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Raised Us Up
March 29
Raised Us Up
sunegeirō
In addition to being quickened with Christ, as we studied
yesterday in Eph_2:5, we also see that Christ “hath raised us
up together” with Christ (Eph_2:6).
Again, this entire clause is a single word in the Greek,
sunegeirō (G4891). The full meaning is “to raise up together
from moral death to a new and blessed life devoted to
God.”
Indeed, what God has done in us through Christ is no less than
a resurrection. We have been raised from death to life, but
even more to a committed life.
A key verse here is Rom_6:4: “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” (emphasis added).
Why were we baptized (baptizō, placed into, immersed; see
June 24) in Christ? Why has God raised us up in Christ? So we
will walk in newness of life. We are no longer on the level of
sin; Christ has raised us up to a “new level,” a “new
potential.”
God has not raised us up so we will live like we are still
dead in trespasses and sins. No, indeed! We are dead to sin; we
no longer live in it.
There’s a beautiful illustration of all this in the
resurrection of Lazarus (John 11-12). We read there: “He
[Jesus] cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he
that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with
graveclothes. . . .
Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go”
(Joh_11:43-44). Even though Lazarus was now alive, he was still
wearing the evidences of death-the graveclothes. That is why
the Lord Jesus said, “Loose him.” Since Lazarus was alive, he
should look like he was alive.
How many Christians today are just like Lazarus before the
graveclothes were removed! How silly it would have looked if
Lazarus had tried to hop around while still wrapped in the
graveclothes. But many of us do exactly that;
we try to hang on to the values, purposes, and goals of the
world.
Dear Christian friend, we no longer walk in trespasses and
sins, governed by the flesh; rather, we walk according to the
new life, the new potential, the new disposition within us.
Scriptures for Study: What is the clear implication of
2Co_5:17? (We will study this verse tomorrow.) What descriptive
language did even Ezekiel use for such a transformation
(Eze_11:19; Eze_36:26)?
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