Romans Chapter 6:3-6

Jesus has a plan for that selfish part of you. I call it the inner Pharisee, that religious, prideful, self-centered part of you. Jesus has a plan, friend, and it's not to heal the inner Pharisee, to allow it to be crucified. Why does he want to do that to your little inner Pharisee?

Because he wants to kill it before it kills you. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. When it comes to walking with Jesus, we can live an incredible and blessed life in Christ or a miserable life in us. Find out how you can choose today as Pastor David continues in Romans 6. For this teaching, have you not read?

Here's David. So we're in Romans chapter 6, verse 3. Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we were buried with him, most versions, capital H, speaking of Jesus. Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism and to 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. Verse 5. For if we had been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Resurrection power, the resurrection power. We shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. What's this?

What's this talking about? Well, Paul in another place goes on to explain Philippians chapter 3, verse 9. It says, and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me for God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result, verse 10, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death and look at verse 11. So that somehow I can experience the resurrection from the dead. Oh, this is good stuff.

This is awesome stuff. The resurrection power, the same power that Jesus blasted out of the grave with. Absolutely.

Absolutely. The life lesson here is you can know God's resurrection power in your life today. You can know God's resurrection power in your life today. Today, not tomorrow, not next week. You can know that resurrection power today.

It's available to you today. Now you can choose not to walk in that power. You can choose not to walk in the newness of life, but it is available to you. And understand the choice is really, it breaks down pretty easy. You follow the way or the path to Christ and to life, or you follow the way or the path to sin and to death.

That's a tough one in. Should I follow Jesus to life or sin to death? So we have, and when it's talking about, when it speaks about the death, it talks about the death and then the resurrection, the death and the resurrection. It's kind of an interesting thing that some folks choose to wear a cross. Some folks choose to wear a crucifixion.

I kind of, and if you're listening and you have a crucifixion, I really, my intent is not to beat you up, but I really have a problem with crucifixions. And here's why, because it still has Jesus on the cross. Jesus is not on the cross anymore. The cross is empty.

The tomb is empty. He has risen. He has risen in deed.

He's alive forevermore. So I think the empty cross is more appropriate. It's more appropriate. But you know, friend, here's, and there's a lot of symbolism going on here. It's interesting because a lot of Christians live a life of what I would call tweeners. They're tweeners.

Here's what I mean by that. They live between two things. They live between Egypt and the promised land. They live in the desert, if you will. They're not in Egypt. They've left Egypt, but they've not gone to the promised land.

Why? Because they haven't embraced these promises with God. They haven't embraced this newness of life, this abundance of life. They're living in a very frustrated place.

They're tweeners. They're living between the crucifixion or the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus. They've yet to experience the resurrection power of Jesus.

Friend, if that describes you, you can know his resurrection power today because that's a frustrating place to live between the crucifixion and between the resurrection. Imagine what the disciples' lives were like at that point in time. They were sad. They were heartbroken. Their leader had been murdered. And even though he had promised that he would be resurrected, they were really unsure of it to the point that when the ladies come and they say, hey, the tomb is empty, they really don't believe it.

Oh, you're talking nonsense. Peter and John had to go see for themselves. Kind of interesting exchange there if you look at in the Gospel of John. John and Peter kind of had that thing going on.

They had a little healthy competition. The Bible does record this. How do I know this? It tells us, for instance, when they're in the garden and somebody cut off the ear of this temple guard, how do we know who it was? Matthew doesn't tell us who it was.

Mark doesn't tell us who it was. The Gospel of Luke doesn't tell us who it was. But the Gospel of John says it was Peter. Not only that, but when they go to the tomb on this occasion, John is sure to record for us in the Gospel of John that they ran to the tomb and John ran on ahead.

So in this little foot race, John is letting us know he beat Peter. And actually, he tells us a couple of verses later, I got there first. They didn't believe it. Now, we can sit here listening and go, Silly, silly disciples, how can they not believe in the resurrection of Jesus? He said he was going to be resurrected. He told him to destroy this temple, talking about his body, and he'll be raised up three days.

Wait a minute, friend. It's easy to look back on the disciples and say, Oh, silly, silly boys, they didn't believe in the power of resurrection. But how many listening right now are not walking in the power of the resurrection right now in their lives? Aren't you doubting the power of the resurrection? As I'm talking about having power over sin, are you sitting there going, Oh, pastor, I'm not sure I have power over sin. The Bible says you have power over sin. If the Bible says you have power over sin, friend, you got power over sin. The same resurrection power that brought Jesus out of that cold, clammy, dark tomb can bring you out of a cold, clammy, dark life and bring you to the sun light of Jesus.

S-O-N. So where are you living now? Living in the crucifixion. Oh, we've got to come to the cross, friend.

That's where we're born again. And then Jesus says, OK, you've celebrated my death, if you will. I died for your sins. Now I want you to live for me. I want you to walk in this newness of life. I want you to walk in this power of the resurrection. You can know the power of the resurrection today. Thank you for listening to Cross the Bridge with David McGee.

We'll return to David's teaching in just a moment. The tragedy in Benghazi, the bombings in Boston, and the current unrest in Egypt are all vivid accounts of terrorism. Each time an event like this occurs, it often causes us to respond with fear. But it doesn't have to, because God knows your future, and you can too. With David McGee's teaching entitled Know Your Future, Be Immune to Terrorism, you'll come to understand the realities of radical Islam while rejoicing in God's promises for your future.

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To help support Cross the Bridge and receive your CD or DVD copy of Know Your Future, call 877-458-5508 or go online to CrossTheBridge.com. Now let's return to Pastor David's verse-by-verse teaching in the book of Romans. Verse six is 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. I want you to notice something in verse six, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him. The reason I'm saying this is in the King James, going back to the Greek, the tense is not appropriate to the context because in the King James it says that our old man, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, ongoing action. That kind of works, but was crucified is more appropriate. He was crucified.

The old life was crucified. Let it go. Let it die. Don't cling to it.

Don't prop it up. The old man, I was talking about old man. Is that like my dad is talking about my dad? Let old man, let my father was crucified.

No, no, no, no. It's about your old nature, your old life, your sinful, selfish self, which everyone of us has. Everyone is that fallen nature, that sinful, selfish self. And Jesus is like, you know what?

I got a plan for that. You got to die to that so that you can live for Him. Jesus has a plan for that selfish part of you. I call it the inner Pharisee, that religious, prideful, self-centered part of you. Jesus has a plan, friend, and it's not to heal the inner Pharisee, but to allow it to be crucified. Why does He want to do that to your little inner Pharisee?

Because He wants to kill it before it kills you. Because that inner Pharisee will drive you away from God. And so you can be free from that. You can be free from self. You can be free from sin. You can be free from death. You can be free from all these things, free from committing sin.

And look at this again. How does verse six start out? Knowing this, not thinking this or, hey, I heard this.

Knowing this, how do you know this? You know God's word. You jump into God's word. You do what God's word tells you to do.

And so He's saying, you know, here's the choice. Who should you, who are you serving? Are you serving sin? Are you a slave to sin? Are you serving God?

Who do you serve? The body of sin might be done away with, done away with, do away with them, done away with, rubbed out, offed, put six feet under, put out of business, rendered powerless. Jesus, Jesus has a contract out on your sin life.

Capish? He wants you to die to that. Crucifixion is a very painful death. It's a very slow death.

As a matter of fact, the way that it happens is really kind of horrible. Because what happens is they pin your hands or nail your hands or by your wrist to the cross. They would usually double over your feet and put a nail through both feet at the same time. And you think, well, how does that kill you?

Is it bleeding to death or not usually? It's not what happened. In the case of Jesus, they usually would just crucify somebody. In the case of Jesus, they beat him with a whip. Now, usually when we think of a whip, we think of a, you know, a bullwhip or an all leather whip.

It wasn't one of those. Back in Roman times, the whip would have been embedded with pieces of bone or steel or stone embedded through the pieces of leather. And then when somebody was beaten, they would take the whip and they would whip it and it would stick to the back.

Then they would jerk it back. And that was where the real damage was done. As literally the skin was pulled away. Sometimes vital organs were exposed.

I'm not telling us to gross you out. I'm trying to explain to you what Jesus did for you. Jesus went through all that before he ever went to the cross.

When a person was on the cross, it wasn't by usually bleeding to death, but what happened is under the stress and the strain, the pericardium, an area around the heart, began to, would fill with fluid, pressuring the heart, pressuring the lungs. And what you would need to do is you would have to, as this fluid began to accumulate, you would have to push yourself up to get a breath. Let's remember you're pushing yourself up on feet that had a nail running through them. You would push yourself up and get a breath and sink back down until you were desperate for another breath. And you would push yourself up and get a breath and sink back down. And after a long period, you no longer had the power to push yourself up. That's why, friend, when they wanted to hasten or quicken the death of Jesus, they said break his legs.

Why? Because with broken legs, he could no longer push himself up to get a breath. We have an interesting moment in time because the Bible in Exodus 12, I'm talking about the Passover lamb, gave instructions about the Passover lamb and said not a bone of the Passover lamb was to be broken. The Passover lamb was a symbol of Jesus. And so Caesar, or Pilate, gives this command that the legs of Jesus be broken to the Roman soldiers. The Roman soldiers go and they broke the legs of the two thieves on either side, but when they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead. And they didn't break his legs. But, friend, they should have broken his legs because actually to disregard an order of Pilate could have ended in their execution. And these Gentile Roman soldiers that knew nothing of Hebrew prophecy fulfilled it to the letter by not breaking the legs of Jesus even more.

They pierced him. Again, another fulfillment of Scripture. Out of him flowed blood and water.

The water had accumulated in that pericardium, that area around the heart. Again, fulfillment of Scripture. Crucifixion was not a happenstance thing.

It's the plan of God, fulfilling so many distinct prophecies. Look at verse 7. For he who has died has been freed from sin. If you've died to sin, if you've allowed your old self-sin nature to be crucified with Jesus, then you've been set free.

And if you've been set free, you're free indeed. Sin can always be reawakened in you. In this earthly body, there's always that part of our body and our mind that get going and we can lead ourselves in the sin. We can be doing great and then all something entices us.

We can be overeating food or drinking or smoking or smoking dope or shooting dope or pornography or all these things. But we have to allow that to have power over us. We have the power through the Holy Spirit. If you know Jesus, you have the power to say no to sin. Friend, if you're listening and you don't know Jesus, you really don't have power over sin. And it's not about a 12-step program.

It's about going to the cross and reckoning yourself dead to these things and alive to him. Imagine being shut up in a dungeon for years and somebody comes by and unlocks the door and opens it. What are you going to do? Oh, no, no, friend, I appreciate you opening the door, but yeah, I think I'm just going to chill out here. I'm just going to sit in my cell because if so, it's kind of gotten comfortable.

I kind of like it. No, that door opens. Friend, you're going to be bolting out that door.

Jesus has opened the door. Why do you want to still sit in your cell? Why do you want to live the old life?

Why do you want to be in bondage? I remember years ago I heard a story that explains it a lot. This guy was a Christian. He was a believer and he was on his way to an incredible buffet, incredible buffet.

It's around the holidays. This was not just some normal buffet. This was the mega buffet, piles and piles of fresh-baked breads, ice sculptures with colored lights on them, chef stations around the room, carving up turkeys and hams and roast beefs and stuff in a nice, nice hotel. And he's on his way to this place. He walks by an alley and he was looking down the alley and he sees this guy, and this man is digging through the dumpster.

And his heart satins. He looks at the man and he thinks, ah, poor guy. He's digging in the dumpster for something to eat, and I'm on the way to this lavish buffet. The guy says, ah, I know what I'm going to do. He goes back to the dumpster, walks down the alley, speaks to the guy, says, hey, hey, hey, man, talk to you for a second. Guy's kind of startled.

What, what, what, what? He says, well, you're digging in the dumpster. Are you hungry? Well, yeah, yeah, I'm hungry. He says, well, I'd like to make you an offer. I'd like to take you to this incredible buffet. Going to be marvelous.

All kinds of carved meats, fresh breads. And I'll pay for you. Will you go? Guy says, well, okay, I guess so.

I guess so. So he takes his newfound friend. He walks into this incredible buffet.

Ice sculptures in the carving stations and all these things. And he steps back and look at his new friend and he's like, look at this. The new friend looks at him and says, hey, you got any dumpsters around here? See, the guy was trying to bless him. And the guy wanted to go back to the old way, to the old life.

Friends, so many of us do that. We want to go back to the old ways, to the old life. We want to keep trying the stuff that never worked before. We want to try to find satisfaction in stuff and in things and materials that never gave us satisfaction before and never will.

We want to go back to the old ways. There's a draw, there's a pull, but you need to die to that and begin to live in the blessings of God and look at the lavish buffet of life he set before you. The abundant life, the joyful life, the blessed life, the loved life, the full life. That life doesn't happen out in the dumpster. It doesn't happen in the old life. And you may be saved.

Listen to this. And you've been forgiven. But friend, you're living between the crucifixion and the resurrection. It's time for you to live in the resurrection.

It's time for you to live in that power, to be freed completely. 1 Corinthians says this, verse 15. When this happens, when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die, then at last the scriptures will come true. The complete fulfillment of the promise being made here. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? For sin is the sting that results in death and the law gives sin its power. How we thank God who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let me paraphrase.

Jesus died on that cross. And then he said, death, is that all you got? You can't hold me down. You can't hold me back. You can't keep me from fulfilling my destiny and what I'm here to do. Sin does not have the power to keep you from fulfilling your God ordained, God called destiny unless you choose to allow it.

Don't do that. If you're here today and I'm talking about victory over sin and power over sin and you're listening and you're going, I don't understand. I don't have power over sin.

Friend, you can't have it. The Lord wants to give it to you. But it's a choice. Come to Jesus right now, today. Maybe you're listening and this sin thing, you're like, well, I found myself powerless over sin. Friend, you are powerless over sin until you know Jesus Christ. And then not only does he forgive you, but then he gives you the power to make a decision.

He leaves a decision up to you. But he gives you the power to choose him and choose sin. Which will you choose? Right now, you have the opportunity to choose Jesus. Choose life. Choose blessings. Or choose sin. Choose death.

Choose cursings. See, friend, the moment you were born, the first time you began to die is a life that just will not last. Baptized into Adam. But you can be joined with Jesus. And when you're born again, you begin to really live. And you can live a life that will never end. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If this was your first time praying that prayer with Pastor David, we would love to hear from you. You can call us toll free at 877-458-5508 to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Also, if you've been blessed by Cross the Bridge Ministries, would you consider supporting us with a financial gift? When you call with your gift, make sure to ask them about this month's special offer entitled, Know Your Future, Be Immune to Terrorism.

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