Sunday, June 21, 2026

Suzanne Walker

When Death Becomes Life (The Message)

6 1-3 So what do we do? Keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! If we’ve left the country where sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there? Or didn’t you realize we packed up and left there for good? That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land! 3-5 That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new grace-sovereign country. 6-11 Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer captive to sin’s demands! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.

Romans 5:1-8 (NRSVUE)

5:1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 5:2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 5:3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, 5:4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5:5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 5:7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 5:8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.