BURIED IN CHRIST

“And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Romans5:11

We began in the previous lesson discussing the exchange that happened at the Cross. The first part of the exchange happened on the Cross. Jesus became who we were and we became who he was. He took what we deserved and we took what he deserved.

In this lesson we shall discuss the second part of this exchange which was the separation that happened between Jesus and His Father when He became our sin on the Cross and how as a result we were reconciled with the Father through this.

We died with Jesus on the Cross and we were buried together with Him.

The mistake we make is we fail to behold the burial of Jesus. We see and agree with the Cross in as far as it talks about the death of Jesus and His resurrection but rarely His burial.

It is not enough to acknowledge that we died in Christ. It is not enough to acknowledge that we are dead to sin and to the Law. We must also recognize that we are buried with Christ.

We usually recognize that we are dead to something. To the old nature, to sin, to the Law etc. and yet we still see them operating in our lives. We wonder how something that we are dead to is still having power in our lives. The reason is because we haven’t seen the burial. We haven’t seen the putting away of that thing from us forever. It is like we are still moving around with its carcass strapped to us.

There is an order to this. God has ordained an order and we must see this order. There is first Death then burial then resurrection and finally glorification.

We must comprehend and receive revelation of the death of Jesus and our baptism into that death, His burial in which we are also buried, His resurrection and His glorification.

We are usually very willing to agree with The Lord about what is dead but are unwilling to see the dead buried. We still want to look at them. We still want to relive the life of the dead. We still want to live in their memories. We want to live their old life. The life we lived before we died in Christ.

Most Christians are hypocrites. They are alive in Christ and yet they are still living as the dead person they were previously. They are righteous and holy and yet they still insist that they are sinners and are still living the life of sin and religion.

Most of us are still trying to live the life of a dead person (who we were in the past) instead of embracing our new life in Jesus. All of this comes because we have still refused to bury the old nature. We have refused to reckon ourselves buried in Christ.

Even naturally, it is obvious that when people die, we bury them. The moment death happens we immediately begin to plan for burial.

Why? Because once someone has died, they can no longer be useful for life. They are no longer useful in this world. In fact they become a source of death. If they stay longer, they will produce death in those that are still living.

They have to be buried. Yet, it doesn't seem to work like that in our Christian journey. We accept death but then refuse the burial that should naturally follow. We are content to leave the dead nature there in our heart. We refuse to get rid of it.

This is like having someone die and instead of burying them you put them in the sitting room and let them be there.

There they are every day, completely dead and yet completely left in view. You see them all the time. They assault you with their deadness every day.

The truth is in such a situation you don’t really believe the person is dead. That is why you refuse to bury them. Otherwise, if you truly believed they were dead you would bury them.

So why do we bury the dead?

Because it removes the dead from view. It puts them out of sight.

Why should we bury the old man?

So that the dead man ceases be the motivation for anything in our life.

So that we are free to live according to the Living.

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to bury that which no longer defines us. Our old sin nature.  We should only be motivated by what is alive and what is real.

We need to realize this. The reason we are constantly running into the same things that we know we are dead to and yet they never seem to leave our lives for example sins, habits, legalism etc. is because we haven’t buried them. They are still in our living room. They still have a place in our heart.

“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.” 2Cor5:16

Now because Jesus died for all mankind and all mankind died in Him we know nobody after the flesh anymore. Why? Because they all died in Christ and are now risen in Him. We should not regard anybody after the flesh any more. They have all died in Christ. We should regard them in Christ.

He is telling us to stop judging people based on their physical appearances and capabilities. Even for those who have not yet received Christ, we have no business judging them after the flesh. God is not judging them after the flesh. Flesh has been taken away from His presence.

God doesn’t know or deal with any of us according to the flesh and according to who we are in the flesh. God deals with us according to who we are in Christ. He knows no man after the flesh anymore. And He wants this to be the way we know our selves and the way we know other people.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2Cor5:17

We don’t know others after the flesh because they are now in Christ and have become a new creature. Old things have passed away and everything has become new. And everything is of God.

When a person is in Christ they are no longer the same old person they used to be. Something life changing happens to them. Old things pass away, the old life passes away and in its place a new life comes. Everything becomes new. Look at what The Living Bible translation says;

“When someone becomes a Christian he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same any more. A new life has begun!” 2Cor5:17 TLB

There is a change that takes place on the inside of us that makes us a brand new person. All the inner corruption, perverseness, impurity and sinfulness that is true of us is taken away by the taking away of the old man at salvation.

God does a work in us in an instant that takes away that which we have tried to take away from us for all of our life and yet failed miserably. The corruption and inherent badness and sinfulness that all of us are aware of. That undeserving unworthy nature that all of us are always condemned about is taken away when we have faith in Christ. This is what all religion tries to do and yet always fails miserably.

In its place we receive a brand new righteous and holy nature which is exactly like God. We receive a new heart, a new purity, righteousness, holiness and goodness that is completely of God. We become righteous on the inside. We receive a new spirit which are exactly like God.

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Eph4:24

This has nothing to do with what you do. It is who you are. Your nature. You cannot be anything else. You are always right with God. You are always pleasing to Him. You are always acceptable and agreeable to Him.

This new nature in our spirit is exactly like God. This is how God views us now. Righteous and holy as He is. God finds no fault in us.

Something significant happens when we come to the Cross. God takes away the old. And gives us the new as the NIV bible says, '...the old has gone, the new is here'

We need to see that we are completely and utterly dead and buried in Christ. Everything of us died and now everything in us is of Him.

At the Cross God buried everything in us that was of the old nature. This means that He has put it away from His view. Our old nature, our sins, our habits, our failures etc. He has put it away from Him. He doesn’t see it anymore.

It is up to us now, to let Him put it away from our view. To embrace our burial in Christ. To relate only with who we are in Christ and in no other way.

How does this happen?

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life…” John14:6

All of this happens as we lay a hold of Jesus as THE TRUTH.

The way is in His death, the truth is in His burial, the life is in His resurrection.

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John8:32

The truth is what has the power to set us free. As we know and meditate on the truth we are made free from the past and from the old which is dead. The truth buries it. The truth puts the dead out of our sight.