Everyone wants their own piece of land they can call their own. It is the American dream. God’s dream began by giving man the most prestigious property to live on – the Garden of Eden. In the beginning man had paradise on earth with God. Adam and Eve were given this idyllic situation by the Heavenly Father. Unfortunately, Adam did the one thing God said not to do, resulting in a spiritual death and losing that beautiful piece of property. In a nut shell the book of Romans lays out man’s downfall and what God did through Jesus Christ to regain a relationship with man.
Romans 5:18-21:
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
What a recovery! Jesus Christ did it all for you, me and all of mankind (When they choose to believe Romans 10:9). Look how we are associated with Christ in all his acts of the redemption of man.
Romans 6:3 and 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.
As you observe from reading the Scriptures we fully identify with Christ, from his death, burial, and most importantly his resurrection.
The more the believer realizes the details of their identification with Christ, the greater they can walk with power and love. We were fully clothed with all that Christ accomplished for us. Nothing got missed or skipped. We are viewed by the Heavenly Father as doing exactly what Christ did to achieve our salvation. Isn’t that tremendous!
Romans 6:5-13:
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
There is so much for us to associate with. Perhaps the greatest is to present ourselves as alive from the dead and tools of righteousness unto God. This is quite a concept! What is the response of people when they experience a near death situation? They rejoice and count their blessings and promise to do only good for the rest of their lives. Of course, for many, this attitude does not last long. People go back to their old ways of living.
Take it a step farther; what about being graveyard dead and then made alive! What kind of rejoicing and affirmations of service would be declared! God’s Word is talking about us being raised from the dead as Christ was. The results for us as we are born again is not just some new way of living, but having eternal life and being complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10)! This should really motivate us to rejoice and commit ourselves to live for our Heavenly Father.
Newness of Life
Remember when it said in Romans 6:4 we should “walk in newness of life?” Where we walk is on resurrection ground because we are seated in heavenly places in Christ.
Ephesians 2:6:
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Philippians 3:20 and 21:
For our conversation [This word in the Greek is politeuma meaning the seat of government. This communicates that we are citizens] is [literally means “exists even now”] in heaven; from whence also we look [literally means “eagerly wait” ] for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Not only are we seated in the heavenlies, but we are citizens with rights, privileges and responsibilities. We are living on resurrection ground as citizens of heaven. We have the assurance that at the return of Christ our bodies will be changed like unto his glorious body!
Our loving Heavenly Father did not leave anything out in providing for us the perfect salvation in which we can walk in newness of life for Him.
Putting It All Together
As we put the truths of God’s Word all together here on the subject of the greatness of living on resurrection ground this is what we see:
- We fully identify with Christ
- We can walk in newness of life
- We are instruments of righteousness
- We were raised together to sit in heavenly places
- We are citizens in heaven
- When Christ comes back for us we will have a body fashioned like unto his glorious body.
The ground we live on and walk on spiritually is resurrection ground. In spite of looking at the dirt and pavement you are walking on now, think about walking in newness of life on resurrection ground. Remember the spiritual realities far outweigh the physical realities.
Let’s realize these wonderful truths of who we really are! Let’s rejoice as those raised from the dead and walking on resurrection ground living in newness of life.
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