But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Message: The Resurrection of Our Bodies
Time: Paul wrote Romans from Corinth as he prepared to leave for Palestine. Phoebe (16:1,2) was given the great responsibility of delivering the letter to the Romans believers. At this time, Rome had a population of 1 million, many of whom were slaves. The Romans church was doctrinally sound, but it still needed rich doctrine and practical application. Rome had massive buildings but also slums.
What the Lord is Saying: Death is inevitable for each of us because of sin - Romans 5:12 - "death spread to all men, because all sinned." But it will be destroyed one day - I Corinthians 15:26 - "The last enemy that will be abolished is death." And yet, Christ Jesus, our God-man, defeated death. The good news is we can be aligned with Jesus through faith, through trusting in Him, believing what He has done for us. And that alignment means that at death we will be sealed with God forever. Without this sealing we are cursed to eternal punishment or separation from God. That's the sobering message- not all will be saved. Romans 5:17 -- "For if by the transgression (or offense) of the one, death reigned (set up shop with people for all time) through the one, much more those who receive (trust and make it apart of themselves) the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign (this life, but more importantly, eternal) in life through the One, Jesus Christ."
Today's verse shows us this - (my paraphrase) -- "The Holy Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead and that Holy Spirit that did that work dwells now in His called ones, those that are sealed, those that have believed. And so God who raised Jesus from the dead will give us life to our mortal bodies. As flesh, as people, death is our end, but God will give us life and move us from mortal to immortal, from flesh to divine. And again, why? Because of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us." The Holy Spirit makes us free. God makes us free.
We are raised from the dead with Jesus. Once he was raised from the dead, our trusting and believing in Him, placed us with Christ to receive the benefits and rewards of being in Christ.
Romans 15:20-23 - 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.
We are one in the same with Christ. Romans 6:4-5 -- "we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection."
United. Unity. I keep getting reminded how important this unity is. Our future is based upon being united with Christ and so our future with people should be based upon the same thing and yet we are world in disunity or disharmony. There is no greater joy I think than being with people of the same accord. I love it at a football game at my college university because we all stand together united and cheering for our time. We have a similar mission. It is good to support your team on the road, but it is also odd because we are fish out of the water and in that moment we are immediately aligned with anyone that is also a visitor. But when we are at home, cheering, it is a great feeling to be united. And we enjoy this fellowship at church as well, being with like-minded people. We are a united front for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as believers in Christ.
Going back to the resurrection we also see that Jesus changed in his appearance from walking on the earth to being resurrected. And so we would expect our resurrection as well to be similar. Mary Magdalene eventually recognized Jesus, but at first she did not. John 20:14 -- "she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus."
I Corinthians 15:42-57 mentions this change. It says, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body." The change will occur - from perishable to imperishable. Everything in this life right now perishes, food, our car, houses, nothing lasts. But one day we will not perish. And we will all change: "we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." Changed. What a glorious picture of our future state and yet in Christ, the change has already happened. We just don't see it yet, but God already sees it in us.
Summary: At Christ was raised from the dead, so we in Christ are linked to Him by the Spirit living in us after receiving and trusting in Him - and so we will be resurrected to a new imperishable life with Christ for eternity.
Promise: Sinners are looking to escape death, but the only way to do so is through resurrection unto eternal life, which is available only in Christ.
Prayer: O, my Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. I am linked and you have linked me to the rewards and benefits of being in Christ. Holy Spirit, I praise You for the truth that You are living in me. You dwell in me and because of that I reap all of the benefits that the Father has lavished on His Son, Jesus. Thank you for these truths and showing them to me. You are to be praised and glorified always. It is all for your glory, not mine. You deserve it. I will reap the benefits. I will always be changed. Thank you for the unity that pervades our lives and makes us of one accord. Keep helping us to be united more and to put off those differences. May our unity make us stand out.
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