In Christ—connecting with power in your life
—Romans 8:1–16
Andrew Fountain – July 15, 2018 Click on this slide and then press the spacebar to advance slides: ➜ (or swipe on a touch screen)
If you were asked “what is the essence of being a Christian” . What would you say ??
The essence of being a Christian is: sins forgiven through the blood of Christ
Christ has died in my place, taken on my sin
going to heaven
faith: trusting Christ alone
All of these are excellent.
We often describe what happens when we are born again in terms of our sin being washed away and being forgiven
This is a very important part of what happens to us, but it is not the only change
In fact, there is another description which is much more common in the N.T.
The most common way to describe a Christian, used by the Apostle Paul, is to say that they are “in Christ”.
(You know how some commedians have a catch-phrase... student sketch amf: “right”)
87 times in N.T. —all but 3 occur in Paul’s letters.
If you include similar expressions such at “in him ” and “in Jesus Christ”, Paul uses the expression approx. 160 times , in every single one of his letters.
Virtually every page, often several on a page, sometimes the page is thick with “in Christ’s”.
If you were to highlight it, the page would be dark with them (e.g. Eph 1)
Outline
We in Christ ➜ a new kind of being & living
Christ in us ➜ a new strength
Walking in freedom, in Christ
What does it mean?
In Christ means union with him, he in us and we in him.
we are going to look first at us being in Christ and then Christ in us 1. We are a New Kind of Being
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2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Story of the huge butterfly that was trapped under a sheet of plexiglass in the corner of my deck
It means participating in a new kind of life, initiated by Christ,
When Christ rose from the dead he was the firstborn of a new species of mankind,
he was the “first butterfly” in you like
“the firstborn from the dead” Col 1:18 ➜ the first of the new creation.
The old creation is often called “the flesh”
and this new creation is called “the Spirit”
So close is this connection with the Holy Spirit, that Paul often uses the terms “in Christ” and “in the Spirit” interchangeably
We’re going to see this in Romans 8:5–10 where Paul contrasts caterpillars with butterflies
the mindset of the caterpillar is let’s find a leaf—chomp chomp chomp
another leaf—chomp chomp chomp
down to the dirt, crawl around a bit in the dirt to find another plant
down to the dirt, slow climb, eat leaf, down to the dirt, slow climb, eat leaf
but the mindset of the butterfly is freedom, fly, find flowers, drink nectar
Christ and the Spirit: John 14
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth…
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Jesus living in us and the Spirit living in us amount to exactly the same thing
because he has sent the Spirit, to represent himself
our experience of Jesus Christ, right now, is only through the Spirit
in v.9, the Holy Spirit is even called the Spirit of Christ
For those who live according to the flesh flesh , according to the Spirit Spirit .
For the mindset of the flesh is death , Spirit is life and peace,
because the mindset of the flesh is hostile to God,
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit , Spirit of God lives in you.Spirit of Christ ,
But if Christ is in you , your body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is your life because of righteousness.
Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you , Spirit who lives in you . So what does this new way of living look like?
Have you ever wondered why Jesus spent 3½ years with those 12 disciples?
He didn’t just teach the way, but he showed it in his life
This new way of living is fundamentally different A. Love for others that is so radical, it is like laying down your own life
When Jesus died on the cross, we know he was suffering for our sins
But also he was revealing to us what is at the core of the nature of God
God is one who is willing to put other’s needs completely above his own
Isn’t that extraordinary—the core nature of God??
Jesus message was “take up your cross and follow me” …
“To truly listen to someone is to die to your own need to talk” B. Pouring his life into the plan to spread this love
Not just an individual priviate love
Something called “the Kingdom” which is a way of working together to bring God’s love to the world
Jesus had a passion for the Kingdom
Yes, but what about my family commitments?
Jesus must have cared for his mother because he passed the responsibility on to John when he died
but he did say some rather shocking things to people who wanted to put family before the kingdom
But Jesus took his disciples aside to rest
Yes he did, and that is very important, but the only purpose of rest was to be more effective in the kingdom
Jesus kept saying “I must be about my Father’s business”
We will keep saying that if we are living in him .
In Christ: A new way of living
Love for others that is so radical, it is like laying down your own life
Pouring our lives into the plan to spread this love
True happiness comes through this new way “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” [Luke 9:24]
C. True happiness comes through dying to ourselves
So much of our lives is spent trying to make sure we are going to be happy.
We work so hard at our own happiness
Focussing on happiness is like a mirage in the desert
Seek first the Kingdom of heaven and all these things will be added to you
Do you believe that? —I wish I believed it more. Some days I’m more of a caterpillar than a butterfly.
Does that mean Jesus never felt good?
Not at all—because the amazing thing is that it is only when we STOP trying to ensure our own happiness by controlling our surroundings and follow Christ, that we will actually be happy.
Luke 9:24 “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
But this way of living is humanly impossible
This way of living… looking to please the Father rather than happiness… can only be done if Christ is in us, because it is not the way of the flesh but a new way.
It is the way of Faith because it does not seem obvious. (e.g. giving to God’s work)
But we can’t do it...
Outline
We in Christ ➜ a new kind of being & living
Christ in us ➜ a new strength
Walking in freedom, in Christ
2. Jesus Christ is Living in Us ➜ a new strength
Living this new kind of life would be impossible if it were not for the fact that Jesus is actually living in us
He does this through the Holy Spirit
There are lots of pictures in the Scripture to help us understand this,
like the vine and the branches —abide in me
limbs of a body
Sometimes surgeons have to re-attach severed arms, (and it is amazing how they can do this)
But can you imagine someonw saying to the surgeon: “you’re doing this wrong—get the arm alive and then attach it to him?” (Charles Price)
Let’s read 8:1–4
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus .
For the power of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus sin and death .
For God achieved what the law could not do flesh . in the flesh ,
so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, according to the flesh but according to the Spirit . We prevent God’s power working in us by insisting on trying to do things in our own strength.
Ever drive with the handbrake on?
Soon after I first learned to drive. “My, this car doesn’t have much power today”
But if we are a new creation, new kinds of beings, why should we have any problem with sin?
The problem is old habits
tempers that get triggered, anger that can flare up
automatic reactions we have without even thinking about it. =
My van had wheels almost exactly the same distance apart as street-car tracks
we can so easily fall into old ruts
There are scripts that play through in our minds
We don’t have the power to get out of the rut
Do Christians grow stronger in themselves as they mature?
No, they learn to depend more on Christ.
So what can we do practically?
Outline
We in Christ ➜ a new kind of being & living
Christ in us ➜ a new strength
Walking in freedom, in Christ
3. Walking in freedom: Lies that Trap us and Truth that sets us Free
I was talking to a Christian brother when I was in England. “No power, I just keep losing, failing.”
Do you have conversations with yourself?
don’t worry, it’s normal. We all have what we call “self talk”
we play tapes in our minds
Often the tapes go: “you’re no good, you’re going to fail, you’ll mess up in the end”
or “you’re ugly, nobody really loves you, you’re pretty worthless anyway”
you’re a mess. You can hide it for a while but once people get to know you they won’t want to be your friend. So don’t let them see you.
Satan loves these tapes full of lies, especially the ones that say”
You can’t help messing up, no point in trying, you know you’ll fall into that sin again
Everyone else does it anyway, it’s normal
Yesterday as I was preparing this message, I was feeling a bit under the weather
I realized that I was saying to myself all the time “you’re never going to get this sermon done...”
you don’t feel well enough to do it...
Once I realized this, I was shocked
I deliberately started quoting Scriptures to myself
One of them was the one from the front of the wecome pack—can anyone tell me what it is?
Any other good “tape” verses?
Good “tapes” to play
“I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me”
“The power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in me”
“I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus”
“the power of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the power of sin and death”
I am convinced that one of the most important ways of defeating sin is by talking truth to ourselves!
The Bible is full of these kind of truth statements that we have to re-program our self-talk with =
Cattle can be restrained by a thin electric fence (Highland Cow)
Sometimes we are kept back by such silly little things
But God expects us to use that power that is available to us:
8:12–16
So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, the flesh , to live according to the flesh
(for if you live according to the flesh , you will die ), the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live .
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, Spirit of adoption , by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”
The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.One of the scripts in this passage is that God is our father and he loves us
Paul talks about the “spirit of slavery” and that is exactly what the problem is
The fact is that we are new and we need to set our sights higher
We can have such low expectations of the Christian life
God’s plan is that each and every one of us do amazing things in the kingdom, but we set our expectations so low =
Ex. Of warship in the navy of a small country but the ruler had a lot of money.
chickens running around the deck
stop at night (even though the best radar technology that money can buy)
never use the gas turbines (spent millions on)
This is just how most of us Christians are!
Most of us never switch on the gas-turbines! We’re just chugging along on deisel
we’ll talk about this is a moment
When Saul was first anointed king, he just went back to live with his family
Instead of ruling, he was ploughing the fields with his oxen
We need to get it that God has made us kings, and we need to stop living in the dirt
Are you a butterfly today, who is living like a caterpillar in the dirt?
Have you every seen an electric train set and a child who has never seen one before
to start with it is not switched on
they try to push the train along
but then you turn the power on, and they are amazed
Maybe today you don’t actually have any power because you are not actually in Christ
If you want his electric power, it can be yours very simply
As I come to the end, I want to read...
Romans 8
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus .
For the power of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus sin and death .
But if Christ is in you , your body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is your life because of righteousness.
Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you , Spirit who lives in you .
Romans 8
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, Spirit of adoption , by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”
The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.
We want to pray for people now, people who want change in their lives
If you feel like you are that butterfly, trapped under the glass, then come and we will pray for you and speak truth to you
If you’re not yet a Christian, but want this new life, then you come as well.
If your just not satisfied with “normal” and want more, then let’s pray together
Paul didn’t say “pray that you will be in Christ”, he said “you are in Christ, live out of who you are”.
This is not about praying for more, but of living out of what we already have! (gas turbines turned on)
Paul never tells us how to “get more of Christ in you” because you already have him!
We’re not going to pray that you have more power, but that you live out of the power that is already in you.