In the last blog I suggested that Jesus, as the Messiah, represented the people of God so that that he speaka and acts their behalf. Therefore what Jesus did, he didn’t just do for himself alone, but for others which is why N.T Wright says that Paul ‘regarded the people of God and the Messiah of God as so bound up together that what was true of the one was true of the other’. It’s a bit like the story of David and Goliath where David is the one fighting the battle but he is representing Israel so that when he wins, he wins on their behalf and they get to share in his victory. Jesus, the son of David, faces down his own giants of Sin, Death, and Darkness and the victory he wins over them he wins for all.
In Romans we find that the way that we get to participate in Jesus’ victory is through being united together with him through faith, baptism, and in the power of the Spirit so that what is true of him becomes true of us because we are ‘in him’. In 6:5 it says…
‘For if we have been united with him in a death like his,
we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his’
In this chapter we are also told that through baptism we have ‘been crucified with him’ (6:6), ‘buried with him’ (6:4), and that we will also ‘live with him’ (6:8). This is the key to living the Christian life! Our whole self-perception and identity is now to be found ‘in Christ’ for our old self has died and we are called to walk in this newness of life. Just having a quick glance at Paul’s letters we can see how crucial this point is for he is constantly using phrases such as ‘in Christ’, ‘with Christ’, ‘into Christ’, and ‘through Christ’. Like I said, it is the key for Christian living.
The great exchange is that God united himself to human brokenness in Jesus to deal with our enslavement to Sin, Death, and Darkness and now we are united to him in his triumph over them so we can walk in the glorious freedom of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). When Jesus was crucified we were crucified. When Jesus died we died. When Jesus was buried we were buried and now that Jesus has been raised we walk in newness of life now and look forward to our future resurrection.
Being ‘In Christ’ changes everything for as Paul Lee Tan has noted in him we have…
A love that can never be fathomed;
A life that can never die;
A righteousness that can never be tarnished;
A peace that can never be understood;
A rest that can never be disturbed;
A joy that can never be diminished;
A hope that can never be disappointed;
A glory that can never be clouded;
A light that can never be darkened;
A happiness that can never be interrupted;
A strength that can never be enfeebled;
A purity that can never be defiled;
A beauty that can never be marred;
A wisdom that can never be baffled;
Resources that can never be exhausted.
Amen