Sermon by Pastor Dennis Gleason -- May 1, 2005     

3Or have you forgotten that when we became Christians and were baptized to become one with Christ Jesus, we died with him? 4For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
      5Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised as he was. 6Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8And since we died with Christ, we know we will also share his new life. 9We are sure of this because Christ rose from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God. 11So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus.

The scene was San Diego Superior Court. Two men were on trial for armed robbery. An eyewitness took the stand, and the prosecutor moved carefully: "So, you say you were at the scene when the robbery took place?" "Yes." "And you saw a vehicle leave at a high rate of speed?" "Yes." "And did you observe the occupants?" "Yes, two men." "And," the prosecutor boomed, "are those two men present in court today?" At this point the two defendants sealed their fate. They raised their hands.

We have just come through the Passover Season. I use that expression because of the simple differences in the calendars we find in use today. Easter for the Christian was at the end of March this year, but for the Jewish people it was this past week.

The focus of our text today is the effects or results of the death of Jesus Christ, his burial and resurrection.

The Passover ceremony was done in remembrance of the night that the death angel passed over the homes of the Jews in Egypt when the Passover lamb’s blood was smeared on the door posts and lintel of their homes. The first born of any in Egypt who did not have the blood on their door posts died that night.

Let me ask you this question:  How was the Passover lamb chosen?

On the tenth day of the month Nisan, an Israelite would examine the lambs of his flock until he found one that was without spot or blemish. He took the lamb into his house and kept it there for three days. During that time it would become part of the family. Then he examined it again, and on the next day, the fourteenth of Nisan, he killed it and prepared it for the Passover celebration.

The killing of this lamb looked forward to the day when God would send His Lamb to be the final and complete sacrifice for sin.

The day came when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and cried out, “Behold the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world.” In this way John, the identifier, points to the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of Passover. He is seen to be without spot or blemish.

How do we know this is the case with Jesus?

John tells us that a voice was heard from Heaven: “This is my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.”

Notice if you will the similarities with what we know about the Passover Lamb:  Jesus was taken into the house of Israel for three years. During these three years, the Lord Jesus associated with sinners. He sat and talked and ate and drank with people whom the world called evil. Prostitutes looked Him in the eye, and thieves were among His companions.

When the three years had passed, God gave Him a public examination in the sight of men, angels and demons. Taking Jesus to the Mount of Transfiguration, God again looked into the heart of His Son. Once again the voice from Heaven said, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased; hear him. (Matthew 17:5)

Now the identification is complete, and the Lamb who had been identified by John is qualified to die for the sins of men. Then the Lamb was taken out of the house and was put to death for our sins.

We have been identified with Christ…this is what Paul tells us in 6:5-6 of our text: “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”

Our identification with Christ in his death, first of all, resulted in the removal of our guilt. We were guilty of sin before God, but the guilt is now removed. Our sin was placed on Jesus when he was on the cross of Calvary. He dealt with that sin as he did with all the rest of the sin of mankind. The sin was placed upon him as the Passover Lamb and then he died on the cross for our sin. God counts us as guiltless because we have been justified through our faith in Jesus Christ.

In Christ we now have newness of life. The old life is gone and the new life in Christ has taken root in us.

The next truth that is there for us to understand is that we were crucified with Christ and Buried with Him. The Berkeley version of the Bible says of this: “So we were jointly interred with Him in death.”

The truth of what Paul is telling us here is this:  Our identification with Jesus Christ in His burial teaches us that our sins can never again be brought against us.

What has happened to our sins? What has God done with them?

* They are forgiven. (I John 1:9; 2:12)
* They are forgotten and cleansed. (Jeremiah 33:8)
* They are gone, atoned for (Romans 5:11)
* They are covered. (Psalm 32:1)
* They are cast into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19)
* They are removed as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12)
* They are blotted out as a thick cloud. (Isaiah 44:22)
* They are cast behind God’s back (Isaiah 38:17)
* They are remembered against us no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)

If God has forgotten our sins…what should we do about them?
Shouldn’t we forget the too? Wouldn’t we be foolish to remember them when God has forgotten them? Since our sin will never be brought up again by God, it should never be recalled by the believer.

A public sin may need to be confessed publicly, so others will know of the repentant heart and restoration of fellowship with God and those who love Him..

If that is what has happened to our sin…how then shall we live?

We can live in victory for the dominion of sin in our lives has been cancelled out. We don’t have to live under the tyranny of sin. God has promised us resurrection life and power for our lives in this present life. It is not just in the future that God intends for us to experience it. It is for now too!

Is there some indication in the Scriptures of the truth of these statements?  I think there is.

Think back to the interval between the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection.
It was the ninth hour of the day when Jesus died, that is, three o’clock in the afternoon. In the temple it was the hour of the evening sacrifice. The priests begin their normal, ordinary liturgical duties when suddenly, at the very instant Jesus on the cross cries out, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” the thickly woven veil of the temple  was torn in two from top to bottom as if by mighty, invisible hands.

The ark of the covenant, is suddenly revealed to the gaze of all. Before this, it had been approached in a cloud of incense, once a year, by the high priest carrying the blood of the sacrificial animal in the great act of atonement.

The rending of the veil in the temple was testimony to the fact that the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin had been made and the way was now open to God directly. The veil had been a barrier to keep sinful men from a hasty approach to a holy God. It is now a symbol of our open access to His presence. Jesus is the way and man is now free to come into God’s presence. There is no barrier to the presence of God if we come through the Lord Jesus Christ.

While all of this was taking place in the temple, back on Calvary the place of the crucifixion, something else was happening. There had been an earthquake, and the rocks were split. The blood of the Son of God had touched the earth. Just as the voice of Abel’s blood cried out to God from the ground, demanding judgment, so the voice of the blood of Christ cried out to God, and the doom of this earth was announced.

Let me close with this:
A little boy visiting his grandparents and given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma's back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.
After lunch that day, Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn't you, Johnny?" And she whispered to him, "Remember the duck!" So Johnny did the dishes.
Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing., Grandma said, "I'm sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper." Sally smiled and said, "That's all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it." Again she whispered, "Remember the duck." Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's, finally he couldn't stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he'd killed the duck. "I know, Johnny," she said, giving him a hug. "I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."  Steven Cole.

Because of his grandmother’s love and forgiveness, Johnny was able to experience walking or living in newness of life. The guilt real, as it was, was forgiven and Johnny restored in his relationship with his grandmother.

And of course the challenge to Johnny was to live in the newness of life that had come in his relationship with his grandmother.

We who have accepted Jesus as the Son of God and the one who paid the penalty for our sin on the cross have been forgiven. Our guilt has been removed from us and God sees us as if we had never sinned. Heaven is our destiny and sin has no ability to control our lives any more. And better yet, we have newness of life here and now. Victory in Jesus is ours!

So the question for us is…how long will we let sin make a slave of us?

--Dennis Gleason