Sunday, April 8th, 2012 (Easter)
Romans overview
“The Power of God: Resurrection”
Bible Memory Verse for the Week: If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. — Romans 6:5
The Word for the Day is . . . Resurrection
I. Faith “in Christ” makes us ONE with Christ as His Bride/His Body (Jn 3:29; 14:20; 17:20-23; Rom 7:1-6; 1 Cor 10:16; 12:27; 2 Cor 4:14; 11:2; Eph 4:12; 5:21-33; Rv 18:23; 19:7; 21:2, 9; 22:17)
1) The Jewish Wedding: The prospective bridegroom took the initiative and traveled from his father’s house to the home of the prospective bride. Relationship to Salvation: Christ left His Father’s house and came to earth to gain a bride for Himself (see Eph 5:25-28).
2) The Jewish Wedding: The father of the woman then negotiated with the prospective bridegroom the price that must be paid to secure his bride. Relationship to Salvation: Christ had to pay the price with His own blood (see 1 Cor 6:19-20).
3) The Jewish Wedding: When the bridegroom paid the purchase price, the marriage covenant was thereby established. At that point, the man and woman were regarded to be husband and wife, even though no physical union had taken place. Relationship to Salvation: The believer has been declared to be sanctified or set apart exclusively for Christ (see Eph 5:25-27).
4) The Jewish Wedding: The moment the covenant was established, the bride was declared to be set apart exclusively for the bridegroom. The groom and the bride then drank from a cup over which the betrothal benediction had been pronounced. This symbolized that the covenant relationship had been established. Relationship to Salvation: Christ symbolized this marriage covenant through communion at the Last Supper (see 1 Cor 11:25).
5) The Jewish Wedding: After the marriage covenant was in effect, the groom left the home of the bride and returned to his father’s house. He remained there for a period of twelve months separated from his bride. Relationship to Salvation: Christ returned to His Father’s house following the payment of His purchase price (see Jn 6:62).
6) The Jewish Wedding: During this period of separation, the bride gathered her wardrobe and prepared for married life. The groom prepared living accommodations in his father’s house for his bride. Relationship to Salvation: Christ is preparing a place for His bride and is also sending pastors and teachers to perfect the bride for the coming wedding (see Jn 14:2; Eph 4:11-13).
7) The Jewish Wedding: After this period of separation, the groom, best man, and other male escorts left the house of the groom’s father, usually at night, and conducted a torch-light procession to the house of the bride. Relationship to Christ: Christ will soon come from His Father’s house in heaven accompanied by an angelic host (see Jn 14:3).
8) The Jewish Wedding: The bride was expecting her groom to come for her; however, she did not know the exact time. Thus, the groom’s arrival was preceded by a shout. Relationship to Salvation: Christ’s return will be preceded by a shout (see 1 Thes 4:16). We expect His return, but we do not know the day or the hour.
9) The Jewish Wedding: The groom received the bride with her female attendants and returned to his father’s house. Relationship to Salvation: The bride will be caught up with the Lord to be with Him (see 1 Thes 4:14-17).
10) The Jewish Wedding: The bride and groom then entered the bridal chamber and, in the privacy of that place, entered into physical union for the first time, thereby consummating the marriage. Relationship to Salvation: Christ’s union with the Church will take place in heaven for all eternity (see 1 Thes 4:17). (Bill Gothard, Research in Principles of Life, Advanced Seminar Textbook, 204-05)
Adam and Christ each had a bride. The bride of Adam was Eve, the bride of Christ is the Church. The Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and took from his side a rib, out of which He formed the woman to be his companion. The Lord Jesus Christ was put to death on the cross, and in that sleep of death one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear. Out of the wound came blood and water, but out of that wounded side of Christ also came the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. For you and I are thus taken from the side of Christ. Oh, how wonderful! As Eve came out of the side of Adam, so you and I come out of the side of Christ! (Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s Grace, 55)
“In sports you have to be good enough in your athletic skill to make the team. In business you have to perform according to agreed-upon standards in order to keep your job. In society you have to be a winner in order to merit recognition. In Jesus Christ, you do not have to be good enough, you do not have to perform, you do not have to be a winner. Ironically, to be in Christ means exactly the opposite—it is to admit that you are not good enough, that you cannot perform, that because of sin’s grip on your life you are a loser—and to admit, for that very reason, that you need a Savior, a Savior whose unconditional love transforms you life.” (Patrick Morley, Ten Secrets for the Man in the Mirror, 176)
You don’t have to work to please God. He is already pleased by Christ. So be IN CHRIST! — Steve Brown
I believe that in Christ Jesus my sins have been fully and freely forgiven, and I am a new creation. I have died with Christ to my old identity in Adam. I have been raised with Christ to a new life. I am seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. God has given to me the full righteousness of Jesus Christ. I am joined with angels, archangels, and all the saints in heaven. God is my Father, and if He is for me, who can be against me? Because of who I am in Christ, I am more than a conqueror. In fact, I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. Christ Jesus is my life! Everything in my life here on this earth is working out for good according to the purposes of God. Christ Jesus Himself dwells within me. I have been called according to the purposes of God. These things I believe and confess, because God, my Father in heaven, says they are true. Amen! (Don Matzat, Christ Esteem, 96)
Very little is known of Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, and even if it were proved that they had never lived at all, the religions which accept them as prophets would remain the same. All that matters is the teaching attributed to those great names, and it would be just as valid if it were connected with others. Jesus, however, is central to his religion, which would at once lose all its meaning if he were withdrawn. When Paul was asked in a moment of crisis to sum up in one word the way of salvation, he could only answer “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” This faith in Christ is the vital thing in Christianity, and it cannot be resolved into faith in a principle, or a symbol, or an imaginary being. (Ernest Findlay Scott, D.D., The Validity of the Gospel Record, 41)
O how mighty is the believer, who, in deep distrust of his own power, casting off from him all spirit of self-dependence, looks simply and fully at Jesus, and goes not forth to meet his enemy, only as he is “strong in the strength that is in Christ.” (Octavius Winslow, Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul, 199)
II. All that belongs to Christ also belongs to us (Jn 1:12; Rom 8:11-21; 1 Cor 6:14; 15:20-21; Gal 3:21-22, 29; 4:29; Eph 1:14-18; 3:19; 5:5; Col 1:12; 2:9-12; 3:24; Heb 6:12; Jas 2:5; 1 Pt 1:4; 3:9; 2 Pt 1:4; 1 Jn 3:1-2, 10; Rv 21:7)
Are we not the children of God of riches, the co-heirs of Christ? Being so, is there anything we can lack? Let it be said boldly: whoever responds to his divine adoption with the feelings of love and trust that the position of being children of God demands has a right, here and now, to all that God Himself possesses. Everything then is ours. But it is not expedient we should enjoy everything. It is often necessary we should be deprived of many things. Let us be careful not to conclude from the privations imposed on us only as remedies that we may ever be in want of anything that is to our advantage. Let us firmly believe that if anything is necessary or really useful for us, our all-powerful Father will give it to us without fail. To those gathered round to hear him our Savior said: If you evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father. . .? (Father Jean Baptiste, Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence, 58-59)
Through the Holy Spirit comes our restoration of Paradise, our ascension to the Kingdom of heaven, our adoption as God’s sons, our freedom to call God our Father, our becoming partakers of the grace of Christ, being called children of light, sharing in eternal glory, and in a word, our inheritance of the fullness of blessing, both in this world and the world to come. Even while we wait for the full enjoyment of the good things in store for us, by the Holy Spirit we are able to rejoice through faith in the promise of the graces to come. If the promise itself is so glorious, what must its fulfillment be like? (St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, 59)
We need to have an Easter faith in a Good Friday world.
III. The promises of Christ for the future are beyond comprehension (Isa 64:4; 1 Cor 2:9; Eph 1:15-23; 3:20-21;1 Tm 6:17; Jam 1:12; 2 Pt 1:4; 3:13; 1 Jn 2:25)
Paul wanted them (the Corinthians) to understand that for the Christian, life down here is simply hors d’oeuvres. It is just the first course. It is the soup course. (Alistair Begg, “The Good News of the Resurrection”)
A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. Here are 12 promises for the Christian to claim.
• God’s presence — “I will never leave thee” (Heb 13:5)
• God’s protection — “I am thy shield” (Gen 15:1)
• God’s power — “I will strengthen thee” (Isa 41:10)
• God’s provision — “I will help thee” (Isa 41:10)
• God’s leading — “And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them” (Jn 10:4)
• God’s purposes — “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil” (Jer 20:11)
• God’s rest — “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28)
• God’s cleansing — “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9)
• God’s goodness — “No good thing will He withhold from them that work uprightly” (Ps 84:11)
• God’s faithfulness — “The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake” (1 Sam 12:22)
• God’s guidance — “The meek will He guide” (Ps 25:9)
• God’s wise plan — “All things work together for good to them that love God” (Rom 8:28) (Our Daily Bread, January 1, 1985)
The battle against despondency is a battle to believe the promises of God. And that belief in God’s future grace come by hearing the Word. And so preaching to ourselves is at the heart of the battle. But I stress again that the issue is this chapter is not mainly how to avoid meeting despondency, but how to fight it when it comes. (John Piper, Future Grace, 304)
Here the life of faith in future grace is pictured as a light burden and an easy yoke. Can it be both hard and easy?
Yes. Faith in future grace is intrinsically easy. What could be easier than trusting God to work of you (Isa 64:4), and take care of you (1 Pt 5:7), and give you all you need (Phil 4:19; Heb 13:6), and strengthen you for every challenge (Isa 41:10). In one sense, faith is the opposite of straining. It is ceasing from the effort to earn God’s approval or demonstrate your worth or merit. It is resting in the gracious promises of God to pursue us with goodness and mercy all our days. Faith is intrinsically easy.
But this ease of faith assumes that our hearts are humble enough to renounce all self-reliance and self-direction and self-exaltation. It assumes a heart that is spiritual enough to taste and delight in the beauty and worth of God. It assumes that the world and the devil have lost their power to lure us away from satisfaction in God. If these assumptions are not true, then living by faith in future grace will not be as easy as we might have thought, but will involve a lifetime of struggle.
It’s like the monkey with his hand caught in the jar. It would be easy for him to slip his hand out of the opening except that he has his fist clenched around a nut. If he loves the nut more than he loves freedom from the jar, then getting his hand out of the jar will be hard, even impossible (as Jesus said in Mk 10:27 about the young man who had his fist clenched around his wealth). But what could be easier than dropping a nut? The battle that Paul and Jesus are talking about is the battle to love the freedom of faith more than the nut of sin. (John Piper, Future Grace, 313)
The only actions Satan really cares about are future actions. The sins of the past are gone. He cannot change them. He can only deepen them, by influencing our future responses to them, or add to them, with more future sins. All the sins that can be committed are future sins. If Satan is going to bring us into sinful states of mind and into sinful actions, he will have to use promises. This is what he did with Adam and Eve. This is what he does with us. He holds out alternative promises to the promises of God. He subverts faith in future grace with promises of God-neglecting pleasure. (John Piper, Future Grace, 327)
Herman Lange, a German Christian was to be executed by the Nazis during WWII. In his cell on the night before he was to be killed, Lange wrote a note to his parents. He said two feelings occupied his mind: “I am, first, in a joyous mood, and second filled with great anticipation.” Then he made this beautiful affirmation: “In Christ I have put my faith, and precisely today I have faith in Him more firmly than ever.” Finally he urged his parents to read the New Testament for comfort: “Look where you will, everywhere you will find jubilation over the grace that makes us children of God. What can befall a child of God? Of what should I be afraid? On the contrary, rejoice!” (Michael, Green, Running From Reality)
If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (John Piper, Desiring God, 88)
During an especially trying time in the work of the China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor wrote to his wife, “We have twenty-five cents—and all the promises of God!
Your final exit will be your greatest entrance. (Barbara Johnson)
IV. The Resurrection of Jesus is proof that everything Jesus promised is true. (Rom 1:1-6; 1 Pt 1:3, 21)
If God had not raised Him from the grave we might draw the conclusion that our Lord was not able to bear the punishment of the guilt of our sins, that it was too much for Him, and that His death was the end. But He was raised from the dead; and in raising Him up God was proclaiming that His Son had completed the work, that full expiation has been made, that He is propitiated and completely satisfied. The resurrection declares that, and it is in that sense that He is “risen again for our justification.” It is there we see it clearly. The work was done on the Cross, but here is the proclamation that it is enough. (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapters 3:20-4:25, 244)
The Resurrection is God’s “Amen!” to Christ’s statement, “It is Finished.” (S. Lewis Johnson)
Exodus begins with the God of compassion, the God of justice, hearing the cry of slaves in Egypt and setting out to do something about it. God sends a man named Moses to rescue them, and it’s through Moses that God makes four promises to these slaves.
“I will take you out.”
“I will rescue you.”
“I will redeem you.”
“I will take you to me.”
There’s a reason why these four promises are so significant–they’re the promises a Jewish groom makes to a Jewish bride. This is wedding language. Somebody hearing this story in its original context would realize that some sort of marriage is going to take place. (Rob Bell, Sex God, 131-132)
In the first century, generally a young woman would be married in her early teens, often at thirteen or fourteen. It would become known that she was “of age,” and her father would entertain offers from the fathers of young men who were interested in marrying her. If the fathers agreed on the terms of the marriage, there would be a celebration to honor the couple and announce their engagement. At this celebration, the groom would offer the young girl a cup of wine to drink.
But she didn’t have to drink it.
She can reject the cup. She can say no to his offer of marriage. Even though everything has already been arranged, she can still say no. It’s up to her.
Can you imagine the pressure on the young fella?
Here is everybody you love the most, friends and parents and relatives, gathered in a room, watching to see if she will accept the cup.
If she says yes, the groom gives a sort of prepared speech about their future together.
Because if she takes the cup and drinks from it, that only means that they are engaged. They aren’t married yet. Something still has to happen.
Or to be more precise, something has to be built.
If she says yes, then the groom goes home and begins building an addition onto his family’s home. This is where he and his bride will start their new family together. And so he works and works and works, building a place that they can call home. And here’s the interesting part: he doesn’t know when he’s going to finish. Because he doesn’t have the final say on whether it’s ready. That’s his father’s decision. And so his father periodically inspects his work, looking to see if the quality of what the son is building properly honors his future bride. The father has considerations as well. If he has many sons, and they’ve all built additions, then his house is getting quite large. There are many rooms in it. This was called an insula, a large multifamily dwelling. If the father had built his addition onto his father’s house, then by now, several generations later, this is a large dwelling with rooms for a lot of people.
Back to the story.
The future bride is at home, learning how to run a household. She also doesn’t know when the work will be done, so she’s prepared herself for a date that’s coming, she just doesn’t know when.
And then the day comes. The father inspects and tells the son that it’s time. So the son gets his friends, and they set out for her house to get her. But how will he know what room is hers?
He’ll know because she has filled her lamp with oil each night and set it in the window, so that when he comes, he’ll know which room is hers.
And so he goes to get her, and they gather their friends and family, and there’s a giant procession back to his house, where the party starts.
And so when she takes the glass of wine at their engagement party and drinks from it, the groom says to her: “My father’s house has plenty of room; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Does his speech sound familiar? This is what Jesus says to his disciples in Jn 14:2-4.
When Jesus wants to assure his followers that they’re going to be okay, that their future is secure, that they shouldn’t let their hearts be troubled, he uses the wedding metaphor.
They would have known exactly what he was talking about. They would have heard the groom’s speech growing up, the ones who were married would have given it to their brides, and they would have taken part in numerous wedding celebrations. (Rob Bell, Sex God, 169-171)
You can’t break God’s promises by leaning on them!
Quotes to Note:
In the tradition of the ancient Russian Orthodox church, the day after Easter was devoted to telling jokes. Priests would join with people in unveiling their best jokes for one another. It was an interesting tradition of imitating the cosmic joke that God pulled on Satan in the Resurrection. Satan thought he won on Friday but God had the last laugh on Easter Sunday. We would do well to laugh more often about the joyous victory we have through Christ.
Well over three hundred verses are concerned with the subject of Jesus’ resurrection in the NT. We are told that this event is a sign for unbelievers (Mt 12:38-40); cf. Jn 20:24-29) as well as the answer for the believer’s doubt (Lk 24:38-43). It serves as the guarantee that Jesus’ teachings are true (Acts 2:22-24; 1 Cor 15:12-20) and is the center of the gospel itself (Rom 4:24-25, 10:9; 1 Cor 15:1-4). Further, the resurrection is the impetus for evangelism (Mt 28:18-20; Acts 10:39-43), the key indication of the believer’s daily power to live the Christian life (Rom 6:4-14, 8:9-11; Phil 3:10) and the reason for the total commitment of our lives (Rom 7:4; 1 Cor 15:57-58). The resurrection even addresses the fear of death (Jn 11:25; 1 Cor 15:54-58; cf. Heb 2:14-15) and is related to the second coming of Jesus (Acts 1:11; Rv 1:7). Lastly, this event is a model of the Christian’s resurrection from the dead (Acts 4:2; 1 Cor 6:14; 1 Thes 4:13-18) and provides a foretaste of heaven for the believer (Phil 3:20-21; 1 Pt 1:3-5). For a popular treatment that addresses these and other aspects, see Gary R. Habermas, The Centrality of the Resurrection. (Gary R. Habermas & J.P. Moreland; Immortality – The Other Side of Death, 245)
Why We Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead:
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, the Christian faith is a foolish fantasy. However, if the resurrection of Christ did occur, it confirms His life, message, and atoning work. It is the basis of our hope of life beyond the grave. Christ is alive, and the evidence is overwhelming. Here are some of the reasons we can be so sure.
1. Jesus predicted His resurrection (Mt 16:21; Mk 9:9-10; Jn 2:18-22).
2. The OT prophesied it (Ps 16:10; compare Acts 2:25-31; 13:33-37).
3. The tomb was empty and the grave clothes vacant. If those who opposed Christ wished to silence His disciples, all they had to do was produce a body, but they could not (Jn 20:3-9).
4. Many people saw the resurrected Christ. They looked on His face, touched Him, heard His voice, and saw Him eat (Mt 28:16-20; Lk 24:13-39; Jn 20:11-29; Jn 21:1-9; Acts 1:6-11; 1 Cor 15:3-8).
5. The lives of the disciples were revolutionized. Though they fled and even denied Christ at the time of His arrest, they later feared no one in their proclamation of the risen Christ (Mt 26:56, 69-75). 6. The resurrection was the central message of the early church. The church grew with an unwavering conviction that Christ had risen and was the Lord of the church (Acts 4:33; 5:30-32; Rom 5:24).
6. Men and women today testify that the power of the risen Christ has transformed their lives. We know that Jesus is alive not only because of the historical and biblical evidence but also because He has miraculously touched our lives. — Kurt E. DeHaan.
He is risen
he is risen indeed!
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