In meditations 35 and 36 we saw that not only our conversion but also our identification with Christ’s crucifixion and death are so important for God and for us.
However, for starting a new and eternal life in fellowship with God the Father and God the Son, something even more radical than forgiveness of my sinful past is needed.
Indeed, it is great to know that God has forgiven my former rebellion because of Jesus’ sacrifice. The apostle Paul delights in that when he recites king David’s song:
"Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose sin is no longer counted against them by the Lord" (Romans 4:7-8).
Yet, forgiveness in itself does not result automatically in the complete change of my sinful nature. For such a transformation to occur, something even more profound is required.
That’s why Paul does not finish with speaking of ‘dying with Christ’. He continues by saying:
“Since we have been united with him [Jesus Christ, the Messiah] in his death, we will also be raised as he was.
Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
And since we died with Christ, we know we will also share his new life. We are sure of this because Christ rose from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.
He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God.
So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:5-10).
At our conversion, this new and eternal “Christ-life” [or “resurrection life”] is given to us by God’s Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul reminds the followers of Jesus in Rome about that wonderful gift of God:
“Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you” (Romans 8:10-11a).
We can see that the apostle uses both expressions “Christ lives in you” and “the Spirit of God lives in you”, thereby making them equal.
Indeed, it is God the Holy Spirit who represents God the Son and God the Father in our lives.
In their letters, the apostles often interchange the presence of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in the lives of Jesus’ followers. Jesus himself already stated this fact on the night before his death. Speaking about his return to heaven after his resurrection, he said to his friends:
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth. ..... If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:16.17.23).
At the same time, Jesus uses two other expressions that show the intimate relationship between him and his followers: “When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” (John 14:20)
In their letters, the apostles point to the same intimate relationship between Jesus and his followers when they use sayings like “we are in Christ”, or “we are in Him”, or “Christ in us”, etc.
This intimate relationship between Jesus and his followers is possible through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The apostle John explains in his first letter: “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us” (1 John 3:24).
The apostle Paul rejoices about this “resurrection life”, when he declares: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Contrasting his former selfish life with this new relationship he has with Jesus Christ through the gift of God’s Spirit, the apostle Paul testifies: “I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
In the next meditations we will think of the quality of this amazing ‘Christlike resurrection life’ which we receive with the gift of God’s Spirit at our conversion. However, first of all, we need to see what other terms the Bible uses to describe this life-changing event.
The Bible verses John 14:16.17.23 and 1 John 3:24 are quotes from the New International Version. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is a quote from the New King James Version. All other texts are quotes of the New Living Translation.
