ROMANS UNWRAPPED 104

 "...that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life."  Romans 6v4.

We remind ourselves that Paul is presenting grace as an antidote to sin, and does so by stating our essential union with Christ.   We have seen our union with Him in His death and burial, we now consider it in connection with His resurrection.   He uses the familiar construction " as Christ ....even so we."   He is focusing our minds on the fact that we are bonded to Christ in an unbreakable union, in His death, His burial, and now His resurrection.  

He makes the fundamental statement that Christ was raised up from the dead; that He was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, and this means for us that we now walk in newness of life.   In the statement that Christ was raised up from the dead, he is stating an historical fact.      How do we know He died? because He was buried.   How do we know He rose again?  because He was seen by many witnesses, the details are found in 1st Corinthians 15.   That Christ was raised from the dead is not in question, even though sceptics today wish to deny it or even minimise it.   He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father.   In this tremendous phrase we see two things;  we see the power of the resurrection in the word glory, and we see the pathos of the resurrection in the mention of the Father.   When we think of the glory of God we think of the outward manifestation of what is invisible:

When God comes out and reveals Himself in many different ways, it is always spoken of as His glory.   If we cast our minds across biblical  revelation we could identify the glory of His majesty in creation, the glory of His presence amongst His ancient people, the glory of His goodness and mercy, the glory of His holiness revealed, the glory of His miraculous works, the glory of His power, etc. etc.   The reference here to the glory of the Father is referring to the mighty power of God in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.   The apostle expands this in Ephesians chapter 1 when in describing the resurrection of Christ he exhausts the vocabulary of the Greek word for power to describe that act  "  the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead."  Ephesians 1 v 19-20.   Contrary to puny man's idea of power, the historical act of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was the greatest manifestation of Divine power.   This same power was enacted in the believer at the point of conversion.   In Ephesians chapter 2 Paul says  " and you has He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and in sins ."    The link between the two chapters is that the same power God wrought in Christ in resurrection was also wrought in the Christian in his conversion, in tearing him from the power and thraldom of sin in which he was held.   This is not the end of the story, there is much more to come, more power, more glory, which he develops in later verses.  

We are united to Christ in His death, also in His resurrection: n.b. His death, not ours. We are essentially linked to all the blessings flowing from His death and resurrection. We have been taken out the reign, the realm of sin, and now we live in a new life, we walk in newness of life, we are part of a new order of humanity altogether. we share in all the goodness and triumph of Christ, all His power, all His goodness, we have been transported to a new world, we are citizens of heaven, we are heading for a better country: ours to share all the wonders of resurrection life.

The power and pathos of all this comes out, because we are one with Christ at the point of His deepest sorrow in His death, in the darkness of the tomb, and we are one with Him at the point of His greatest triumph in resurrection glory; and this is only the beginning!

Tomorrow d.v. planted together.