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Romans 6:4a NLT
‘For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.’
My favourite TV programmes are series about political life and courtroom dramas. In those dramas, the reaction of those slighted and deceived is to threaten to bury their accuser. They aim to remove them from the record, destroying their reputation, and deny them any option of continuing with their previous life and career. This is precisely how St Paul describes our baptism.
In choosing Christ and electing to be baptised with him, our previous record is buried so deep that we are never to consider returning to our former way of life. Yet, it’s never quite that simple. The illusion of happiness and fulfilment of our life before Christ continues to exercise a fascinating hold over our new life. Believing ourselves to be free, we gaze back longingly at Egypt, and assume we can enjoy all of Egypt’s benefits without the drudgery of enslavement. We’re deceived in this, but it doesn’t stop us seeking to live in both locations simultaneously.
As a Christian, I tried for years to ‘Christianise’ my unredeemed ambition, promotion of self-seeking widespread affirmation through personal achievement. I entered a Christian context in which aspiration was encouraged and affirmed, in which the trappings of success, profile, wealth and influence looked not dissimilar to their counterparts elsewhere in society. I sought angles on how best to get ahead of the rest and realise my own ambition.
In principle I affirm aspiration. Yet, not an aspiration that is about self-promotion. I support an aspiration that is about working for just deserts for the most undeserving. I want to find a way of living and working so that all might rise so that Jesus’ mandate announced on his return from the wilderness can be realised. I need God to look me in the eye and remind me he’s buried me, and I am to look to live a Jesus life.
QUESTION: How do you live out the redeemed life Christ has given you?
PRAYER: Help me count myself alive to God in Christ and live for you.
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