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How
Can I
Live Forever?
Chapter 13
The Living Dead
At
times it might appear to us that the concept of
justification by faith almost takes on the dimensions of
a fairy tale - especially in that it involves so much of
what we might call "make-believe." In this regard, we
have already seen how, in exchange for simple faith, God
makes believe that Jesus' character is our character,
and how He makes believe that we have never sinned. How
thankful we should be for this, and for that amazing
facet of God's nature that impels Him to "call things
that are not as though they were." (Romans 4:17)
In
this section we will notice, however, that God also
expects us to make believe. In fact, we will find that
much of our hope, much of our confidence, and much of
our strength depend on our ability to do this.
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The
foundation of our faith is the belief that Jesus bore
our guilt for us, that He suffered the punishment that
we deserve, and that He died our death on our behalf;
that is, we believe that He tasted `death for everyone.'
(Hebrews 2:9)
Now
notice an interesting statement found in the book of
Romans.
`You
too have undergone death, as far as the law is
concerned, in the person of Christ crucified.' (Romans
7:4, Knox)
So
here, in a sense, we even have the law making believe.
According to this passage, when Jesus died it was the entire human family
dying - at least as far as
the law is concerned. This is why Paul wrote . . .
`We
are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all
died.' (2 Corinthians 5:14)
Paul
might just as well have said, If Jesus died in the place
of everyone, then we can make believe that everyone died
with Him on the cross - including ourselves. Notice how
the Knox Translations confirms this thought.
`If
one man died on behalf of all, then all thereby became
dead men.' (2 Corinthians 5:14)
This
is precisely what Paul was referring to when he
admonished the Colossian believers . . .
`You
died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.'
(Colossians 3:3)
As
sinners, it is comforting indeed to realise that as far
as the law is concerned, all of humanity died on the
cross - and, more than this, that we all received our just
punishment on the cross - in Christ.
`Our
sins were laid on Christ, punished in Christ, put away
by Christ, in order that His righteousness might be
imputed to us.' (7ABC468)
The
following extract from the Collegiate Sabbath-school Quarterly
throws further light on this fascinating and most
encouraging truth.
`We
must know that when Christ died on the cross He didn't
die alone; potentially we died with Him. How did this
work?
`First,
God put us in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). Then Romans 6
says that God dealt with us in Christ. He crucified us
in Christ; He buried us in Christ; He resurrected us in
Christ. Now we are seated in heavenly places in Christ
(Ephesians 2:6).' (Pastor David VanDenburgh, Collegiate
Quarterly, Oct-Dec 1990)
Notice,
therefore, that God not only considers us to have the
characteristics of Jesus, but He even considers that
Jesus' very life and death are our life and death.
This,
of course, is only possible because `God calls things
that are not as though they were.' (Romans 4:17)
All
of which confirms that our very hope rests on our
ability to believe and to accept that the Father dealt with
and resolved the problem of sin independently of the
sinner. He dealt with us in Jesus and now, having done
so, . . .
`[He]
accepts humanity in the person of His Son.'
(DA112)
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`For Christ's sake the Lord pardons those that fear Him. He does not see in them the vileness of the sinner. He recognizes in them the likeness of His Son, in whom they believe.' (DA667)) |
From
the above we can only deduce that Jesus is not only a
complete and a perfect Savior, but that He is also a
complete and a perfect Substitute.
`In
assuming humanity Christ took the part of every human
being [and now God] does not see in [us] the vileness of
the sinner. He recognizes in [us] the likeness of His
Son, in whom [we] believe.' (1SM252; DA667)
Clearly,
therefore, when Jesus died, God considered that it was
the entire human race dying; when Jesus, by His death,
satisfied the demands of the law, God considered that it
was the entire human race receiving their just reward;
when Jesus was resurrected, God considered that it was
the entire human race being resurrected; and now, today,
as Jesus stands before the throne, He stands as a
representative of the entire human race - He stands
there in our place, presenting His perfect life to God
as if it were our perfect life.
What
this means is that, as far as God is concerned, all of
us who are living today actually died before we were
even born. This is why Paul once
said . . .
`I
have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.' (Galatians 2:20)
Not
only did we die before we were born, but God even made
us alive again before we were re-born. As Paul tells us,
. . .
`When
you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of
your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.'
(Colossians 2:13)
Thus,
in the judgment, while our faith will be judged by our
life [works], our worthiness for heaven will be based on
Jesus' life - which God, in exchange for our faith,
considers to be our life.
If
this were not the case, what hope would there be for the
penitent thief upon the cross? Though he died with
Jesus, he also died "in Jesus." His expression of faith
earned him the right to appear before God in the
judgment as one who met the full penalty for his sin on
the cross - not his own cross, but on the cross that was
adjacent to his own cross. In the judgment, the fact
that he died next to Christ will mean nothing.
The
fact that he died in Christ, will mean everything.
This
concept of our spiritual death and resurrection in
Christ needs to be well understood by baptismal
candidates, for at the time of baptism we are actually
acknowledging that we are worthy of death, while, in
that same moment, we are accepting with joy the fact
that Jesus died for us the death that we are worthy of
dying. As we enter the watery grave, therefore, we
should thrill at the thought that "as far as the law is
concerned," we died on the cross of Calvary, and now,
thanks to Jesus, we can live a new life "submerged in
Him."
`The
repentant believer, who takes the steps required in
conversion, commemorates in his baptism the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ. He goes down into
the water in the likeness of Christ's death and burial,
and he is raised out of the water in the likeness of His
resurrection - to live a new life in Christ Jesus.' (FLB303)
This
is why baptism is referred to as the watery grave. Yet
it is just as much a watery "delivery room" for, in the
very moment that we accept that we died in Christ on the
cross, in that same moment we may accept that we are
alive "in Him" who was resurrected from the dead as our
representative, and who thus overcame the sting of death
on our behalf.
`Don't
you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore
buried with him through baptism (ref. Col 2:12) into
death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a
new life. If we have been united with him like this in
his death, we will certainly also be united with him in
his resurrection. For we know that our old self was
crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -
because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now
if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also
live with him. [v.11] In the same way, count yourselves
dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans
6:2-8)
Only
once we realize that, as far as the law is concerned, it
was us dying in Jesus, and that He now stands as the
representative of fallen humanity, can we fully
appreciate the born again experience. One thing for
sure, before we can be born again, we must understand,
or at least make believe, that we died "in
Christ."
Quite simply, how can we be born again if we have not
realized that "our old self was crucified with
him?"
(Romans 6:6)
Clearly,
we must not wait for self to die in the here and now. By
faith we must "make believe" that our old self died at
Calvary. By faith we must "make believe" that we are now
new creatures and that "the old has gone, the new has
come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Our
new life began the moment our faith in God flickered
into being. It was at that moment that we were re-born.
Now, as born-again Christians, we no longer consider our
old selves to be alive. Rather, we accept that we died
"in Him" at Calvary, and that we now live
"in Him" from
moment to moment and from day to day.
We
have been . . . `buried with Him in
baptism and raised with Him through [our] faith in the
power of God, who raised Him from the dead.' (Colossians
2:12)
This,
therefore, is what it means to be "in Christ." It is a
"make-believe" situation wherein we are to see ourselves
as members of the body of Jesus, both in the past and in
the present. This does sound strange at first but, because He stood
as our substitute, we are entitled to consider ourselves
to have lived a perfect life "in Him" and to be living a
perfect life "in Him" right now.
Notice
from the following just how explicit Scripture is in
regard to our life `in Christ.'
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`In
Him you were chosen.' (Ephesians 1:4)
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`In
Him you were circumcised.' (Colossians 2:11)
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`In
Him we were crucified.' (Romans 6:6)
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`In
Him you were buried.' (Colossians 2:12)
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`You
also died to the law through the body of Christ.'
(Romans 7:4)
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`In
Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.'
(Ephesians 1:7)
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`In
Him you become a dwelling in which God lives by His
Spirit.' (Ephesians 2:22)
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`If
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old
has gone, the new has come.' (2 Corinthians 5:16)
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`God
raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in
the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.' (Ephesians
2:6)
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`You
have been given fullness (perfection) in Christ.'
(Colossians 2:10)
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`There
is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus.' (Romans 8:1)
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`But
now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have
been brought near through the blood of Christ.'
(Ephesians 2:13)
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"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.' (John 16:33)
We
can appreciate, therefore, that just as Paul admonished
the Colossian believers, so we are admonished by his
words today, . . .
`So
then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live in Him.' (Colossians 2:6)
What
closer relationship can there be than being "in
Christ."
It is so close in fact that . . .
`In
Christ we become more closely united to God than if we
had never fallen.' (DA25)
The
precious thought that Paul draws out of this concept of
being dead in Christ is that if our old body of sin is
dead, having died on Calvary, how can we carry on
sinning for, quite logically, the dead cannot sin?
`For
we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that
the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we
should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who
has died has been freed from sin.' (Romans 6:6,7)
Once
we understand and accept by faith that we are dead in
Christ, sin is rendered powerless,
for . . .
`Once
dead, a man is absolved from the claims of sin.' (Romans
6:7 Moffatt)
This
is a precious thought indeed - especially when tempted.
As Pastor David Van Den Bergh states in the Quarterly
previously quoted, `Our freedom from the power of sin
begins when we know these things.'
Knowing
that Jesus' death has fully satisfied the demands of the
law on our behalf, and that He has completed the work
for our salvation, and realizing that, as far as God is
concerned, it was us dying on the cross, and that it is
us who now stand perfect before the throne - in
Christ - the words of Paul have very special meaning.
`But
now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been
released from the law.' (Romans 7:6)
This
is why we are privileged to sing about the fact that
"there is therefore no more condemnation," not because
the law was done away with, but because, as far as the
law is concerned, we received our just reward on the
cross "in Christ." Our death, in Christ
Jesus, satisfied
the law completely.
What
a complete Saviour! What a complete Substitute! What a
magnificent God!
Therefore,
being dead in Christ, we no longer strive in our own
strength to obey the law. Rather, as members of the body
of Jesus, we invite Him, through communion with Him, to
live out His life in us. Thus He does for us that which
we could never do for ourselves, and thus our lives are
brought into harmony with His law.
May
we ever remember, however, that this transformation of
character, and all the good that results from this
transformation is
to the glory of His name alone. It cannot be otherwise
because whatever good we now do, it is not us who are
doing it - it is Jesus living out His life in us.
At
first the concept of having lived `in Jesus' in the past
and being alive `in Him' in the present, seems rather
strange, and yet . . .
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It
is the very basis of our faith for it is only on the
basis of this concept that God can consider the life
of Jesus as if it were our life.
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It
is only on the basis of this concept that God can
consider that we have never sinned.
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It
is only on this basis that God can consider Jesus'
character to be our character.
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It
is only on the basis of this concept that we can
begin to understand the deeper significance of
baptism and the born again experience.
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On
what other basis could the penitent thief on the
cross have received the promise of paradise?
In
fact, only once we understand this almost mystical
truth, can we find peace and joy in the knowledge that,
as far as God is concerned, . . .
`We
died with Him.' (2 Timothy 2:11)
Then,
because God makes believe that we died with Him, we can
find peace knowing that we are also accepted in Him - as
if we were Him. Thus we can appreciate
that . . .
`The
word that was spoken to Jesus at the Jordan, "This is
My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," embraces
humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our representative. With
all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as
worthless. "He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved." ' (DA113)
How
comforted we should be, therefore, knowing that even
though we are losers in ourselves, we are always winners
in Him.
`Thanks
be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.' (2 Corinthians 2:14)
For
Our Meditation
`By
His obedience to all the commandments of God, Christ
wrought out a redemption for man. This was not done by
going out of Himself to another, but by taking humanity
into Himself. Thus Christ gave to humanity an existence
out of himself. To bring humanity into Christ, to bring
the fallen race into oneness with divinity, is the work
of redemption. Christ took human nature that men might
be one with Him as He is one with the Father, that God
may love man as He loves His only-begotten Son, that men
might be partakers of the divine nature, and be complete
in Him.' (7BC927)
`In
Him God and man become one, and it is in this fact that
we find the hope of the fallen race. Looking upon Christ
in the flesh, we look upon God in humanity, and see in
Him the brightness of divine glory, the express image of
God the Father.' (3SM128)
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