I want to turn with me to the book of Romans, to the seventh chapter, and the fourth verse. The Lord willing, next week we will go on to the next paragraph in Romans. I have been teased somewhat by those who have noticed that I have stayed in the first part of Romans 7 for three weeks now, digging a little deeper. And they say, what's the matter? Don't you know what you're going to say when you get to the rest of it? Well, I've been finding out the last few weeks.
And I'm looking forward to going on to the next paragraph and the one after that because they're so relevant and meaningful to the Christian life. But this morning is the day of the resurrection. We celebrate that. And in verse 4, there is a sentence I'd like for us to think about in relation to the resurrection. It says, to die to the law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another, to him who was raised from
the dead, that we might bear fruit for God. The sentence I'm interested in, I'm readjusting the words a little bit to make the right sentence, is this, you have been joined to him who was raised from the dead. Biblical Christianity is unique in several respects, and I say it that way, that is, calling it biblical Christianity, because there is some Christianity today that's not biblical. It's under the general umbrella of Christendom, but it does not coincide with
what the Bible has to teach. But biblical Christianity is unique in several respects. I'd like to suggest four of them. First, it's truthful regarding man's state. The Bible teaches us that we are sinners and that we are basically wicked and totally depraved. Having said that, it of course reminds us of how worthy, unworthy we are of salvation. And yet how worthy, how worth we are rather. We are because God has given His Son
for us. So we are unworthy of salvation, but we are filled with great worth as far as God is concerned. So the Bible is honest with us about man's true state, that we're sinners who are unworthy, but worth a great deal to God. Biblical Christianity teaches that. It's unique in a second way because it talks about a personal relationship with God by faith. Other religions
cannot do that. They talk about faith perhaps, but only in conjunction with works that involve ritual and good deeds and effort on the part of the individual. The biblical Christianity is unique in that it talks about a relationship with God established simply on faith. A third way in which biblical Christianity is unique is that it claims to be a God -initiated and God -centered religion. Every other religion in the world is man -created and basically man
-centered, but not so with our faith. is that essential to its truth is the literal historical resurrection of its founder, if I may use that term. No other religion in the world can boast of that. Indeed, rather they boast, in many cases, in the elaborate tombs of their founders. But we rather boast in an empty tomb and a living Savior. This Jesus of whom we talk is not a myth. Nor is he an historical person who is irrelevant
to the 20th century. Indeed, he is the most relevant, the most significant person in every century and generation. He is timeless and changeless. As Griffith Thomas said, he is the greatest influence in the world today. And as George Bancroft said, I find the name of Jesus Christ written on the top of every page of modern history. This Jesus stands as the Savior of all who will come to him in repentance and faith, and as the judge
of all who reject or ignore him. But perhaps the most wonderful and eternally significant truth of all is that This Jesus loves you and me. And he has proved that love by what he has done for us. We find out in our text today what he has done for us. There are three works suggested here which demonstrate his incredible love for every person. I'm thinking of certain words that give us these clues. For example, first, the word dead. Him who was raised from the dead.
And so the first work is his work in relation to sin. He died. The second work that he did for you and for me is in that verb phrase, who was raised from the dead. This is his work in relation to salvation. He was raised from the dead. And the third work that he did for you and for me, who have trusted him, is that he joined us to himself. That is his work in relation to the saved. I'd like to follow those three works through this morning with some elaborating
comments. First, the work of our Lord Jesus Christ in relation to sin. Again, I say it is suggested by that word, dead. That Jesus Christ died is not questioned by reasonable people. There are those who espouse theories that Jesus did not actually die on the cross. But in fact, those who were responsible to see that he died, did so. Turn with me to John chapter 19 for a moment, as we read beginning in verse 30. When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, he said,
It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. I want you to notice that Jesus Christ died in a unique way. He chose the moment of his death. He said, this is the moment I will die. It is finished. My work is complete. And he dismissed his spirit as an act of his will.
He chose the moment of his death. Now it goes on to say, the Jews therefore, because it was the day of preparation, So that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, ask Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. The breaking of the legs of one who was crucified hastened the death. In order for one who was crucified to catch his breath, he had to be constantly moving on the cross. He would
raise himself up in order to exhale. And then he would, because of the severe pain, have to slump again. And then again he would have to raise himself up in order to exhale. It was a terribly tortuous death. And if they wished to hasten it, they broke the legs so that the person would actually suffocate, be unable to breathe. So that was the thought here. Break their legs so that we can get their bodies off of the crosses
before... The Sabbath begins. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other man who was crucified with him. But coming to Jesus when they saw that he was already dead they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and immediately there came out blood and water. And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true, and he knows that he is telling
the truth, so that you also may believe. We don't have time to go into the medical background of the coming out of the blood of water, but that too indicated death. And so there is no question in the minds of reasonable people that Jesus Christ actually died. And not only did he die, but he died in the prescribed manner. prophesied by the prophets. In Psalm 22, David pictures the death of the Messiah in such a way as can
only be fulfilled by crucifixion. And then in his death, according to the Old Testament law, his blood had to be shed. It was not sufficient that he be stoned to death or killed in some other manner than that his blood had to be shed. In Hebrews 9, it says, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. And so in his death, he had to die in such a way that his body would be literally drained of its blood. And that, of course, was accomplished thoroughly
by the method of crucifixion. And so he died. Our study in the book of Romans has given us insight as to the meaning of his death. We have been studying about the law of God in the Old Testament, which establishes his righteousness. and witnesses to it. The law sets a standard of perfect moral righteousness for man. The problem is that man cannot live up to that standard, and the law cannot empower him to. It only tells
him what the standard is. The reason that God gave that law was so that we might see how far short we are of perfect righteousness. The purpose of the law is not to save us, it's to bring us to the Savior. God prescribed death in the law for those who could not keep it. But then, in a marvelous act of grace, He provided His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay that price of death. I ask you to turn to Romans chapter 3, just to look
at one verse in the way of review. After speaking about our sin and the fact that we are all under the law and that through the law comes the knowledge of sin, personal sin. And by the way, we'll get into that some more next week in our text. But he goes on to say in verse 25 regarding Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly. Romans 3 .25, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith. The word propitiation
means satisfaction. In other words, God's offense because of my sin and your sin was satisfied by the shedding of his blood. And so he is the propitiation or the satisfaction for our sins. And not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. Through that bloody sacrifice, God himself provided the one to pay the price for your sin and mine. His death is a demonstration, my friend, of his love for you. In chapter 5 of Romans, do you remember that verse that many
of us have memorized? But God demonstrated his love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, four words, what? Christ died for us. He died on our behalf. The minister asked one day, what work of man will there be in heaven? And immediately a man shot up his hand and said, There will be no work of man in heaven. And the minister said, Ah, yes, but there will. For throughout eternity to come, Jesus Christ will bear the prints of the nails in his hands and his feet. And that
is the work of man. But being the work of man, yes, it is also the provision of God for our sin. And so his work in relation to sin is that he died for sin. He died to sin, as we have also seen. But let's go on to the second work that we talked about, and you can follow it there in your outline in the worship folder. It is this, his work in relation to salvation. You see, the sacrifice of his blood paid the price. But there could be no salvation without his resurrection
as well. And that's why at the end of chapter 4, the apostle says what he does. He who was delivered up because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification. He ties together Christ being delivered up as the sacrifice with his being raised. And he says both of these come together when it comes to our transgressions and our justification. Let me repeat. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross paid the price for our sin completely. But without his resurrection,
there would be no salvation. Paul makes that clear, doesn't he, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, where in several verses, verses 14 to 17, He says, without the resurrection, there is no hope for us. We are of all men most miserable. Christ has died in vain without the resurrection. Now why is it that he had to be raised from the dead? Well, it was because it was part of God's plan.
You see, he not only had to die on earth, but he had also to enter heaven to present himself before the Father, indicating the sacrifice had been made. You see, we needed a perfect sacrifice for our sin, but we also needed a perfect eternal high priest who could perfectly sympathize with us before the Father. So we needed one who could sacrifice for us on earth, but who could stand
before God in heaven on our behalf. And so if he had died only, then that work on the earth would have been completed, but there would have been no one to go before the Father as our intercessor. There would be no salvation. And so the two are linked together. They cannot be separated. Of course, it was impossible for the grave to hold him. He broke up every funeral he ever attended. You see, death cannot exist where Jesus Christ is. In fact, he gave himself to death, as we
noted earlier. Death did not claim him. He gave himself up unto death. And he said, I lay down my life and I take it up again. In other words, he had a part in his own resurrection. He raised himself from the grasp of death. Now what of the resurrection? Let me suggest to you this morning four assurances that you and I can gain by his resurrection. The first assurance is this,
our justification. Now if you've been with us in the study of Romans, you know that the word justification means that we are declared righteous in the sight of God. It's a legal standing that we gain by faith. Because of the resurrection, I can have assurance that I am justified. If he had not been raised from the dead, I would not have assurance that the price had been paid,
you see. But because he was raised from the dead and proved to be who he claimed to be, and because he said it is finished and then rose from the dead after that to apply the price he had paid, we can have assurance of our justification. God does not intend for us to crawl through this life not being assured that we're saved. Do you have that assurance this morning yourself? After I was saved, I was not in a Bible teaching church,
and I have shared this with some of you. I went through several years wondering if I was really saved. I was on a roller coaster ride up and down, and I remember many times crying out for Christ to save me. And then came the blessed day when for the first time I understood that I only had to ask Jesus Christ to save me once. And after that, I could have assurance of my justification. Maybe you're on that rollercoaster ride today, and what you need to do is to claim
your justification. Having received Jesus Christ as your Savior, now to believe that He will keep His promise, that whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. God wants you to have that assurance. You may have it because of the resurrection. A second blessed assurance we may have is that of our sanctification. Look in chapter 6 of Romans for a moment and look
at verse 4. It says, Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Do you know that because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, you and I can be assured of victory over sin? God wants you to experience that victory. It is not the will of God for you to go through your life defeated by sin. If you choose to do that, you may experience
defeat. Or perhaps out of ignorance of what the Bible teaches, you may experience defeat. But that isn't what God has provided. Because Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and you've been united with him, now you may walk in newness of life. You may have assurance about that. You may know today that God wants you to experience consistent victory in your life. Not that we ever get to a point in this life that we are
totally apart from sin. There is still that flesh in us, that humanness that we're going to be talking about in the next couple of weeks. We still struggle with the power of sin that resides within us. But, oh friend, God has provided for you and for me victory over sin. Are you experiencing it? Or are you defeated by sin? Are you struggling with it and often experiencing the nosedive of falling into temptation? Well, then know this, that because Jesus rose from the dead, there
is provided for you victory. And then a third assurance that we may have is that of our own resurrection. I'm getting older. Have you noticed that process in your own life? You don't when you're young. Youth is kind of a luxury, I guess. But as you get older, you begin to think about the fact you're not going to be here forever. I think that's one of the reasons that so many people face what is called a mid -life crisis.
Because suddenly it dawns upon them that their dreams and aspirations in life are not going to be totally fulfilled. In fact, they may not even be mostly fulfilled. Death is going to claim every one of us unless Jesus comes in the rapture before that time. We cannot escape it. But my friend, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, we have the assurance, as Job said of old, that
still in our flesh we shall see God. There is no question about the fact that our bodies, though death may indeed claim them someday, That we will be resurrected from the grave. And in the meantime, of course, we go to be with Christ. Our soul does. But even this body will be raised from the dead. Not just like it is now, thank God for that. But it's going to be raised a new body. This body is like the caterpillar, whereas the new body will be like the butterfly. The
Bible compares it to that transition. It's a metamorphosis that takes place. So that there is identity between the body I have now and the body I will have then. But they won't be identical either. There will be differences. Now because he lives, we too shall live in the resurrection. Death will not be able to keep you. It's impossible that death would keep you now if you belonged to Jesus Christ. There is no way your body will stay in the grave. It will come forth when he
shouts and the trumpet sounds. And then a fourth assurance that we may have is our representation. I didn't give you the key verse, did I, on that third assurance. It's Romans 8, 11. Let's just read that. It's so great. It says, but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who indwells you. That's the
resurrection. But now look down a few more verses and look at the key verse for this fourth assurance. Verse 34 I'm thinking of, where it says, who is the one who condemns? Will Christ condemn us? Will God condemn us? He says, look, it's Christ Jesus who died. Yes, rather, who was raised. Who is at the right hand of God who also intercedes for us. That's the assurance of our representation. My friend, you have an advocate who stands before
God in heaven. That word advocate found in 1 John 2 .2 is, well, it's kind of like an attorney. It's a lawyer. He stands before God and as the accuser of the brethren, as Satan would come, to cast upon you guilt before God and condemnation because of your failures as a Christian. There is one who stands before God as our advocate and says, Father, I've paid the price for that sin. And Satan has no choice but to leave in a situation like that. You know where he usually
goes then? He usually comes to you and he says, Now, I can't talk to God about your sin, but I'll talk to you about it. Look how terrible you are. And he begins to throw guilt and condemnation upon you. And you know what you need to do then? You need to remind him of your advocate also. And say, Satan, there's one who stands before God. And you're right, those things I did. But that one who stands before God is the propitiation for my sins. And what he'll do then? He'll leave.
He has to leave. He won't bother you anymore about it. He may come back, but you can send him away again by pointing to your advocate. And so you and I have the blessed assurance of representation before God. And our high priest does not get sleepy. He does not get weary and tired. He is not on an eight -hour shift, so He's off 16 hours a day, as though there were days in heaven. But rather, He eternally intercedes for us before God. There is no diminishing of
His alertness to our needs. There is no diminishing of His power to intercede in our behalf. He is eternally. our high priest. Oh, what great assurance that is. So that even when I do fail, and I do fail miserably sometimes, when I fail, I know I have one who stands before God, who understands and who sympathizes, who's paid the price for my sin, who's able to meet my needs where I am. That's an assurance we can have, my friend, because he rose from the dead. And he knows what it's
like to be a man. A person. He knows what it's like to be tempted because he was tempted in every way like you are. But he didn't sin. And therefore he's able to intercede perfectly when you're tempted. But we have to go on. And so we have two of his works. The work in relation to sin, he died. His work in relation to salvation, he lives. He was raised from the dead. And finally, his work in relation to the saved. Now I'm going to talk only to those who know the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because this third work does not apply for you. If you do not know Christ today, I want you to know that he died for you, he rose again for you, that you might be saved. But this third work is only for those who have trusted him. It is his work in relation to the Savior, and it's found in that single word, joined. Joined. It pictures the most intimate of unions. In fact, back in chapter 7, verse 4, you'll see the word joined. In the previous verse, you'll notice
the same word in the English. Talking there about the analogy of marriage. She says, so then if while her husband is living she is joined to another man. At the end of the verse it says, she is joined to another man. It's the same Greek construction that's found in verse 4 when it says, you might be joined to another. In other words, it means that you and I who have trusted Christ. have come into the most intimate possible
kind of union with Him. It is like the union of marriage, except for one essential difference. And that is in marriage, two become one what? One flesh. Whereas in this union, we become one spirit with the Lord. I have not been able to probe the depths of that with my finite mind. I am not sure all that that means when it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 that we are one spirit
with him. But this much I know, it means that there has been a miracle take place so that we human beings who have trusted Christ have undergone a radical change so that now it's not just you or just me, but it's Christ in you and Christ in me. We are one spirit with Him. It doesn't mean that we are God, but it means that God has united Himself with us in salvation. He has joined us with Himself. If Christ is still dead, then what we are talking about is a joining only in
memory or in ideal. And there are a lot of people who teach that these days. They say, oh yeah, we're one with God in some mystical, ideal sense, like God is in everybody. But that's not what this is saying. This is saying that God is actually in the believer. That there's a real, not ideal, a real union that has taken place. So that that innermost part of you called the Spirit, the real you, that innermost self of you, is now united, it's one with Jesus Christ. And that
union brings about all kinds of results. All kinds of them. Let's just look at one. That's all we have time for. Romans chapter 8, verse 17. He says, if we are children of God, we are heirs also. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. That's such a significant word, fellow heirs. And there is implied that union, we are one with him, fellow heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him in order that we may also
be glorified with him. What that means, there is one sense in which Jesus Christ has entered into his glory now. But there is coming a day in which he will enter fully. into the glory that is rightfully His. Not only in the heavenly realm, but in the earthly realm. His glory is going to be manifested and established and proclaimed throughout all the earth. And what this verse is telling us is that you and I who are one with Him will share with Him in that glory. It's true
we suffer now if we're faithful Christians. For all that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But we suffer now so that then we will be glorified together with him. Fellow heirs of his glory. And so as we talk about the resurrection, let's remember. that God has done a marvelous thing for us in Jesus Christ. He has joined us to himself like a vine is joined to the branch. Now, if you have never trusted Jesus Christ, you're not a genuine Christian. You may be a
cultural Christian. You may have grown up in a Christian home or in a so -called Christian country. but you've never come to that place in your life where you've personally received Jesus Christ as an act of your own will, then let me read to you the words of Charles Swindoll. To live without faith in the resurrection is to deny biblical evidence. To die without hope of the resurrection is to face a barren eternity. Do you have assurance that you're going to heaven
when you die? Do you have assurance that your body is going to be resurrected? That someday it's going to be brought forth from the grave, glorified and fitted for eternity? Don't you want to live forever? One thing I'm discovering is that life is awfully short. I'm not going to get it all out in this life. And I've talked to people who who've been in their 70s. I remember one person in particular said, you know, I'm 73 years old, but I'm a young person inside of
an old body. Well, I tend to resemble that remark. The older I get, and so do you. And the fact is that one of the blessed things about being a Christian is that we're going to get to live forever. Forever. And even though death may come and claim the shell we live in, so what? We'll get it back one of these days in better condition, more than repaired. And we're going to get to live on and on and on forever and explore God's universe and be one with Christ and reign with
him. That's fabulous. But the Bible says that the person who's not born again, who's never trusted Christ, won't even get to see the kingdom of God. Consigned to separation and loneliness and suffering forever in hell. If you've never trusted Christ, today's the day you need to do it. What an appropriate day for you to do it. For those of us who know Christ, there's great comfort in the concept of a future reunion and
resurrection. A dear friend of mine who's been an evangelist for almost 45 years in the South primarily, his name is Fred Brown. Some of you may know him or heard of him. Fred's wife got cancer. last year, went home to be with Christ a week ago this past Thursday. What joy Fred has because she knew Christ and he knows Christ. And because someday he knows he's going to see her again. And they're going to be together. Though the relationship will be a little different,
they're going to be together in heaven. What a great comfort that is. And it only, I suppose, really reaches home when you've been to the grave and you've laid into the ground someone that you've loved. And you've had that hope. There's so much to experience and to learn of God. I'm excited about eternal life. And I tell you, realizing the one to whom you're joined is exciting too. But it brings a probing thought. Is your life, is my life reflecting his? Am I living like a
branch that's joined to that vine? Is my life but the extension of his character and his life? Or am I living for myself as a Christian? Not bearing that fruit that I ought to be bearing. Oh, how he wants to live that resurrection life through us. Are you letting him do it, Christian? Or are you struggling to do it all on your own, as we talked last week? Will you allow the Holy Spirit to empower you to produce that life of Christ? Only he can do it. Is that where you're
living today? Is he in control? Father in heaven, thank you for what you've provided through the resurrection of Christ. We thank you that we who've been saved have been joined to him who was raised from the dead. Hallelujah. May we live in the reality of that. May we be branches bearing much fruit that remains. because we're
abiding in the vine. And Father, if there be some friend here today who's without Christ, who's facing a barren eternity because of no hope, I pray that that one will trust the Savior today. In Jesus' name, amen.