for us. [4:50] And that he has sent his son to die for our sins, [4:53] to purchase our redemption through his blood. [4:56] And then Chapter six transitions

[4:58] into what God wants to do in us through the gospel, [5:02] how he wants to change us, how he wants to take us from dead in sin [5:06] to alive in Jesus Christ. [5:09] And so last week for seven verses, what we saw the apostle Paul do [5:12] is he expounded on what it looks like for us to have faith [5:16] that God has killed our sin.

[5:20] We have faith that God has brought death to sin [5:23] through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. [5:26] And what he’s going to do today is he’s going to go to the other side is [5:30] that God didn’t just come to bring death to something. [5:33] He came to also give life to us. [5:37] And he’s going to tell us what it looks like to be alive in Jesus Christ,

[5:41] because faith in Jesus is about the end of one life [5:45] and the beginning of a new life. [5:48] Paul begins Roman six with the question of what shall we say then? [5:54] Well, he’s going to continue the answer to that question today [5:57] by saying that now that we believe in Jesus, [6:01] he does something miraculous to our lives, and it is the miracle of resurrection.

[6:07] Last week, he dealt with the end of one era, and this week [6:10] he begins with the beginning of a new era in our lives, [6:14] and that is the reign of Jesus and specifically the new life [6:18] that he will make happen in you if you believe. [6:23] And so as we start, I want to give you the first point, [6:27] and then I want to read the text, because the first point is is a lot

[6:30] like a point last week, whereas we talked about the fact that it takes faith [6:34] to believe that you’re dead to sin. [6:37] Well, just as it takes great faith to believe that number one this morning, [6:40] it takes faith to believe that you are alive in Christ. [6:44] Look in Roman six, chapter eight. [6:47] The apostle writes, now,

[6:50] if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [6:54] We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. [6:59] Death no longer has dominion over him [7:01] for the death he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. [7:09] So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin [7:13] and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

[7:15] Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body [7:19] to make you obey its passions. [7:21] Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, [7:25] but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life [7:30] and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. [7:35] For sin will have no dominion over you

[7:38] since you are not under law, but under grace. [7:44] So in this section, Paul talks about the life that you have in Christ Jesus, [7:49] that you are to consider yourselves alive in Christ. [7:55] In the times of Jesus, there was a great controversy in Judaism [7:59] as there were two distinct views of what the afterlife would look like. [8:04] There was one party who said that there is a resurrection from the dead,

[8:09] and there was another party that believed that there was no resurrection from the dead, [8:13] that that was some crazy supernatural superstition. [8:17] And Jesus came and he didn’t just say that there is resurrection from the dead, [8:21] but Jesus went even further than anyone in Judaism would say. [8:25] And he began to use terminology by saying, I am the resurrection and the life. [8:30] He made statements like I’m going to tear the temple down.

[8:34] And then three days later, I’m going to build it back up. [8:37] So Jesus goes past this resurrection in the afterlife and says, [8:42] what I’m here to tell you is that the resurrection is here and Jesus is the resurrection. [8:48] And then he went to the cross and he died a death for you and a death for me. [8:52] But then three days later, he rose again from the dead to bring new life. [8:59] As the apostle Paul is expounding on what Jesus said

[9:02] by saying that the resurrection is not just something that you look at in the future. [9:07] It is that, but it’s more. [9:09] The resurrection is also a present reality. [9:14] If you follow the logic of what Paul’s been talking about last week, [9:18] when he said that you are to consider yourself crucified with Christ, [9:23] that when he went up to the cross, he took that which is sinful with him up there.

[9:28] And so you are to consider yourself dead with Christ. [9:33] So we follow that logical thought to the resurrection. [9:38] And so if you are dead into your sin, rather, [9:43] you will then necessarily be able to share in the resurrection with Jesus, [9:47] just as you share in his crucifixion. [9:49] So you’re not just dead to sin, but you are also, if you’re dead to sin,

[9:55] alive to something else or someone else, rather. [9:58] And that is Jesus. [10:01] And so we talked about last week, the fact that when you’re experiencing [10:05] the death of sin, it’s like something brand new. [10:08] It’s like you’re a toddler who’s learning how to walk. [10:11] And there’s a little bit of a balance issue.

[10:13] And it seems like sin is so easily tempting you to come over to it. [10:17] And you’re going to fall and get back up. [10:19] You’re going to fall and get back up because of grace. [10:21] But the getting back up is this thought of resurrection. [10:26] It’s a thought that Jesus has risen you from one thing to another thing. [10:32] And that is exactly what verse eight promises.

[10:35] Yes, this has major future implications, [10:41] but it also applies right here, right now. [10:45] I’m so thankful that because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, [10:50] that when I die, I don’t believe I will stay dead. [10:53] I believe that just as Jesus physically rose, [10:57] that there’s coming a day when I will rise

[11:00] and I will live with Jesus forever. [11:04] And I thank him for that. [11:05] And I look forward to that. [11:08] But just as the death of sin must be looked at in the light of [11:12] that, just as there will be no sin in the future kingdom of God, [11:16] therefore, I am to not sin now.

[11:20] I’m to consider myself dead to sin now. [11:23] So also, as I believe I will live in the kingdom of God [11:28] as a resurrected person, I am to apply that to my life now.

[11:36] It applies to your life right here and right now. [11:41] The fact of the matter is that just as with sin, [11:44] because you believe something about the future, [11:48] it drastically impacts the present. [11:53] This really is literal. [11:56] Sometimes we look at this and think it’s a good thought or an idea

[12:00] to think about how we figuratively have new life in Christ. [12:06] Religious mindsets talk about this in concepts and ideas. [12:11] But Paul is speaking in terms of reality. [12:15] You must have faith that this is true about your life. [12:21] Note that Paul, through verses eight through ten, [12:23] he almost has this future look at what resurrection is to be all about.

[12:29] He says, just as Christ lives, you will live. [12:31] And then in verse 11, he puts it this way. [12:33] He changes his tense. [12:34] He says, so you must also consider yourselves dead to sin [12:39] and alive to God.

[12:43] In Christ Jesus. [12:45] Note that he uses the same tense for both. [12:48] He says, you are dead to sin, just as he did last week. [12:53] And he doesn’t say you will live at the end of verse 11. [12:57] He uses the present tense. [12:59] He says, just as you’re dead to sin,

[13:02] you are alive to God. [13:06] That’s right now. [13:08] That’s present. [13:09] You might say, well, don’t feel alive to the gospel of Jesus Christ. [13:14] I feel pretty out of shape where the gospel is concerned. [13:17] I mean, look at my body.

[13:18] I don’t feel like I’m very resurrected right now. [13:22] I feel like I’m falling apart every moment. [13:25] It’s the way that some of us view life in the gospel or view [13:28] how we come alive in Jesus Christ is, is we think there’s some sort [13:32] of weight loss program for the gospel we’re supposed to go on. [13:35] We’re supposed to work our way towards it.

[13:37] We’re supposed to earn it. [13:38] It’s like CrossFit for Jesus, where we go to the box and we go to everyday wads. [13:43] And you guys use lots of weird language when you do that. [13:45] But it’s like you get some kind of personal trainer [13:48] and you work yourself into the life in Christ. [13:50] That’s always talking about.

[13:53] You don’t work yourself dead to sin. [13:57] Therefore, you can’t work yourself alive in Christ. [14:01] It is a gift that God gives you in Jesus Christ. [14:05] It’s a concrete reality that you are to believe God for. [14:10] Look at the language that he uses in these verses. [14:13] Starting in verse eight, he says, we believe that we will also live.

[14:17] Then in verse nine, he says, we know that Christ. [14:21] Then in verse 11, he uses more languages. [14:23] You must consider yourselves. [14:27] Because we believe we know we consider. [14:32] Just as all throughout the beginning of the Book of Romans, [14:34] these are terms about faith.

[14:37] These are terms about what you’re believing God for, [14:40] not what you’re working towards. [14:43] And so when he says in verse 11, this very important verse, [14:48] it says we consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ. [14:53] He’s using the same phrase that he used when he says that God considers us [15:01] justified in Jesus.

[15:04] It’s that term that means counted as it’s that term that means [15:09] reckoned as it’s something that God does for you, [15:13] not something that you do for yourself. [15:18] And so just as God has counted you justified or counted you free of sin, [15:23] the debt of sin and alive in Christ by righteousness, [15:27] this is the same thought about how you are to believe about your resurrected self now.

[15:34] You’re not working towards it. [15:37] You’re believing God for it. [15:40] God does all of the work. [15:42] You reap all of the benefits. [15:43] In John chapter three, Jesus describes the new life as being born again. [15:49] It is the work that God does to you.

[15:52] Without it, you cannot follow Jesus. [15:56] You cannot know God without this work that God does for you. [16:00] When Jesus comes to Nicodemus in John chapter three, [16:03] who’s a very religious man, and he says, you must be born again. [16:06] Nicodemus is so confused.

[16:09] But this is a great analogy of what God is doing in us literally. [16:13] When I think about my own children, they didn’t do any work to be born. [16:18] My wife did all of the work and I tried to look somewhere else.

[16:26] My children didn’t work for their birth. [16:29] Someone else did the work there. [16:32] And just as that is the truth about your physical life, [16:35] it is also true about your life in Christ Jesus. [16:41] You do not work to be born again. [16:43] You’re trusting that God has done the work.

[16:46] You don’t work to receive the new life in Christ. [16:49] The Holy Spirit comes and he does it. [16:52] And then he gifts you with faith.

[16:56] You didn’t get yourself the new life in Christ. [16:58] Jesus gave you the new life in Christ. [17:03] It’s about believing the power of resurrection now. [17:09] Because God has promised it. [17:11] Therefore, I believe that it is true that God has regenerated your life. [17:19] Friends, if you put your faith in Jesus.

[17:22] It means that you’ve been born again.

[17:27] But if that’s true.

[17:30] And that means everything’s new. [17:33] It means there’s not one part of your life that is untouched [17:37] for the amazing work of the new life in Christ. [17:40] It is very literally that one part of your life is over [17:43] and another part of your life has begun. [17:47] Everything is new.

[17:49] Therefore, your deepest longings in being born again will then be for God. [17:55] You will seek to live a life towards God. [17:59] If you’ve received that amazing gift, [18:01] you will seek to place all of your values towards God. [18:06] And without that, though, you’ve not been born again. [18:11] That leads to number two this morning, that new life in Jesus

[18:14] always leads to intentional action for Jesus. [18:21] You see, being alive to God means seeking God. [18:27] When he makes the statement in verse 11. [18:31] That you also must consider yourselves dead to sin [18:34] and alive to God in Christ Jesus. [18:36] He’s speaking of the beginning of something, but the beginning

[18:39] of something that will grow and grow. [18:43] And then he says, let not sin, therefore, [18:45] reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey its passions [18:47] and present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, [18:50] but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. [18:56] Your members to God is instruments for righteousness.

[19:01] To be dead to sin and alive to God means that your definition [19:05] of everything in your life changes, therefore, the direction that your life [19:08] was being lived in changes as well.

[19:14] There was no work in my children being born. [19:18] But much work by them began immediately. [19:23] They began to grow. [19:25] They began to mature. [19:27] They’re breathing, they’re eating, they’re working towards it. [19:30] They’re putting great effort towards it.

[19:32] And since the day that they were born, they have not ceased to grow. [19:37] Because if they cease to grow, if they cease to work, what does that mean? [19:42] This is a problem. [19:44] What do you do? You address those problems.

[19:49] See, my children. [19:50] Are not able to do what oftentimes we try to do with our life in Christ [19:55] when it doesn’t feel right, when something’s not going wrong, [19:58] we’re just like, well, Holy Spirit, you just come in and you sprinkle [20:02] the pixie dust on top of me, that’s going to make me feel like everything [20:05] in my relationship with Christ is OK.

[20:07] Try that at 3 a.m. with a crying baby. [20:10] It doesn’t work, does it? [20:12] Something needs to be done. [20:15] It needs to be feedings, needs to be diaper changes. [20:17] Maybe there needs to be medicine from a doctor. [20:19] But something needs to be done about it.

[20:22] And so your relationship with Jesus Christ and your growth in Jesus Christ [20:26] must be the exact same way. [20:29] The gospel is not opposed to effort. [20:33] Great effort will be put into your relationship with God and your growth in God. [20:39] And if I could diagnose most of the problems in your spiritual lives [20:42] right here and right now is that you are not putting intentional effort

[20:46] into growing in Christ.

[20:50] To be dead to sin means things change. [20:54] By definition, what God means [20:57] is what you look at in your life as true pleasure and joy [21:01] will change completely.

[21:06] See, Jesus compared new life in him to wine skins. [21:12] See, in the days of Christ, they would put wine into leather [21:16] that had been refined over and over and over and made OK for wine to be put into it. [21:21] But it had to be new leather, because if you poured all of your wine out [21:26] and then poured new wine into old wine skins, well, in the chemistry reactions [21:30] that take place in the fermentation of wine, gas begins to form

[21:34] and it expands and it expands and it expands. [21:37] So there has to be room for growth in there. [21:40] But if you use an old wine skin. [21:43] And what’s going to happen? [21:46] When it begins to expand, it’s going to burst. [21:49] It’s going to be worthless now because it’s going to be all over the floor.

[21:53] As Jesus is saying, just as wine must be put into new wine skins [21:57] so that that wine can stretch and so that wine can expand. [22:01] So also the life in Christ must go into a new life.

[22:07] See, too often we simply seek to add Jesus language [22:11] and Jesus thoughts to the life that we were living without him. [22:16] We just want him to take what we already have [22:20] and make that better. [22:22] But that’s not new life.

[22:26] You see, when we deal with this in terms of glory, I think sometimes we [22:30] we kind of make ourselves think that we don’t know what that’s all about. [22:34] We don’t know what we’re talking about there. [22:35] What does that mean? What is glory all about? [22:38] But I think if you’re actually honest, you know what glory is all about [22:41] because you seek it every single day.

[22:45] But you’re just trying to add Jesus into the glories that you’re already seeking. [22:48] I mean, that’s why we watch sports. [22:50] So why we take part in sports because it makes us feel glorious. [22:55] It makes us look and we watch that amazing home run. [22:57] Walk off home run. [22:59] We watch that amazing last second shot or we watch that amazing moment

[23:02] in the Super Bowl where the quarterback throws it into the end zone [23:05] and the receiver catches it and they win the game. [23:07] And we just yes, we feel so good. [23:10] We want to feel glory.

[23:13] The older we get, the less of it we can do. [23:15] So the more of it we watch.

[23:20] That’s why we love having control. [23:22] That’s why we love having power. [23:25] Because that’s the wielding of glory.

[23:30] That’s why we seek sex, because it’s a sensation [23:34] of glory, makes us feel something. [23:38] That’s why we want money. [23:40] Because then we can purchase glory.

[23:43] We can go after that thing that’s going to make us feel the most glorious. [23:48] That’s why we self-medicate. [23:51] That’s why we drink. [23:54] So we do all of these different things so we can feel what glory is all about.

[24:04] Paul is telling us.

[24:09] Is that Jesus came to kill [24:14] every one of those ways that you are seeking [24:18] to get glory in, because you are being a glory hog, [24:24] because all glory belongs to God. [24:30] This is therefore the new life in Christ is about understanding [24:35] that all of those things that you used to seek your glory in,

[24:39] all of those ways that you used to seek to make yourself feel alive in, [24:44] you turn those to Jesus Christ, because that’s where you’re receiving new life from. [24:51] He will not fit into the machine of glory that you have built your entire life. [24:56] He’s building one of his own. [24:59] And now you have the privilege to be a part of the new wine skins in Jesus Christ. [25:06] Note what he says in verse 12.

[25:09] He says, don’t let sin reign in your mortal body.

[25:13] To make you obey its passions. [25:18] So we are so good at looking at sin and thinking all of the things that I avoid.

[25:27] Vow, shout, nods. [25:28] Maybe there’s a few vows, shouts in there. [25:30] So we keep score for ourselves and say, OK, I’m doing pretty good. [25:33] But what he boils it down to in verse 12 is he’s saying, what are you passionate about?

[25:40] What are you chasing after in your life? [25:43] Where are you seeking to get glory? [25:45] Where are you giving all of your glory? [25:47] Because that is the thing that you are presenting your life over to. [25:51] And if it is not Jesus, then it is sin. [25:56] And he wants to root that out of you.

[25:59] And he doesn’t want you to be able to explain that away from yourself. [26:03] That the life of faith intentionally walks into environments and actions for Jesus.

[26:14] Friend, what are you passionate about? [26:17] What are you filling your life with?

[26:21] Is it Jesus?

[26:24] How can you know where you need to point your passions? [26:27] Because then he makes the opposite. [26:28] He says, don’t present your bodies and members to this. [26:32] Do present your bodies and members to Jesus.

[26:40] Colossians, chapter three, I find very helpful here in verse one. [26:44] Apostle Paul wrote Colossians just as he wrote Romans, and he says this. [26:49] He says, if then you’ve been raised with Christ,

[26:53] I love that one is if then statements, I find if then statements very great [26:59] because if then statements are just pretty clear, they’re pretty blunt. [27:03] And so what Paul is starting with, he’s saying, if you’ve been raised with Christ, [27:06] so what’s the possibility there? [27:09] You haven’t been raised with Christ, if this isn’t true.

[27:14] I think if you’ve been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. [27:21] Oh, he’s more specific where Christ is [27:27] seated at the right hand of God. [27:29] So you think now your passions need to be directed [27:33] to the things that Jesus himself is longing for. [27:40] So you need to seek him in order to ever know what you’re to do with your life.

[27:46] And so what we do oftentimes in our lives, when we’re trying to say, [27:50] how do I follow Christ, as we say, OK, God, [27:53] you reveal it to me in a special time that we’re having together. [27:58] And you just open my ears, you open my mind and you tell me what your will for me is [28:03] and what specifically you want me to do. [28:04] And then we wait and we wait and we wait and we wait and we wait

[28:08] and we wait and we wait and we wait. And then we die. [28:12] So, well, it’s God’s fault. [28:15] He never told me.

[28:21] The root issue that you’re dealing with when you treat the will of God [28:25] in that way is that you believe a very big lie. [28:30] You believe you’re special.

[28:34] You’re not. None of you are. [28:38] Jesus is. [28:41] It’s not that Jesus has not been clear, it’s that we don’t like what he’s already told us. [28:47] Because he’s been crystal clear in his word, [28:50] the life that he desires for us to live. [28:54] And so when you cry out to him, God, tell me what you want me to do.

[28:58] What he’s saying back is I wrote a whole book about it. [29:02] You say, that’s a big book.

[29:07] Well, good that he’s given you an entire lifetime to get through it, then, isn’t it?

[29:14] Because when you begin to pour your life into the very word of Christ, [29:18] and that’s what I believe that this is the will of God will always direct you to his word. [29:25] And you go to his word and he’s literally speaking his words into your life. [29:30] It says that the Holy Spirit will take this and he will explain it to you. [29:34] As you read with your human eyes, you will begin to see a great mission of God [29:40] unfolded right before your very eyes.

[29:42] And you will begin to pick out not just the terms, not just the sentences, [29:46] not just the paragraphs, but you will begin to see great themes emerge about the holiness of God, [29:53] about the righteousness of God, about obedience to God, about sacrifice for God. [29:58] But then about the sacrifice of God, then about the mission of God, then about redemption through God, [30:04] then about a good news that is to pervade this entire creation. [30:07] That is the message of God for redemption through faith for everyone that has ever lived.

[30:13] And so if you want to know what the will of God is for your life and how you are to present your members over to him [30:20] as instruments of righteousness, it begins with your mind last week, as we said, [30:24] and it is about repentance, which literally means a change of mind about why you exist and what you exist for. [30:31] And then it translates into a life of red hot mission to take the good news of redemption through Jesus [30:39] that he has given into your life and to take it out into the whole world so that others may be redeemed as well. [30:47] Seek the things that are above where Christ is.

[30:54] Redemption, friends, always leads to mission.

[31:01] Always.

[31:03] What is Jesus alive for?

[31:07] Jesus has an eternal mission. [31:12] His mission in Romans is to restore what was lost because of sin.

[31:18] He did this through a righteous obedience to all that God told him. [31:23] Then he died, friend, to redeem you. [31:27] And he rose from the dead to regenerate you to a new life. [31:34] And when this is applied to your life, you come alive through redemption and you are changed to live for his mission [31:43] to redeem others. [31:45] You will seek to worship God with all because when I look at Romans one through three,

[31:51] I see a God who created me to find joy in him, to find pleasure in him, to find satisfaction in him, [31:58] to point my face towards him and worship him forever. [32:03] So that’s what I want to restore and that’s what God wants to restore in me. [32:07] And you will fight for your affections and pursuits to be for God if you have been raised with Christ.

[32:19] Friend, you must continually seek to turn more and more of your life to Jesus through the scriptures,

[32:27] through prayer, and through the church.

[32:33] You may say that sounds boring and difficult.

[32:38] It is difficult. [32:41] It’s the most difficult thing that you will ever do. [32:44] So difficult that God says you cannot do it without his power. [32:48] But the promise of God is that he’s given you the power through the Holy Spirit to do it. [32:53] But secondly, if it sounds boring to you, then friend, you need to be born again.

[33:02] You’ve not experienced the new life in Christ.

[33:06] Let not sin make you obey its passions. [33:11] Do not be an instrument for unrighteousness. [33:14] Note the way that he goes. [33:16] He starts with your brain and he says you need to repent. [33:20] You need to change your mind. [33:22] You need to place your knowledge.

[33:24] You need to place your belief. [33:25] You need to consider yourself alive in Christ. [33:29] And then he transitions and he says when it goes into your mind, where does it end up? [33:33] It ends up in your members.

[33:36] What is members? [33:37] He’s getting so specific. [33:39] He’s talking arms, hands, legs, feet, and everything in between.

[33:46] He’s saying you will have this knowledge and it will change you so much that you are taking it. [33:52] You’re taking your lifestyle from one thing and placing it into another. [33:56] And so you begin to do that which God has made abundantly clear in his word for his mission.

[34:06] And you must always be seeking to find what is your next step in following Jesus.

[34:15] You see another issue that we have is that we sit in church for a long time.

[34:22] We’ll go to Bible studies. [34:24] We’ll go to group. [34:26] We will go to personal discipleship group by God’s grace. [34:28] I pray you are a part of every one of those environments.

[34:33] And you begin to think because I know I have no more to grow. [34:40] And so you become very settled. [34:41] You become very stagnant.

[34:44] And what the gospel is telling you is that you are never done presenting your members.

[34:55] I will cease to need to grow in the faith and grace in Jesus Christ the day that I die.

[35:02] Until then there’s more growth. [35:05] Until then there’s more movement. [35:07] Until then there’s more need for me to follow Jesus more and more with my life. [35:12] It’s never over friend. [35:14] Every day there are more opportunities for you to move, for you to grow, for you to find that next step in following Jesus. [35:21] Because the mission of your life will be the worship of God.

[35:25] You may say this looks like it takes effort. [35:27] Yes it does. [35:29] It takes great effort.

[35:34] Finally this morning number three. [35:36] Understand that being under grace means to live for what matters to Jesus. [35:43] Every part of your life must be under grace.

[35:48] Do you know that something always has dominion over your life? [35:54] He talks about two things between verse eight and verse fourteen that could have dominion over your life. [36:00] He says death no longer has dominion over your life if you are in Christ. [36:04] And then in verse fourteen he says let not sin therefore have dominion over your life. [36:09] But the confusing thing that the problem that we have in our Christian life is that we’ve equated some very wrong things. [36:16] We think that if we have a lack of dominion then nothing has dominion.

[36:21] So I can just do whatever I want to in Christ because I’m not under dominion anymore. [36:25] No you’re under dominion to something. [36:28] He wants you to be under the dominion of Jesus. [36:32] He wants the grace of Jesus to reign over you. [36:36] The only other alternative is you. [36:41] You’re equating freedom to having dominion over your own life.

[36:44] That’s not freedom because we know that you are sinful. [36:49] Therefore if you have dominion over your own life then you’re under the dominion of death. [36:53] Sin is exercising dominion over your life.

[37:00] This is not the lack of something. [37:02] This is about something new. [37:05] You need to replace sin with Jesus.

[37:12] Romans chapter six verse fourteen is not so much a command as it is a promise. [37:17] A promise of a new life.

[37:20] In verse thirteen he’s telling you what that promise looks like. [37:24] When he says in the affirmative he says present yourselves to God. [37:32] As those who have been brought from death to life. [37:35] There’s no bigger opposites than that. [37:38] Death and life. [37:40] Your only option with death is that you try to put a bunch of makeup on a corpse and parade it around as if it’s got life.

[37:46] It doesn’t. It’s dead. [37:48] But then he says in Christ we have the opposite of death. [37:50] We have life and he’s in the mindset. [37:53] He’s saying this is what you’re to think about. [37:55] This is what you’re to consider. [37:56] You are to believe that he has taken you from death to life.

[37:59] But then he gets to the body and he says and your members to God. [38:06] So he’s calling you to the dominion of God. [38:09] And a term that he has used in the original language here can also be translated as yield yourselves to God. [38:15] Because God wants to do a work so you submit. [38:18] You let him pass before you. [38:20] You let him have the lead.

[38:22] You let him have control.

[38:26] You give your members your entire body all of your actions to God as instruments for righteousness. [38:35] And so what we need to deal with finally is what does it look like for your members your body your actions to be used as an instrument of righteousness. [38:45] It means two things. [38:48] I don’t want to be deadly specific here about how every one of you must grow in faith. [38:54] Because you still even though I’ve already said you don’t you may think that God has a personalized plan for you that’s different for everybody else. [39:04] No that’s you speaking.

[39:07] That’s you trying to have dominion over your life. [39:09] And remember you’re not God.

[39:13] What does it mean to be an instrument for righteousness? [39:16] What has Romans already taught us about the location of righteousness? [39:20] Jesus alone is righteous and Jesus gives you righteousness. [39:24] So the direction of righteousness is always going to be towards Jesus. [39:28] So now that you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus you’re to give yourself over more and more to the life of Jesus. [39:37] And then look in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 14 through 17 because I think Paul has been abundantly clear.

[39:43] He says for the love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this that one has died for all therefore all have died. [39:50] So what is he saying are you in control? [39:52] No. [39:54] The love of Christ is. [39:55] That’s where dominion is. [39:57] One has died for all therefore all have died.

[39:58] And he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. [40:10] So there he goes crucifixion, resurrection, new life, new dominion, new yielding. [40:16] From now on therefore note this we regard no one according to the flesh. [40:22] So now he’s saying how you view others. [40:26] Then he says this even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh we regard him thus no longer.

[40:33] See there was a time when you didn’t worship Jesus.

[40:37] You didn’t believe he was God. [40:39] You didn’t view him as savior. [40:40] You didn’t view him as Lord. [40:42] That’s not true anymore is it? [40:44] No he’s God. [40:45] He’s Lord.

[40:45] He’s savior. [40:46] He’s worthy of all praise. [40:47] You worship him. [40:48] And he says therefore you don’t regard anyone else according to the flesh because if anyone is in Christ he’s a new creation. [40:55] The old is passed away behold the new has come. [40:57] So the theme of the entire New Testament is that all need to come to Christ.

[41:03] So that they can worship God in all of his glory. [41:06] So the pursuit of being an instrument of the righteousness of God is to get that righteousness to everyone that’s alive. [41:14] So they can experience what real life is. [41:16] That is the mission of Jesus. [41:18] That is what you are redeemed to live for. [41:20] That is what you are to make your passions for.

[41:22] That is what you are to be an instrument for. [41:24] That is what your desires and your deepest longings in this life are to be spent turning yourself to the pursuit of. [41:33] You must intentionally arrange your life to tell people the good news of Jesus Christ.

[41:41] And what’s that going to do? [41:44] That’s the second thing. [41:46] That will build his church.

[41:50] Jesus is passionate about two things.

[41:54] Understand this. [41:56] Proclaiming the gospel means building the church. [42:01] And building the church means proclaiming the gospel. [42:06] They are one and the same mission. [42:10] To proclaim the good news, you must know the good news and believe the good news. [42:16] So friend, are you entering into environments to know it?

[42:21] To build the church, you must be engaged in the life of the church. [42:26] Are you?

[42:29] Are you making sacrifices in areas of life so that you can grow in proclaiming the gospel and building the church of Jesus Christ? [42:39] Because that is what discipleship is. [42:42] This is what growth looks like. [42:45] This is the process that the rest of your life will be marked by if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.

[42:55] See the truth that you need to deal with this morning and that I need to deal with every morning is that you are always under dominion to something.

[43:08] The question today is what has dominion over your life?

[43:13] The answer to that is found in whatever you are pouring the most of your days and the most of your hours into.

[43:23] If you showed me the schedule of your life, of your weeks, your months, I could very easily tell you what you are passionate about.

[43:36] Is it Jesus?

[43:40] Or is it something else apart from Jesus? [43:44] Friends, if it is apart from Jesus, then yes, it is sin. [43:47] And the life of the resurrection will repent of that.

[43:53] Truth is, we get very uncomfortable when people get very specific. [43:58] But I don’t want you to be confused this morning about what it means to follow Jesus Christ.

[44:04] It means that you are passionate about his gospel getting to the world.

[44:11] And if you are passionate about his gospel getting to the world, then you are passionate about making disciples in the local church. [44:18] And building the local church and sacrificing for the local church.

[44:23] Without that, you will not grow as a follower of Jesus Christ. [44:28] But friend, understand this. [44:31] The death of sin is done.

[44:34] The new life is what you are building now.

[44:41] Are you?

[44:44] You see, this morning communion isn’t just about death.

[44:49] Every week we reflect on the Lord’s Supper here at Village Church.

[44:54] It’s about death that gives way to new life.

[45:01] When Jesus offered up his body on the cross, it was with a vision that there was life on the other side.

[45:08] And some of you struggle to believe that if you let the life you are living apart from Jesus die, [45:17] that there is something on the other side worth living for. [45:22] Friend, there is. [45:25] There is mission on the other side. [45:28] There is purpose on the other side. [45:32] And ultimately, there is joy on the other side.

[45:41] As the band comes, I invite you this morning that if you are a follower of Jesus,

[45:47] the six tables around this room are open for you. [45:54] Come. [45:56] Eat. [45:57] Drink.

[46:00] And then go live the new life of mission. [46:04] And together let’s build the church of Jesus Christ.

[46:08] When you are ready, come.