Beginning at verse 5 so Romans chapter 6 verse 5 This is God's very word to us For if we have been united with him with Christ in a red in a death like his We shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For the one who has died has been set free from sin. Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died, He died to sin, once for all. But the life He lives, He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. May God bless his word to us this morning. Easter, the resurrection of Christ. Essentially, it's a news story, isn't it? Even think of how we often greet one another traditionally on Easter Sunday morning. We say, Christ is risen. Isn't that like a headline? Like something you put on a newspaper, Christ is risen. Exactly, because it's a news story. Something happened, a declaration of a news event. But here's the thing, there is news and there's news. There's news that's true and real, but it remains at a distance from us, doesn't really affect us. And then there's other pieces of news that change everything about us and our world. So, illustration from this week's headlines. Sometime during this week, you got the news. a phone call, saw it on your phone or on TV, that something was going on in France, right? Notre Dame was on fire and you took it in and were astounded by it and took in the tragedy of it all. Here's this irreplaceable, invaluable art and architecture that's just gone. Now imagine another piece of news, another phone call. Hypothetical, but imagine you get a different phone call about a different fire. This time the phone call says, it's your house on fire. So it's the things of your world that are being destroyed. The necessities, the physical necessities of your world, but also the irreplaceable, invaluable to you, mementos of your world, destroyed, gone. Two pieces of news. A lot of similarities. But what's the key difference between them? One is at a distance, and one gets very close to home. As impacted as many of us were by the news this week, in reality, it really doesn't change much about your world. You're gonna go on in the weeks and the months ahead basically unchanged. That is very, very different in that second phone call. You get that second phone call, from that day forward, things are different. There is no going back. Not just for weeks, not just for months, but for years and years and years, your world is different. It's the nature of the piece of news. It's not anything wrong with one versus the other, but it makes sense that a fire so far away doesn't impact you. But one close to home absolutely does. It's the nature of that piece of news. So here's the question. If Easter is a piece of news, what kind of news is it? What's the nature of the news? Is it something, oh, that's nice. I can think about it and take it in, and it's a little emotional. But it doesn't really change much in my world. Or is it like that second phone call where it changes everything? Well, you look at Romans and how Paul, God through the Holy Spirit, talks about the resurrection of Christ. And there is no mistaking how God presents it. That this event, this piece of news, so good, so powerful for God's people, It changes everything. There is no going back. Not just on Easter Sunday morning, but for days, weeks, months, years, eternity. Everything changes. Is that the way it is for you? Well, let's try to take it in, what Paul is presenting to us, taking God's Word. We're going to first talk about what the news is about Christ, and then see how it connects to us. Essentially, here's the summary. What happened to Christ counts for His people. What happened to Christ counts for His people. So we first need to understand what happened to Christ, and Paul lays it out for us. Verse 9 is a good summary. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. So first of all, you see Paul presenting the resurrection as fact, not mythic, not symbolic. But this is a news story, that this happened. Just as the Gospels present it, certain time, certain people, certain places, eyewitnesses, this happened. Paul says, yeah. Christ was raised. He was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. So you get a little idea of what exactly we're talking about, that we're talking about resurrection and not resuscitation. There's a key difference. You've heard those stories about someone amazingly being resuscitated from the dead. You know, some dramatic story about somebody falls into an icy lake, and they're pulled out, and clinically, they're dead. Right, right. They're not breathing their heart is stopped for this incredible amount of time and then first responders are able to They're alive again, and they're walking around and they're fine That's resuscitation What's the difference with Jesus? Well Paul tells you he's never gonna die again That guy pulled out of that pulled out of the lake. He's gonna die and It might be 40 years, but sooner or later, death catches up, he dies. Jesus, Paul says, no, will never die again. The resurrection is permanent. There's no going backwards. It's a coming out of the tomb, not with the same old body, but heart beating again, but the body transformed to a new plane of physical and spiritual reality. Here's how Paul describes it in 1 Corinthians 15, he says, What is sown is perishable, but what is raised is imperishable. It's like a flower. There's continuity. It's not something completely different. But like you sow a seed in the ground, well, that seed dies. But then what you get is this completely new imperishable body. Here is Jesus raised. He's never going to die again. So there's the physical realities, but what Paul really wants to wrestle with is what's behind that, the spiritual realities that are behind that physical transformation. So you keep going with what he says. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. Death no longer has dominion over him. You see how death is described. It's described as a power that rules and reigns like a king, like a tyrannical despot that holds sway and has authority and power. It dominates. It holds dominion. If you think about it, that kind of rings true, doesn't it? Isn't that essentially what death is? And death does to the world. You look around, a pretty good description of our world is death holding dominion. You do as much as you can, try as hard as you can, you will not be able to break free from death. People have tried. Tried their entire lives to escape death. Can't do it. Sooner or later, you die. It's a kind of rule, it's a power, and its grip is fierce like a tyrannical king. But Paul says somehow Christ was able to escape, defeat that reign of death. How did he do it? Maybe there's hope for us. Well, that's how Paul describes it, or describes the way he defeated the dominion, defeated the enemy. Verse 10, he says, For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. And to kind of understand what Paul's getting at, it's helpful to kind of glance down at the page a little bit to verse 23. Even that first phrase of verse 23 kind of gives you the background here, where there Paul says, for the wages of sin is death. Wages of sin is death. How did death come into the world? How did it begin to take rule and dominion? It wasn't how God created the world. It wasn't God's creation design to have death ruling over everything. No, as Paul describes it here, death came into the world because sin came into the world. It's the logical outflow. It's the just desserts. It's the wages that sin earns. Sin is a way the Bible describes not just a, oops, I shouldn't have done that. but describing our rebellion against God. So we refuse to love God with all our hearts as number one in our lives. We refuse to walk in God's ways. It's our acts of rebellion against him, but we do it all the time. We do it in our actions. We do it in our words. We do it in our in our thoughts That rebellion against God and here Paul says what that earns what that brings into our world is death It's what sin deserves what sin earns for us Well, not just its presence. It's rain over us. So if Christ is going to defeat it Then he's got a he's got to pay the debt And that's exactly what he does at the cross. For the death he died, he died to sin. Not his sin, because he is presented in scripture as absolutely spotless, not sinning once, but our sin. As he comes, as the one to represent us, as the one to save us, he takes the guilt of our sin on his shoulders. The death he dies, he dies because of our sin, to our sin. So the reason he's able to escape death, it doesn't have dominion over him, is because he paid the debt. The tyrant doesn't have any claim over him. It can't. Death can't claim anything on Jesus because he defeated it. He paid for it all there by dying on the cross. And so, freed from the shackles of the tyranny of death, he's freed. Paul says, freed to live to God. Of course, he always lived to follow his father's will, but now in a whole new plane, because there is no going back, there is no dying for Jesus. In this resurrection life, resurrection body, he ever lives, and he lives to God. So there is, there's the news of the resurrection, both what happened on the surface and what it means underneath. The death, he died, he died to sin, and now he's alive to God. Now, if you just stop there, we might say, that's really good for Jesus. Doesn't really help me, but it's good for Jesus. We might be tempted to say that. We just stop there. Imagine you're at work and your coworker turns to you and says, remember how I told you a month ago that my old great uncle Joe died? Yeah. Well, I just found out he included me in his will. And I'm getting this big, fat inheritance check. How do you respond? That's great. That's great. I'm so happy for you. That's wonderful. I know you could really use the money. Wonderful. Congratulations. That's great. And maybe you're thinking inside, that's great for you. It really doesn't help me at all. I could use the money, but that's great for you. It doesn't help me at all. Is that the news of the resurrection? Great for Jesus. Doesn't help me at all, but good for him. That's not what Paul is saying here. He's saying something far, far more glorious. God is saying. Because what he says is, what happens to Christ counts for his people. What if this? What if he changed the picture a little bit? Now it wasn't your coworker who's telling about the big check that's on the way. What if it's your spouse? Does that change things? Absolutely it changes things. Why? What's the difference? Your co-worker is disconnected from you. Your spouse, you're united. You're connected. So your spouse gets a big fat inheritance check, you're rich. Not because you did anything, but because you're connected to the one who just inherited. And that's the picture that Paul is painting here. In fact, it's some of the same language. He talks of a union, kind of like a marriage union, where you have two different parties who are separate, but they come together, join together, so that what happens to one counts for the other. They're connected. That's the way marriage is. Your spouse gets a big fat check. You're rich. And here's Paul saying, yeah, but guess what? For those who trust in Christ, we are connected to Jesus so that what happens to him now counts for us. We're rich, right? We're rich. Look at that union language that he uses in verse five. He says, and you gotta understand the ifs here. This is logical language. It's not like maybe, not sure, no, no, no. If this is true, oh, this is absolutely true. If we have been united with Him in a death like His, then it's true that we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. Union, like a marriage union, two parties put together so that what happens to the one counts for the other. True, you didn't die on a cross 2,000 years ago, and that being a death bearing the guilt for sin. That wasn't you. You didn't rise from the dead and walk out of a tomb 2,000 years ago. That wasn't you. But that was Jesus. And if you're connected to that Jesus, then guess what? You're connected to that good news. That's true for you. So Paul can say, you are dead to sin, you are alive to God, because you died with Christ and you were raised up with him. What he did, and with all its spiritual power and meaning and force, is true for you, is real for you. Now, it's helpful if we stop as we begin to look at this a little more and just step back for a minute and realize what we're talking about here. We're kind of going to do two things at the same time. And it depends on where you are personally with the Lord. Because Paul says, not everyone is automatically united to Christ. In fact, no one is automatically united to Christ. Those who are united to Christ, it's kind of like a marriage union. You're not born married to somebody. We're born in sin. We're born connected to the death of this world But Paul says we we are united to Christ Well as God grabs a hold of us and as we grab hold of him by faith So you're united to Christ through faith through trust in Jesus turning from your sin Clinging to Jesus as the Savior as your only hope so So if you're one here in the midst of life, you're not really trusting in Christ. You've thought about it, but it's not really where you are or what you're doing, trusting in Him, faith in Him, then you're not united to Christ. So what Paul is describing here is something you don't have, but what Christ offers to you. So bad news, you don't have it, but very good news, here is what he holds out. So there's the one thing that we're doing if you're here and you're not trusting in Christ. what God offers to you, but you don't yet have. But, if you are a believer, you are trusting in Christ, and that's flowing out in your life, then what Paul is describing here is something you already have. It's true right this minute, whether you feel like it or not, it's true. So we'll do both those things at the same time. Let's very quickly unpack Paul's words. He says, we've been united to Christ, therefore what happened to Christ counts for those united to Him, counts for you. So, Christ died and was raised. If you're connected to Christ, that means you died with Him and you're raised with Him. His death was a death to sin. That means you died to sin and you rose up to newness of life, living unto God with Him. And that means a couple of powerful things. First, it means if you're united to Christ, you are freed from the penalty of sin. The penalty of sin. Right? Because if you and I stand just on our own, we're guilty. before God. And as we read earlier, the wages of that sin, the penalty of that sin is death, right? There's the penalty. And if it's just me on my own, all I got is me and my sin, I'm guilty and headed for the penalty. Well, already spiritual death here and headed for eternal death in the life to come. But what Christ comes along and does is free us from the penalty of sin. Because if I'm trusting in Him and I'm connected to Him, that means what He did, dying to sin, counts for me, pays that debt for me. He rose to newness of life to me, well, that counts for me. I'm raised up. So there's no more penalty for me or for you because Christ paid it all. And so we're freed from that penalty. And that's true right now. Instead of guilty, it's forgiven. It's righteous. There's part of what this means, union with Christ. It means you're freed from the penalty of sin. Actually, what Paul really focuses on in this passage, though, is not just free from the penalty of sin, but free from the power of sin, the power of sin in our lives. Notice the language he uses in verse 6. There he speaks of us no longer being enslaved to sin. enslaved to sin. There's a key part of our problem, apart from Jesus, right? It's not just that we practice sin. It's that we practice it and are enslaved by it. We're stuck in it, and we can't get out. But along comes Christ, and he frees us. He frees us from the power, the slavery of sin, so that you're not stuck anymore. You're freed. You actually can grow and make progress and defeat sin in your life and see victory. It might be slow, but it's real and powerful because there's no more slavery. The power has been broken because you died with Christ and are raised with Him. And His death was a death to sin, and His life was a life unto God, and now that counts for you. It means you're no longer a slave. you're no longer stuck. So maybe it's helpful to think about a personal example for you. Can you think of an area in your life where you feel kind of stuck? I mean, it's a particular sin that just seems to crop its ugly head in your life again and again. Maybe it's a sinful pattern of acting, or a sinful pattern of speaking, or even just a simple pattern of thinking. And you know it's not pleasing to the Lord, but you just feel stuck. You feel like all it really takes is a few bad circumstances around you, and what's flying out of your heart is this ugliness. And you just feel stuck. Maybe you feel discouraged. Maybe you feel like, I don't know, why even try? What should you do if you feel stuck like that? What should you do? Well, if you aren't trusting in Christ, there's the first step. You need a Savior to free you from the penalty of it, and you got to run to Jesus and trust in Him. But let's say for a minute, you're already a believer. You're trusting in Him. What do you do as a believer, but yet you still feel stuck? You feel like, oh, I'm still wrestling with this. I'm ready to give up. What do you do? Here's what you can do first. Ask yourself this question. Is the tomb empty? The tomb. Jesus. Easter. Is it empty? Yeah. Then you're not stuck. Yeah, but I feel stuck. Is the tomb empty? Because if it's empty, then what that means is Christ has been raised unto newness of life, and you with him. And that is absolutely true, even though we might not feel it sometimes. It is reality. It is true. It means that you are no more stuck in your sin than Jesus is stuck in the tomb. So if it's empty, it means you're free. It means that you can be confident in seeking the Lord and seeing progress in your life and growth and grace. You can be confident in it. Yeah, it still takes work. It might be slow. It might be three steps forward, two steps back, but you can be confident of it. That the power of sin, its dominion, its rule, that has been broken. It's true. You're no more stuck in your sin than Jesus is stuck in the grave because you rose with him. And you need to remind yourself of that. I need to remind myself of that. And then even as we do the work, and it is work, to try to defeat sin in our life, we know that the victory is already won. In fact, he has given us, because of this resurrection, the spirit of the resurrected Jesus to empower us and strengthen us every step of the way. And that it changes even what it means to seek the Lord and what it means to walk in his ways. changes what the work looks like. Look at where Paul goes in verses 11 and 12. Verses 11 and 12 are the first time in this whole passage where Paul actually tells you to do something. Up until now, it's already been, well, this is nothing you do, it's just what was done for you. This is the first time he tells you to do anything. But notice the language he uses. 11. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Now, if you've really been paying attention to the language and what we've been saying here, you might step back and scratch your head and say, hold it, hold it, Paul. I thought you said I was dead to sin and alive to God and that sin didn't reign in my life. Yeah. But now you're telling me to consider it to be so and to not to let it reign? Yeah. You see what Paul's saying here? What he's saying is that the work of the Christian life, the journey of the Christian life, is being what you already are. Living like who God has already made you to be. God has already done this miraculous work through uniting you to Christ. You're already the caterpillar who's been turned into the butterfly. And now it's just, okay, fly. Be who you are. And in fact, God has His Spirit right there with you, so you can do just that. So why the resurrection? Why the resurrection? So that Jesus could do for you what you could never do for yourself. So that Jesus could do for you what you could never do for yourself. This is why the news story, the headline, right, Christ is risen, the news story is not something that is at a distance if you really understand what it's about. It's not something that leaves your life unaffected, unchanged, untouched, because if you're united to Christ, guess what? You're in the headline. It's not just Christ is risen, it's Christ is risen and you with him. And that's as real for you, if you're trusting in Christ, is as real for you as the tomb is empty. And that's the truth. And that truth does not leave you unchanged. It completely transforms your world from this day forward. It's not just an Easter Sunday thing. It's Monday, Tuesday, and every day into eternity. because God has connected you to Christ, a new reality. There's no going back. It's a resurrected reality, a glorious reality. And the calling of this new reality is simply, with God's help, be who He's already made you to be. Live like the one you already are. Now, if you don't know Christ, then take it in, what He's holding out for you. You're not gonna find this anywhere else. life, freedom from penalty and power and tyranny of death and sin, this transformed, resurrected life. It's what Christ holds out. Here are his very words. Believe them and follow them. He says, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Well, let's pray together. Father, we praise you. for the very, very good news that we celebrate this morning, and every time we look at your Word, that Christ has done what we could never do for ourselves. And that is true right now, and that, Lord, it transforms who we are and where we are headed. And we pray, Lord, that you would bring that truth down into our hearts so that with joy we could look to you as those dead to sin and alive to God with confidence and trust in you. Father, we pray for that grace at work in each one here. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.