Crosses

"We were buried with him by baptism into death," Romans 6:4.

To say it another way: Whoever is baptized into Christ is baptized into his death. To say it another way: We are united with him in a death like his. To say it another way: Our old self is crucified with him. To say it another way: We do away with the body of sin. To say it another way: We die and are set free from sin. So. Here's the point: When the bad guys persecute Jesus-followers (and they do), Jesus' followers know this: they have already died. So. What can man do to them? In their suffering they bear witness to God's power. Out of this death God raises them to new life. God unites them to Jesus' resurrection life. God releases them from sin's slavery. God brings life with Christ. Our new life to God in Christ crosses seamlessly from this world into the next.

We assert with each other, brother or sister, that naught separates us any longer from life's fountain. And, together, from immersion into Jesus' death, our gratitude arises to God for his flood spilling over us into eternal life.