Alive in Christ

MEMORY SELECTION: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” —II Corinthians 5:17

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Romans 6:12-23

THE Apostle Paul, in Romans 6:8, states, “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” The prerequisite, then, for the footstep follower of Jesus to be alive in Christ is that he must first be dead with him.

When Jesus came to John at the River Jordan and was baptized there by him, Jesus was performing a symbolic act that pictured that which had already taken place in his heart, that is, his determination to yield his all to the Heavenly Father and to do his will. For the three and one-half years from Jordan to the cross, Jesus yielded himself completely in doing the Heavenly Father’s will, which was to preach the Gospel of the kingdom under difficult and trying circumstances and to serve those whom God had called and eventually to yield his life in sacrifice. This was the real baptism of Christ; his immersion in water was only a symbol of the reality. As John lowered Jesus into the water, it pictured the death of his flesh and all that pertained to it—his worldly goods, his will, his strength, and his very life—all yielded to the Heavenly Father. When Jesus was raised up out of the water, it pictured his being raised to newness of life, having new aims, ambitions, and desires.

When James and John asked Jesus for a special favor in the kingdom (Mark 10:35-40) he said unto them, “Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” Jesus in essence was saying, Can you walk in my footsteps, surrendering your all to the Heavenly Father, and for the rest of your life serve the Heavenly Father and his interests, even under difficult and trying circumstances? They, of course, answered that they could do this. Then Jesus answered, “Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized.”

This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he stated in Romans 6:3,4, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

We believe that the Apostle Paul is pointing out that just as God gave evidence of his power operating through the Holy Spirit when he raised Jesus from the dead and highly exalted him to a new spiritual (divine) life, so this same power of God is operating in the lives of the footstep followers of Jesus in order to bring them newness of life.—Eph. 1:19,20

In II Corinthians 5:15-17 the Apostle Paul elaborates: “And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

The thought is that because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the mind of the believer is enlightened with respect to the things of God and given a new dimension, whereby he is enabled to appreciate a new set of values. These give a new course to his life: “Behold, all things are become new.” The believer, then, is referred to as a new creature (Diaglott, creation) in Christ Jesus. His life is directed so that he no longer desires to live for himself, but unto him who died for him.

How does this new life in Christ find expression? Again the Apostle Paul tells us, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”—Rom. 12:1,2

Those who have this new life in Christ are motivated by the hope that is set before them of one day being a part of the agency which God will use to bless all the families of the earth.

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