What Kind of Love Is This?
(That Gives Life After Death... In This Life?!)

Roma 5:5-10 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Roma 6:4-8 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. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

• Death to sin
• resurrection into newness of life
• glorification of our bodies at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to this world.

• We can DIE WITH CHRIST and have our entire old lives removed from us forever.
• As far as God is concerned, once we accept Christ, we DIED.
• we are dead.
• And we are dead to sin.
• all souls that sin must die as a penalty, and we already DIED.
• Since we DIED to sin, we are no longer regarded sinful people by God.
• we are righteous.
• and that is the reason the Bible says that we have PEACE, when once we had war, with God.
• We are justified
• just-as-if-Id never sinned
• we are no longer under sin
• and sin cannot dominate us any more.
• We died with CHRIST (Ro. 6:3-4).

And this brings us to the next blessing of the three major blessings.

• Many are like the Romans, and are not aware of this second blessing.
• (Paul asked the Romans about this when he said, Know ye not?)
• We DIED with Jesus, so that we could also RESURRECT WITH HIM into newness of life.
• We resurrect with Jesus
• we go the rest of the way after we start by dying with Jesus, and RESURRECT WITH HIM, too.
• The Bible teaches this.
• And the Bible is not talking about the future.
• Paul said that, just as Christ died to sin once, and dies no more, but lives forever UNTO GOD, we must reckon ourselves ALSO to be dead indeed unto sin BUT ALIVE UNTO GOD through Jesus Christ.
• We are to reckon ourselves ALIVE RIGHT NOW
• In what way?
• ALIVE FROM THE DEAD

• THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH IN THIS LIFE!!

• Gal. 2:20 says I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me...
• We are crucified with Him and THEN we are resurrected with HIM.
• Romans 6:13 tells us to present ourselves as those alive from the dead.
• that means we are alive from the dead!!! NOW!!
• LIFE AFTER DEATH IN THIS LIFE!!

The third blessing is that one glad morning when this life is over, Ill fly away. There is coming a day when Jesus shall split the eastern sky and rapture us away from this world

• The dead in Christ shall rise, and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet him in the air.

THE DEATH WITH CHRIST

• Our deaths with Christ begin this sequence of Death, Resurrection from the dead, and Rapture to glory.
• since DEATH with Him starts this series, that death with Christ is the greatest thing that could ever come your way!
• Satan hates it when a soul accepts that death of Christ as theirs because he knows it rips every inch of footing out from under the feet of sin, and annihilates Satans power over us.
• It leaves sin totally bereft of influence over us
• To accept His death as your death is the greatest thing you could ever possibly do in this world, making all previous choices and decisions totally overshadowed by this!!
• It will take an entire life, of whatever mistakes you made, what ever sins you committed, whatever embarrassments youve had, and remove it from you forever literally for eternity.
• how far would like your old sinful life to be removed?
• how about so far that for the rest of eternity youll never have to consider yourself as having ever lived it? -for you DIED ONCE AND FOREVER TO SIN.

THE WORLD

• The world is an enemy of God
• James 4:4 says that if any man be a friend of the world then He is the enemy of God.
• And we were enemies to God for the simple fact that we were friends with the world and did not accept His death for us.
• WHILE WE WERE ENEMIES, GOD LOVED US
• What are enemies?
• One who harbours hatred or malicious intent toward another.
• That which opposes a person
• a hostile power
• one who purposely hurts and seeks to destroy another.
• This world is Gods enemy, and if youre its friends, you are an accomplice to its crime.
• BUT while we were enemies Christ loved us!

• On the cross, while people desired a murderer rather than the life-giver, while people cursed the one who came to bless, that Jesus loved them so much that He said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
• Not a man would barely die for a good man
• But Christ died for us when we were ENEMIES

• What kind of love can take a SAUL OF TARSUS, who consented to the Christian Stephens death, who sought legal authority to imprison the Bride of Christ, the church any Christian he could find, and after all of that, be shown to Him by way of Jesus revealing Himself to him, and forgive him, and call him to ministry of His holy Word, and raise him up to be one of the greatest Christians youll ever hear about, and use him to write MOST OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
• ...and have him say, in 1 Tim. 1:12-13, that Jesus ENABLED HIM, COUNTED HIM FAITHFUL, put him in the ministry, while admitting he was a persecutor, blasphemer, who obtained mercy
• ...and in verse 16 say God used him to show the longsuffering of the Lord as a pattern to all who would believe...
• .... and then describe it all in verse 14 as GRACE of God that is EXCEEDING ABUNDANT with faith and LOVE?????

HOW CAN GOD TRUST SOMEONE LIKE THAT??

• trust him to be, as he called it, a steward of the mysteries of God that were hidden from ages?
• trust him to write most of the NEW TESTAMENT in the HOLY Bible?
• what love would move God to COUNT PAUL AS FAITHFUL ENOUGH TO DO THESE THINGS?

• Jesus revealed this method of God when He said He who is forgiven much, loves much!

• for the church, PAUL said in 2 Cor. 11:23-26...
• ...he was in labour, stripes above measure, imprisoned
• ...he was oft in deaths, on 5 occasions beaten with 39 whippings
• ...he was beaten with rods to stop him from preaching on three occasions
• ...he was stoned, and shipwrecked three times
• ...he spent a night and a day in the ocean floating on boards
• ...and the cares of all churches were on his back
• ...ALL BECAUSE he loved the people of God so much
• He said in 2 Cor 13:4 that as Jesus lives by the power of God, he also lived for the Church

With zeal beyond reason and imagination, matching a love of Jesus on the cross that makes the strongest skeptics wince when He cried, Father forgive them... for they know not what they do, Paul loved God so much and the dear precious bride of Christ, the Church.

• psychologists wont understand it
• John did. If you love God you will love one another.
• Jesus explained it: those forgiven much, love much.

• It worked with Paul
• And even if you do it wrong and miss the joy Jesus has for you.. Hell never let go of your hand!

WHAT KIND OF LOVE IS THIS?
That a man would give His life, on a Rugged cross?

• He didnt choose to take the world of enemies and throw them into oblivion...
• instead He chose to love us so much it would drive the evil out of us.
• THAT is how he could count Paul as faithful, though Paul was such a severe sinner.

• for anyone to stop and think about this would be enough to overwhelm ones wickedness and cause one to fall down in tears of thanks and joy and give the rest of ones life to Jesus

That is what His death did for us! WOW!!

• But that is only the beginning
• Paul said we died with Him so that we might also resurrect with Him!!

• we are just going to continue it after this body wears out, or until Jesus comes to take the repented Baptized Church Home to glory!
• this resurrected life in your soul will outlive your body!!!
• it will outlive Heaven and Earth

I know there is a final destination
But I also know that if all we look for is the prize ahead
Well miss all the blessings along the way
Because Jesus came to give us life in the here and now
And to show us that theres no better place on earth
Than the road that leads to Heaven

Ro 6:8 says we died with him and we believe we shall live with him.

• And if we died with him and he died to sin once
• and we are raised with him and he is alive forever more unto God, then we have resurrection life NOW
• so... stop slouching in the ditches of condemnation and despair, stop listening to lies that say youre no good,
• ...and do what ROMANS 6:13 said....present yourselves to God as those that are alive from the dead!!!
• Make him proud of you, not by all your good deeds, but by your belief in HIS WORD that says You are the apple of His eye... You are righteous...
• and if you make a mistake, rise up and believe what He said when he told us, "if any of us sin we simply need to confess it and we have an advocate with the Father so that we will be forgiven."
• "He is faithful and He is just to forgive us all our sins if we but confess them in sincerity!!"
• HE IS FAITHFUL
• YOU CAN COUNT ON HIM TO FORGIVE YOU
• Make Him proud - youre His kids - present yourself as alive from the dead like you really are!!
• believe what he said he would do for his kids, and ask him to forgive you knowing that HE IS FAITHFUL TO DO IT
• Stand up against sin and let not sin reign any more over you.

• Ro. 8:13 says that we can mortify the deeds of the body through the Spirit
• there arent any deeds of my body I will need to mortify in Heaven!!
• and TWO VERSES before that we think Paul is talking about rapture, when the context in these few verses is mortifying the deeds of the body TODAY
• ...WHEN THE CONTEXT IS SAYING I AM RESURRECTED WITH HIM ALREADY
• so the reality of Romans 8:11 is that TODAY...

• 6:13 says present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead... and you members (body members) as instruments of righteousness....
• why?
• SO HE CAN QUICKEN YOUR MORTAL BODIES AND USE THEM AS HIS INSTRUMENTS.

• Paul said to present myself as someone ALREADY ALIVE FROM THE DEAD
• as one who is RESURRECTED
• Paul said I was baptized with Him so I can walk IN NEWNESS OF LIFE RIGHT NOW
• RESURRECTION LIFE.
• if it took the Spirit of God to raise Christ from the dead, well it then takes the SAME HOLY GHOST to resurrect me.. and I am resurrected.. so it must be quickening me right now.....for I am presented to HIM
• do I have the Holy Ghost now?
• YES
• Can it strengthen me now?
• YES
• is it new life from GOD?
• YES
• Is it the same Spirit that resurrected Jesus?
• YES
• If QUICKEN means "MAKE ALIVE," and have eternal life NOW, then NOW... it is quickening my mortal body ANOINTING ME.

CHORUS

If the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead
Dwell in you, Dwell in you.
If the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead
Dwell in you, dwell in you...

It will quicken your mortal body
If that Spirit dwell in you
It will quicken your mortal body
If that Spirit dwell in you.

....RIGHT NOW