Devotional – “Do you realise…?” (25 March 2018)

  [8] Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9] We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. [10] For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. [11] So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  [12] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. [13] Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

– (Romans 6:8-13 ESV)

Are you seeing in the death, resurrection, ascension and enthronement of Christ your own spiritual story as well? He died for sin. He rose again by God’s almighty power. You were dead in sins and trespasses. You were brought to life in Christ Jesus.

Do you realise –    [20] I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life 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 ESV)

Do you realise –     [17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)

Do you realise – It is this power at work in us who believe –     [17] as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (Romans 4:17 ESV)

So then, when you are struggling against sin, seeking to leave it behind, to die to it and live for Christ, whose strength are you operating under? Is it self, or the Saviour’s? Do you seek for it from God’s Word and ask for it in prayer? Do you work under the right assumption that God the Father will give the “Holy Spirit to those who ask Him” Luke 11:13?

From where do you draw the power to resist temptation, to put off hindrances to growing in grace, to put off besetting sins, to develop godly character, to bear the fruit of a godly life?

If you are sourcing the power to attempt to overcome from anyplace other than from the living God Himself, if you are looking for it in anyone or anything other than Him, that sources is worthless. You might as well try to jumpstart your car with a spent watch battery. Sin is far and away greater than any power you can muster. It truly has a death grip on you. Only in Christ can you ever hope to find freedom over the dominion of sin. He alone is conqueror over sin and death. And his power is at work in those who believe. In you, believer!

Warren Wiersbe tells of the late, wealthy newspaper publisher, William Randolph Hearst. He spent a fortune collecting art treasures from around the world. One day he found a description of some valuable items that he felt he must own. So, he sent his agent abroad to search for them. After months of searching, the agent reported that he had finally found the treasures. They were already in Mr. Hearst’s warehouse.

Hearst had been searching for treasures that he already owned! If you are a Christian, God’s mighty power is already yours, but perhaps, like Mr. Hearst, you are not aware of what you possess.

Are you experiencing God’s mighty power to overcome temptation and live a holy life? If not, you should entreat God to open the eyes of your heart so that you will know the surpassing greatness of His power toward you. If you have no desire to overcome sin and to represent Christ on this earth, you may not have experienced the power of being raised from spiritual death to spiritual life. Ask God to give you new life in Him. Then live according to His mighty power.