Two If’s and a Walk Stronger than Death - (part II)
August 26, 2007 5:02 pm Chapter 8, Romans, Sermon-TextsThe second segment of two sermons addressing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This sermon is part of the Walking According to the Spirit sermon series and is an exegetical treatment of Romans 8:9-13. This sermon was originally preached August 26th of 2007 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.
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:: The Resolved Church :: August 26th, 2007 :: Pastor Duane M. Smets
Romans 8:9-13
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 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 dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Series: Walking According to the Spirit
Two If’s and a Walk Stronger than Death - (part II)
Romans 8:9-13
I. If Christ was raised
A. Biblical Evidence
B. Circumstantial Evidence
C. Historical Evidence
II. If Christ is in you
A. Sin is Death
B. The Body is Important
C. Christ is Life
Introduction
Last week we began looking at these four verses in Romans eight and I said that on two of the “if’s” in these verse hang two incredibly important, incredibly life changing, incredibly powerful conclusions. “If Christ is in you” and “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells…” We began we the second if and began trying to answer the question of whether or not Jesus really rose from the dead.
We looked at the Biblical Story and the accounts it presents of Jesus’ prediction of his death and resurrection, we looked at the medical evidence of his death, and the eyewitness accounts of an empty tomb from four different unlikely sources, the unacceptable in court account of women, the account of a skeptic, the account of a person who’s job was to kill Christians and supress the Christian story, and the account of a person who could have avoided having his body dipped in a burning vat of oil and banished to island if he would just admit he was lying.
Today we finish up with this second if, the question of whether or not Jesus really rose from the dead and then we are going to look deeper into the words of Romans 8:-9-13 about what that means for us if he in fact did. Today the main question that is on my mind is what makes Jesus different than other individual’s experiences and stories.
Bertrand Russell, a famous athiest, wrote a book called “Why I am Not a Christian” and in it he states this about the resurrection of Jesus and the possiblity of our resurrection, “I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my own ego will survive.” That is what is on my mind today. Last week, we look at the evidence inside the Bible, but perhaps some of you would say that is circular reasoning, just because the Bible says it doesn’t make it true. Is there anything outside the Bible to support the resurrection.
Circumstantial Evidence
Circucumstiantial evidence is when unrelated facts when considered together can be used to infer a certain conclusion. Our lawyers here today know a lot about circumstantial evidence. So let’s look at the circumstances that surround the Bible’s claim of Jesus rising from the dead. So what the Bible says he did, is there any supporting evidence to conclude such a thing?
1. The Transformation of the Disciples
The disciples were changed from being lowly, timid, self-conscious followers to strong, powerful, compassionate and fearless leaders, giving to the poor, taking care of widows and orphans, who all suffered and died (except John) on the claim of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Their good character and their courage evidences Jesus must have really appeared to them in bodily form.
2. The Day and Object of Jewish Worship Changed
The Sabbath was the sacred to Jews. That is Saturday. But Scripture tells us that the reason why Christians started worshipping on Sunday was because Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday and worship had become all about Jesus, instead of the Torah. Jews would not have done so, they would have been mortified if Jesus did not really do something as great as rising from the dead to change their sacred tradition.
3. The Practices of the Church
Baptism and Communion became fixed elements of Christian worship and they are elements that are meaningless if Jesus did not rise. Baptism is a picture of death to life and was talked about as a symbol of Jesus’ resurrection. Communion is a picture of Jesus death on the cross, which would have had no meaning if Jesus was not God and did not rise from the dead, he would have been just another crucified human and there is no need to attach theological significance to his death.
4. The Preaching of the Church
The preaching of the early church was saturated with talk about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. This would not have been their primary source of material if it had not happened, they were stuck on it.
5. The Tomb was not Enshrined
It was the cultural way to enshrine the tombs of holy men, yet there is no trace of any veneration for a tomb of Jesus. There is no question that a hoy man named Jesus existed in the first century, if so then where is his gravestone inscription, unless he rose from the dead?
6. The Growth of the Church
The church grew at an unheard of exponential rate…essentially a worldwide phenemoenon. Only the widespread knowledge of something like a resurrection of Jesus could have spawned such a movement. Any other explanation for the rapid growth just doesn’t make sense. There were many wise men around…none had results like that.
Historical Evidence
Lastly, we look at the historical evidence. Maybe you have wondered is there any books or writings besides the Bible which mention the resurrection, maybe ones written by people who were not Christians? The answer is yes, there are several.
1. Josephus from “Antiquities” written ~AD 93 (Jewish historian worked for Roman governer)
“About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a wise man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has to this day not disappeared.”
2. Seutonius “Vita Nero” written ~AD 54 (Roman historian under Nero)
“Punishment was inflicted on the Chrstians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition [the resurrection].”
3. Tacitus “Annals” written ~AD 66 (Roman Historian)
“Nero fastened the guilt . . . on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of . . . Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome. . .”
4. Pliny the Younger “Letter to Turkey Emperor Trajan” written ~AD 111 (to explain Christian worship)
“I have never been present at an examination of Christians. Consequently, I do not know the nature of the extent of the punishments usually meted out to them, nor the grounds for starting an investigation and how far it should be pressed…They also declared that the sum total of their guilt or error amounted to no more than this: they met reguarly before dawn on a fixed day [Sunday rememberance of resurrection] to chant verses alternatlely amongst themselves in honor of Christ as if to a god…”
That’s the evidence. Ten confirming circumstances and written accounts outside the Bible, that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead. It will not due to simply dismiss it because we have never seen the resurrected Jesus or because it seems too fantastic. The burden of proof is on those who say it didn’t happen.
“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 dwells in you.” It seems overwhelmingly so that Jesus did in fact die and rise and if that is true it has massive implications for our life and reality and us and our boides and our future.
II. If Christ is in you
Which brings us to our second if, “If Christ is in you.” Out second if has to do with the implications for the human race if Jesus rose from the dead because the second if says, “since the first if is true then it is possible for that same Jesus to grant the quality of life you long for and the length of life you were made for.
Look at our verse again, there are a couple key assumptions being made here. There is an assumption having to do with what your body is and second what will happen when you die. Do you see that? There is a certain idea of a mortal body and what normally happens at death.
So let me ask you a question, think hard about it. What are you? Are you just skin and bones and a head and heart and lungs and a brain? Is that all there is to being human? Am I just a collection of neurological paths and functions? I don’t think so. I am not just a very sophisticated biological robot. I am a person.
We treat people with a certain respect (most of the time) because we understand that they are people. They have personhood, a personality, a soul. The traditional Christian view of the human person is that we are a united combination of a physical body and a non-physical soul. Yes, you have bones and skin and human physical organs. But you also have a mind, your person, your heart, your soul and that is non-physical. You can’t put a person’s brain under a microscope and see their thoughts. You cannot put a stethoscope to somone’s heart and hear how they feel, because it is non-physical.
So let me ask you another question. What happens to a person when they die? Really, what happens? Do you ever think about it? Most people say something like this, “Well, no one can really know for sure.” You ask them why not and the answer is usually something like this, “Well, no one has died and been able to come back and tell us.” To which I respond, so if someone did come back and the evidence was overwhelming that did in fact die and come back to life, would you believe them?
No one really thinks about that question. Would you? Because in Jesus that is exactly what we are saying Jesus did. Jesus died and Jesus rose and declares to us that he is our hope and our salvation and our eternal life both now and in the life to come! Jesus doesn’t need to keep proving and doing it over and over again for each generation. No, he did it once and for all. He died and he rose and has told us what is to come and what to do to be safe and how to get right with God. By turning to him and putting our faith and our life in his hands.
A. Sin is Death
There are three points this text makes about death, the body and the future. One, sin is death. We don’t like death, that is why we don’t like getting sick and taking medicine. That is why when we hear that just yesterday, three people died when a sport utility vehicle crashed in New York, six people died when a pick up truck swerved off the road and ran into a wedding party reception, floods in Seoul Korea have now rounded out 600 people dead, two people died in a hot air balloon accident, the former prime minister of france died yesterday, bombing in Iraq and Thailand killed again yesterday, and here in San Diego, a woman was stabbed to death last night and a man potentially lays his death bed in a hospital after getting bit by a mosquito with the West Nile virus. Death looms.
You might say, “Hey wait preacher, that is just scare tactics, you should manipulate people and try and scare them into believing in God.” To which I answer. It’s not manipulation if it is true. And I’m not trying to scare you, I’m trying to wake you up. We are not promised tommorrow. And whether it is tomorrow or the next day or the next week or year or decade, you will die! You will die, we all will die and we are afraid and the reason we are afraid is because we know we are guilty. We have guilty consciences that can only be healed and forgiven and be put to peace by Jesus.
Verse 10, says “the body is dead because of sin.” We feel and know we are sinners. That’s why when we get sick or injured, then we pray, that’s when we pray and call out ot God for help…because we don’t like it. Death is an enemy and we don’t like it and anything remotely related reminds us its pain and suffering and consequences and judgment and we know we deserve it because we know are sinners. Sin is death. Death is because of sin. If there was no sin everything would be perfect and there would be no such thing as death. But sin has contaminated everything and everyone. I am a sinner and I deserve death.
B. The Body is Important
The second point this text makes is that the body is important, your body matters. Verse 11 says, that for those who belong to Jesus, God will “give life to your mortal bodies.” The body is important. It was meant for life, the enjoyment of life, not death. It was not meant or designed or intended by God to end with death, it is intended to eat and drink to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says this, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Death is an enemy an intruder, distoriting and damaging our bodies. The body is an extremely enjoyable thing. It is able to eat and drink which is one of the best things in life, to eat and drink with people you love. It is able to have sex, which is an incredible pleasure, to have sex with your husband or your wife. It is able to exercise and to play and to worship God and create. It is able to get warm when you are cold and it is able to cool off when you are hot. The body is not meant for death but for life. Death is the outsider, our adversarial foe.
C. Christ is Life
But Jesus changed all that. Christ is life! Jesus conquered death. Jesus rose from the dead and because he did your life now and your life to come can be secure. The disciples they got a hold of this after Jesus rose from the dead, they were no longer afraid. They changed from being of despair to being fearless to where they started to say things like, “Death cannot kill…go ahead crucify me…to die is gain…Jesus Christ the hope of glory…I know I shall live! You can’t kill me. I am not afraid of death any longer… the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me and he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to my mortal bodies through his Spirit…and I will not die but live!!!”
The Christian life becomes the gospel at work over and over again…death turned to life, death turned to life, death turned to life. Every situation, every failure, Jesus resurrection anew. That is what the gospel says…I believe in Jesus, the one who said, “I am the resurrection and th life and he who believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live (Jn 11:25).”
Some of you are not living the life God intended you to live and you need the resurrection power of Jesus to come and infuse your soul. You need Jesus to come to you and graft you into him so that you belong to Jesus. You need as verse 9 says, the Spirit of God to dwell in you. You need as verse 10 says, to be given life and righteousness in exchange for death and sin.
Conclusion
We are going to conclude these verses today, so look one last time at the last two verses with me, “12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Here is the theology of this verse, getting a hold of the resurrection of Jesus, what is in store for you in the future if you are a Christian, becomes an empowerment for your life in the Spirit here and now. You need Jesus’ Spirit, the Spirit of the resurrection. Life is dead, cold, dark, depressive and destructive without Jesus. Put your faith in Jesus today.
Realize who you are and what you were made for and where you are going and feed on that. Feed on the resurrected Christ and be changed. Be empowered. Be set free. Be transformed with hope and joy. Rise from the dead. Don’t live a miserable life but live a life that counts for eternity. Live a life that is set on Christ and the life to come…a life devoted to the glory of God in everything. Live for Jesus. He is secure. Jesus most certainly rose from the dead and that effects everything. So embrace Jesus and walk with him. He is alive as surely as I stand before you in this moment and he offers himself to you in these elements which remember his death and resurrection.
Let’s pray.