The Power of Christ's Resurrection

Romans 8:1-17 – The Power of Christ’s Resurrection

Introduction

I hope you have heard the greatest story ever told before. The story of God coming to earth to free us to live a full life in the present and in the future. The story of Jesus Christ, God himself, who chose to settle God’s justice by taking the penalty for all the evil we have done by dying and being buried, and then rising on the third day. In case you didn’t know, Easter, a holiday that most people celebrate, is actually a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection was God’s stamp of approval that Jesus really did settle the justice that the evil we do demands. Many people know this, but did you know that the resurrection does more than this? Today we will look at the power of Christ’s resurrection and see that it brings those who are united to Jesus into a full life both in the present and future.

Background

But, before we do this, let me give a brief background to the story of the resurrection. It is actually the whole bible, but since we don’t have time, I will try to summarize it for us in less than a minute.

God made the world and everything in it. He told people that they must obey him or they would face judgment and die. They didn’t obey. But, instead of wiping everybody out and starting over, God made a promise that allowed him to be truthful and allowed humanity to continue.

The plan was for God to take on human flesh, live a perfect life, and pay the penalty of death in place of all those who would trust in him. The whole Bible up to the Gospels is the story of how God prepared the world for Jesus to come and how God brought about his rescue plan.

The Resurrection Story

Before I go any further, let me give a summary of the resurrection story from a combination of all the resurrection accounts from all 4 gospels.

Mary Magdalene and a few other women went to the tomb to try to take care of Jesus’ body (this was their custom). As they were arriving, Mary Magdalene saw the tomb was open and empty and immediately ran to tell the apostles. The other women stayed behind and went into the tomb, while Mary was running back, the women saw a few angels and were told by them to go and tell the apostles that Jesus was risen.

Meanwhile, the guards wake up from their shock (or whatever it was) and go tell the chief priests. The chief priests bribe them to lie about it.

Meanwhile, Mary makes it back to the apostles and tells them the grave is empty. Peter and John run back to the tomb. Mary heads back too. But, Peter and John get there, find it so, and then realize Christ is risen. Peter and John leave. Mary Magdalene arrives and looks into the tomb. She is devastated that someone took Jesus’ body. She begins to cry and then hears a few angels ask her why she is crying, she thinks they are just men. She then turns around and sees Jesus, making his first appearance to Mary, and for that matter, anyone. He asks her a few questions and then reveals himself to her. Ecstatic she runs to tell the disciples that she saw Jesus…alive.

As Mary is running back, Jesus appears to the other women as they are walking back to tell the disciples the news that the angels told her. They worship him, then he tells them to go and tell the disciples that he is alive and they should go to Galilee and he will meet them there.

Some of the disciples still do not believe what the women tell them so they go about their day. A few of them travel to a village outside of Jerusalem, meet Jesus but don’t recognize him. He eventually reveals himself to them and they go back to Jerusalem to tell the others.

Finally, at the end of the day, Jesus appears to all of them (accept Thomas who wasn’t there and didn’t yet believe). He proves that he is alive and has a new, somewhat different, but real body. They believe, and then Jesus gives them their instructions. Then he gives them the Holy Spirit, who opens their eyes to the truth of God’s word about his mission of dying and rising from the dead.

Today, I am going to assume this as historical fact and preach on the power of the resurrection from Romans 8. If you are unsure about it, I would love to talk to you afterwards, but for now, assume with me that Jesus lived, died, and then rose again. Now let me read our text.

Exposition

Today we are going to see three things: 1) Christ's resurrection frees us from the principle of sin (vv. 1-8); 2) Christ's resurrection frees us from fear of the future (vv. 9-11); 3) Christ's resurrection frees us to live as a true child (vv. 12-17).

Let’s jump right in and look at verses 1-8, where we will see our first point that Christ’s resurrection frees us from the principle of sin. Now, let me say something right off the bat. The only reason the things in any of these verses are true is because of Christ’s resurrection. But why?

How many of you have ever taken out a loan on a car or a house? If you have, you know there are generally a couple things that are required. First, proof that you can pay off the debt in the future. They usually ask for a work history and proof of income for the last year. Second, a down-payment. The down-payment is in a sense proof that you are responsible with your finances and will be able to pay the loan off`.

This is a good illustration of why the resurrection is so important. How do we know that if we trust in Christ, that when we die, we will be with God and one day get new bodies and live in a new heaven and new earth? The answer…Jesus died and rose again as proof of this. And so, because of the resurrection, these things that Paul talk about are true.

Imagine with me for just one moment, that all of us in this room are perfectly healthy and happy. Our bodies and minds don’t carry any diseases or faults. We are all perfectly moral and loving. But, we have been trapped in a world filled with disease and selfishness. It is filled with lots of people who have hurt others and done unspeakable evil.

But the good news is that we have a spaceship and have found a planet far, far away that we can inhabit. It is a perfect planet with no diseases, no hostile weather, or atmospheric problems. It is perfect, and we are perfect, so we fly away and arrive there. Everything is going great, but after some time, we find out that other people want to come. But they aren’t like us. They carry diseases, they are selfish, they are immoral, they have done horrible things. Do we let them in? The obvious answer is no. If we let them in, they might bring evil upon us. They would take the perfect world that we have and destroy it and possibly us. But we are loving, we want to find some way to let them in? But how?

It would require some radical surgery on them. They would need to pay for their crimes, get new bodies that wouldn’t carry diseases, and new hearts and minds that are moral and loving.

This example is why Christ’s cross was needed and why Jesus had to die. God wanted to provide a way for people to come and be with him in a perfect and remade world, but he can’t let evil in. The only way for him to do it is to take the people’s penalty, have it paid, and fix the problems in their bodies, minds, and hearts. Only by killing the evil in them and remaking them can this happen. Jesus did this on the cross.

We see this in Romans 1-3 and 6-8. Those who are outside of Christ are living in condemnation, under the guilt and power of sin and death. This is called a law in the sense of principle. It is something that is baked in us, like a horrible virus that spreads. It is in those who live or walk in the flesh. What does this mean? It means that everybody who hasn’t had their evil heart taken out of them are living in death, hostile to God, rebels against God who can’t please him.

This is why Jesus had to die. The Father sent him to remove this principle or law of sin and death. This had to be killed in us. Jesus must pay for the evil that we have done through this principle and then we must die to it so we might live a life of love and peace.

When we trust in Christ we are united with him and we receive several benefits or effects. First, it frees us from the guilt and shame we have by them being put on Christ. Second, it makes us as righteous because we receive Christ's righteousness as ours. Third, it frees us from sin as a controlling principle over us. Fourth, it makes a new controlling principle in us, who/which is the Spirit of God. Fifth, it makes us able to obey the law of God. Sixth, it makes us able to please God. Seventh, it gives us true life. Eighth, it gives us peace.

Thus, the first impact of the resurrection of Christ is to free us from sin's power and control and put a new controlling power in our life which leads us to true life and peace. This is a daily thing that happens as we walk according to the Spirit and set our minds on the things of the Spirit. It results practically in true life and peace.

We see our second point in verses 9-11, Christ’s resurrection frees us from fear of the future.

What would it look like to live a life where you feel loved and approved 100% of the time? Where when anything you do you hear someone say, "Great job! I'm proud of you!" Or where you knew that the person who loved you the most was always with you in good or bad times? This is what most of us long for…this, we might say is true life.

Those who are united to Christ have this true life. Why? Because the entire Godhead lives in us. From verses 9-11 and one other verse in Jesus’ high priestly prayer we see that this is the case (vv. 9, 10, 11). In verse 9 and 11 we see that the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) dwells in us, and in verse 10 we see that Christ is in us. In John 14:23 we are told that if we love Jesus and keep his word that the Father will love us and will come to us and will make us the Father and Son’s home. And in John 17:20-21 we are told that the Father is in Jesus and Jesus is in the Father, and we are in them.

And so we also see here that our union with Christ is a guarantee of several things. First, that we are truly free from the principle of sin and death. Second, that we belong to God, we are truly God's people. Third, that we have life and live in righteousness. Fourth, that we are guaranteed to be raised at the final resurrection by the Spirit.

Thus, the second impact of the resurrection of Christ is that we have a life which communes with the Triune God where each of the three persons of the Trinity dwells in us. This is a daily thing where we live in righteousness. It results practically in a full and meaningful life, not only in the present, but forever in eternity in resurrected bodies.

Our third point is found in verses 12-17, where we see that Christ's resurrection frees us to live as a true child.

There was a movie that came out quite some time ago called The Truman Show. It was about a man who thought he was living his best life, but was really trapped inside a TV set. He thought he was free, but he was really a slave.

This illustrates the way the world lives under the power of sin and death. They believe that they have everything that they want. They don’t have any shackles tying them to God. They can do whatever they want, and are truly free. But in reality, they aren’t; they are trapped inside a life of slavery to sin and death. But those who are in Christ are truly free as children of God. But our problem is that we forget this every day.

Let me illustrate what it is like when we forget with a parable. There was once a man who was adopted into the family of the greatest king in all the earth. This man was treated as his own son and was declared to be a prince. Because of this, he had access to all the riches and advantages of the great king’s kingdom.

This great king’s kingdom covered much of the known world. His palace was as large as a small city. For every meal of the day a lavish banquet was set out. No expenses were spared. Every type of meat, bread, vegetable, fruit, and drink were set out. Any who ate at this table could eat anything they wanted until they could eat no more.

The adopted prince, however, before his adoption, had lived for decades in the streets of the cities that surrounded the great palace. He had had no place to sleep, no food, no job, and no shelter. He had managed to survive all these years by digging in the trash that he would find throughout the city. Sometimes when he had dug in the trash, he would find delicious half-eaten food, other times he would find barely anything and eat things that weren’t fit to eat.

When he was first adopted, he realized how wonderful it was and enjoyed the bounty of the daily feasts. But, after a while, he forgot and returned to his old habits of digging in the trash for food. Many days he could be found outside of the king’s palace on the palace grounds, eating out of the trash from the great feasts inside the castle.

Why would this be? How could this be? He must have forgotten who he was. He forgot whose family he was adopted into. He forgot the privileges that come from being a child of the king.

Those united to Christ are no longer slaves to that life that produces death, but instead are truly alive. Since God the Father, Son, and Spirit live in them, they are led by him. The Holy Spirit leads those who are truly children of God.

Those who have the Triune God dwelling in them have something amazing, they have the Holy Spirit who internally testifies to them that they are children and have such a deep relationship that they can cry out "Dearest Father!" anytime and all the time. Their own soul and God himself is a witness to this reality.

This union with Christ grants several things. First, God himself testifies to you that you are his child. Second, because you are his child you are an heir of God, joint with Christ, meaning that all that is Christ's is also yours. Third, your union will not be accepted by the world and may cause you to suffer, because the world doesn't like God, in fact, the principle of sin and death that is at opposition with God will make them at opposition with you. Fourth, you will ultimately be glorified with Christ at the end of history, being publicly identified with him and thus experiencing part of his glory.

Thus, the third impact of the resurrection of Christ is that you can live as a child of God with all the benefits of Christ in the present world and the world to come. It results practically in a life that mirrors Christ's and thus has eternal significance and meaning.

Application

We have nothing or no one to fear. God is for us. How do we know? Because Jesus was killed so that the principle of sin and death in us could be killed and we could be made perfect. If God gave up his only Son for us to be with him, is he going to be miserly? No. God invites us to the banquet. He tells us to come and eat. Are Satan, people or even your own self accusing you? Who has that right?! God has declared us innocent in Christ.

Are you being condemned? No one can condemn you. Christ has been condemned on your behalf; God won’t take more justice than required. Why? Because it was condemned and put to death being put upon Christ.

Conclusion

Is there some sin or evil that you can’t beat? Is there some help that you need? In Christ, because his Spirit lives in us, we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who loved us enough to die for us and the Father who loved us enough to send his Son.

There isn’t anything that could keep us from God’s love. Not angels or rulers, not anything in the future, not any power, not anything in the depths of the earth, or the heights of the skies, not life, nor even death. Nothing can separate us form the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Death couldn’t stop Jesus from accomplishing the work of redemption for us. The resurrection proved this. It proved the great and awesome love of God for us.