"In that He died, He died unto sin once; in that He lives, He lives unto God." Romans 6v10
We must not consider sin in this chapter as referring to a sinful nature, otherwise we infer that Christ had a sinful nature which He did not. His only relationship to sin was to enter the realm of sin which held sway in the world, to tackle it head on and render it ineffective; so sin here is sin personified, an abstract term for something real and powerful that brought human beings into spiritual slavery. For a little while, and with a specific purpose in mind, Christ entered the kingdom of sin to deal with it but now is beyond it. The phrase "He lives to God" means that He has entered the realm and rule of God, He has forever left the realm and rule of sin. It is in understanding what this meant to Him that we will grasp what is true of us because we are united to Christ.
If we refer to scriptures like John 17 v 5, John 17 v 24, John 13 v 1, we will understand that this meant Him returning to the Father, returning to the glory that He had before He came; but there is one essential difference and it is this, He is there as a man, there was never a man in heaven before, He is there as a man now. He has carried manhood, the new humanity to the skies, and a man now sits on the right hand of universal power. This guarantees that ordinary human beings who are joined to Him in the regeneration will one day be there too. Where He is in heaven, He is described as "the captain of our salvation" and He is "bringing many sons to glory." Now, as a glorified man He lives in the presence of God, He administers the purposes of God, He wields the power of God, and He cares for the people of God looking after their interests while here on earth.
Unlike His days here on earth, when He was criticised and questioned and doubted and rejected and ultimately abused, He is now with God in heaven where He is accepted and adored and obeyed and loved and glorified. The New Testament does not finish with Christ on the cross, or in the tomb. The Jesus of the gospel narratives is now on the throne, and the sight of Him in glory caused the apostle John to fall at His feet as dead.
Jesus lives, He lives unto God, He lives in the presence of God, in the power of God, and in the atmosphere of love, and in the spirit of triumph, having slain sin and death and opened heaven to millions of believers.
He is back where He belongs, He is with His Father, He enjoys unbroken fellowship, unhindered fellowship. He enjoys the loyalty and adoration of created spirits we know as angels. This is what is meant "He lives unto God." His life with God is an active life; 2nd Corinthians 13 v 4 " Though He was crucified through weakness, yet He lives by the power of God." Hebrews 7 v 25 says "He ever lives to make intercession for His people." The same is said in Romans 8 v 34. We have already seen in Romans 5 v 10 "we shall be saved in His life." Hebrews 9 v 24 says "He is entered into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us."
He lives with God, occupied constantly in the affairs of His believing people, and one day He will intervene in the affairs of this world.
Tomorrow d.v. we shall see how this impacts on our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment