“Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?” Romans 6:3
Dear Ones:
In this great chapter of the letter written to the believers in Rome, Paul asks the question: “Do you not know?” Know what? He then goes on to refer to the great, dominant and eternal reality of the believer being put INTO Jesus Christ by the Father. He speaks of the total immersion of his being into that of Christ. But he also refers to a certain aspect of that baptism that needs to be “known.” It is that of being baptized “…into His death.” What does this mean, and what repercussions should it have in our lives?
When we woke up this morning, before getting out of bed, whether we felt it or not, there was a reality that existed that surpasses our comprehension, and every enemy that would seek to alter or undo it. It was the truth of which Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia.: “I AM crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live…” (Gal. 2:20) Before our feet touched the floor when we were rising from our beds, this absolute, resolved truth, transcended all “reasoning,” feeling, and circumstances. Paul would later write to the Colossians: “…for ye are dead, and your lives are hid with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3) He is reiterating this truth that is very real. Though we are looking at our identity with Christ in His crucifixion, and that God has dealt with all that is not of Christ by crucifying and burying it in His eyes, He then brings us face to face with the other side of the coin, that of Christ as our Life. Again, Paul, in writing to the Colossians, would declare: “When Christ, who IS our life shall appear, then you shall also appear with Him in glory.” (3:4) To reaffirm this REALITY, he would write to the Philippians: “For me to live IS Christ.” (Phil. 1:21) What is the great reality that is ever in place by the grace of God? It is that this “old man,” this “man of old,” in Adam, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. He had to be crucified and buried, Christ taking us unto Himself to realize it, so that we might be NEW CREATIONS in Christ. The power of the sin nature has been broken virtue of the declaration of victory in Christ, whereby nothing is impossible to Him. Also this victory is realized by virtue of the fact that the Holy Spirit has been given to us to ever strengthen and enable us to overcome. But, HOW is this life to be lived today?
First, the object of our affection and devotion must be singular…Christ. David would write: “I have SET the Lord before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall NOT be moved.” (Ps. 16:8) There is but one God, and He is that Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Secondly, Paul went on to say to the Galatians, “…I live, yet not I, but CHRIST LIVES IN ME.” (Gal. 2:20) What is he declaring here? It is the dominant reality of the inseparable, sufficient, even all-victorious presence of the Son of God dwelling in him by the Spirit. Thirdly, he deals with the principle by which he is living, and by which we are called to live: “…and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the FAITH of the Son of God.” The immutable work of God is that of having created a new creature in Christ, to live by Christ and for Him, to His glory. All has been perfectly, and permanently done. Now, we are to LIVE by the faith of the Son of God with regard to it. This faith is from heaven, a gift. But it is also a capacity given by God to embrace the entirety of His work, and that which He would have us to trust Him for. As James put it, we are NOT to doubt, or be double-minded in this matter, for it is settled in heaven, according to the word of God. Lastly, what is the great motive of choosing to LIVE by faith in the faithfulness of God? It is supremely that of love, in the realization of the love that Christ has for each one of us. In addition, it is by an understanding of our union with Christ, that we can LIVE by His love, by the Spirit, in our worship and service to Him.
Dear Father, before our feet hit the ground in the morning, after a good night’s sleep, give us grace to take our position on the rock of Thy work in Christ, and His work in us. Give us this day, not only our daily bread, but the grace and strength to TAKE the Lord Jesus as our life, setting Him ever before us, and deriving ALL from Him, by that inward attitude of faith. We thank and praise Thee, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad