With Christ

Sometimes the world is a beautiful place. The beauty of nature can be awe inspiring and
refreshing to our hearts. In the warm company of family and friends we feel loved cared for and
encouraged. But at other times life can ne grueling, frustrating, unjust, terrible, sad and tragic.
Nature itself can leave us reeling with its storms, weeds and dangers. At times, even we
ourselves can be our own worst enemy.

In those sad, terrible, frustrating and unjust times, I have often said, “I can’t wait for
Christ to return so that I can be with him.” The Bible tells us that at the return of Christ we will
be gathered to be with him forever.1 We will be granted everlasting life and even nature itself
will be renewed.2

In his prayer as High Priest, before his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus prayed for us to one
day be with him. In John 17:24 he prayed,

Father, I desire that they also

whom You gave Me may be
with Me where I am, that they
may behold My glory which
You have given Me; for You
loved Me before the foundation
of the world.

Then as he was dying on the cross Jesus promised the repentant criminal, “Assuredly, I say to
you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”3 Both Christ’s prayer and promise fill us with hope
that one day we will be with our Lord forever and a life of sorrow and frustration will be over. In
one of his earliest letters the apostle Paul wrote about our being with the Lord at his return.

But I do not want you to be

ignorant, brethren, concerning
those who have fallen asleep4,
lest you sorrow as others who
have no hope. 14 For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again,
even so God will bring with Him
those who sleep in Jesus.

For this we say to you by the

15 

word of the Lord, that we who

1
John 14:1-3
2
Romans 8:21
3
Luke 23:43
4
Who have died.
are alive and remain until the
coming of the Lord will by no
means precede those who are
asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of an archangel,
and with the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 
Then we who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And thus we shall
always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore
comfort one another with these words.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

One day we will be with the Lord forever. And we will never again feel the tears of
sorrow on our face or the pains of a frustrating life. But does this mean we are now left to live
life without the presence of Christ? The answer is no. Before his ascension into heaven, Jesus
said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”5

In our study of “Christ our Life” the preposition for our present study is “with.” Being
with someone means having companionship, partnership or fellowship and friendship with that
person. We can encourage, comfort and strengthen another when we are with that person. One
day we will see Jesus Christ face to face. But he is with us now and we are with him in a
powerful and intimate way. In 1 Corinthians 6:17 we are told that “he who is joined to the Lord
is one spirit with Him.”

But to be with Christ now means more than to be in his physical presence. It means that
we share in the four major events of his saving ministry: his death, resurrection, ascension and
return. First, we died with Christ,

I have been crucified with Christ;

it is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me; and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself for me.
(Galatians 2:20)

Every believer who has ever lived or will live was crucified with Christ. To hear this
declaration for the first time can sound strange. So, what does it mean? There is no more vivid
and clear way to describe the end of something than by speaking of its death. We talk about the
death of a desire or a dream, the death of a friendship or a marriage, even the end of life in death.

5
Matthew 28:20
 Through our being crucified with Christ there has been a decisive break with our old life
of sin and spiritual fatigue. Once we lived in bondage to fear, prejudices, guilt, self and sin. The
only way to be free of those things is to die. Our old selves died with Christ when we were
crucified with him. And the life we live now, we live by faith in Christ, who lives in me.

We are no longer motivated or controlled by sin, selfishness, greed, anger or our painful
past. The old ego died, and we now live motivated by Christ’s love. We were crucified with
Christ. We can be set free from the bondage of our old lives to live a new one. Secondly, not
only have we been crucified with Christ, but we have been raised up with him to live a new life.

What shall we say then?

Shall we continue in sin
that grace may abound?
2 
Certainly not! How shall we
who died to sin live any longer
in it? 3 Or do you not know that
as many of us as were baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized
into His death? 4 Therefore we
were buried with Him through
baptism into death, that just as
Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness
of life.

For if we have been united together

5 

in the likeness of His death, certainly

we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our
old man was crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer
be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has
died has been freed from sin.
(Romans 6:1-7)

To be “baptized into Christ Jesus” is to be united with him in his death and burial. Many
of us think of baptism in terms of being immersed in water. But the apostle Paul wrote about a
spiritual reality here and not a symbolic ceremony.

Literally, to be baptized means to be immersed into something. When you immerse a

white T shirt into a vat of blue dye, it has been baptized. And it comes out a new color. In the
same way we have been baptized into Christ’s death and burial to be raised up to new life.

Therefore we were buried with Him

through baptism into death, that
just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in
newness of life.

For if we have been united together

5 

in the likeness of His death, certainly

we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our
old man was crucified with Him, that
the body of sin might be done away
with, that we should no longer be
slaves of sin.
(Romans 6:4-6)

The newness of life spoken of here is a new quality of life. Jesus was not the same man
after his resurrection as he was before. Romans 1:4 says that Jesus was “declared the Son of God
with power…by the resurrection from the dead.” Being raised up with Christ we are now
children of God with power!6 We are free from the shackles of our old way of living.

Our old man of sin has been done away with or rendered powerless. We no longer need
to give in to temptations, fear, anger or despair. We no longer need to feel incapable of living a
godly life. Being raised up with Christ means we can live a life of spiritual strength and power.
The verses we will read in Ephesians 1 are set in the context of a prayer for us to understand
certain realities. And one of these realities is the power we have being raised up with Christ.

the eyes of your understanding being

enlightened; that you may know what
is the hope of His calling, what are the
riches of the glory of His inheritance in
the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding
greatness of His power toward us who
believe, according to the working of His
mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ
when He raised Him from the dead and
seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly
places, 21 far above all principality and
power and might and dominion, and
every name that is named, not only in this
age but also in that which is to come.
(Ephesians 1:18-20)

The power of God that raised Christ up from the dead is available to us. Power to have
great faith, peace and joy. Power to do what is good and right and kind; to overcome evil. We
6
Ephesians 1:19, 20
have divine power to change our habits and attitudes and behavior to be more like Christ. And
notice the apostle does not pray for us to have this power. He prays that we become aware that
we have it and believe it.

So, we died with Christ and we were then raised up with him to walk in newness of life.
Now, thirdly we are ascended and seated with him At God’s right hand.

But God, who is rich in mercy,

because of His great love with
which He loved us, 5 even when
we were dead in trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved),
6 
and raised us up together, and
made us sit together in the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus
(Ephesians 2:4-6)

All three verbs in this passage of Scripture, “made alive,” “raised up,” “made sit,” share
the Greek preposition sun which means together with. We were made alive together with Christ
and given new life. And we are made to sit with Christ at God’s right hand. Even now, even
now, we share in Christ’s exaltation and pre-eminent glory. With Christ we are in a position of
dignity and honor.

What you think about yourself is important for how you think and act. Your old life of sin
and fear, guilt and lust, anger, despair and hurt is dead—it died with Christ. Reckon it dead and
buried. You have been raised up with Christ to live a new life. The power of God is available to
you to mature in the faith, to be hopeful, faithful, loving and kind. You have been blessed to be a
blessing!

We must not allow these precious truths about us to become merely religious rhetoric.
These verses are true. And we must believe them and dare to live accordingly. So, we died with
Christ and we were raised up with Christ. And we have been seated with Christ at God’s right
hand. Therefore, we can expect to be glorified with him.

If then you were raised with Christ,

seek those things which are above,
where Christ is, sitting at the right
hand of God. 2 Set your mind on
things above, not on things on the
earth. 3 For you died, and your life
is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When
Christ who is our life appears, then
you also will appear with Him in glory.
(Colossians 3:1-3)
 To be glorified with Christ is our sure and certain future. And as a compass points north
—always, so our minds should be set on who we are and what we shall be with Christ. One day
our hidden life, our shared life with God and Christ will be fully revealed. Now, all of these
spiritual realities are not just fancy rhetorical statements. There are down to earth implications
for everyday living. Therefore, the apostle Paul continues,

Therefore put to death your members

which are on the earth: fornication,
uncleanness, passion, evil desire,
and covetousness, which is idolatry.
6 
Because of these things the wrath
of God is coming upon the sons of
disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves
once walked when you lived in them.

But now you yourselves are to put

8 

off all these: anger, wrath, malice,

blasphemy, filthy language out of
your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one
another, since you have put off the
old man with his deeds, 10 and have
put on the new man who is renewed
in knowledge according to the image
of Him who created him, 11 where there
is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised
nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian,
slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
12 
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy
and beloved, put on tender mercies,
kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13 
bearing with one another, and forgiving
one another, if anyone has a complaint
against another; even as Christ forgave
you, so you also must do. 14 But above all
these things put on love, which is the bond
of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God
rule in your hearts, to which also you were
called in one body; and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

16 

in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing

one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you
do in word or deed, do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God
the Father through Him.
(Colossians 3:5-17)

The point of all of this is that united with Christ we are to have new ambitions, new
standards for living and new relationships with one another. We are to live good and righteous
lives. We are to work heartily in all that we do as unto the Lord. We are to love others with the
love of God.

We are new people with Christ in us. No truth has a greater power to transform our lives.
When we grasp this then a real, radical change takes place in us for our good and God’s glory.