St. Aidan's Anglican Church, Kansas City - weekly talks

Romans 6:1-6

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk (live, in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united (planted) with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Paul wants to solidify their true identity in Christ amid all the competing, false identities in the popular culture. He’s telling the Christians in Rome what it means to be a Christian in terms of one’s personhood. In terms of what’s called the person and how one comes to understand one’s personal identity, his shocking use of slavery images to talk about freedom, liberation . . . Paul’s conviction is that there is no such thing as a truly autonomous self, no truly independent, individual self, free from a structure of power … the self is a heeding self, it is under something, either the domain of sin in Adam (Ro 5) or the domain of grace in Christ Jesus. No one is autonomous, through it may appear to be so!

… Bob Dylan … we gotta server somebody … it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but we’ve gotta serve somebody. The human condition is universal in Adam … who unleashed the reign of sin and death which is described as powers operating in a field of force from which one cannot emigrate by deciding to leave, by an act of will. The subsequent arrival of the law doesn’t heal the condition but only reveals it … the law doesn’t change the condition it merely brings a knowledge of sin (3:20) and increased the trespass (5:20) ... (Leander Keck's Commentary on Romans).

Emancipation, liberation, freedom from the condition of sin, mortality and alienation comes in the same way, as in Adam, so in Christ, through the act of one man, there is a new freedom from sin and death in union with him.

Romans 6:1-6

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk (live, in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united (planted) with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Paul wants to solidify their true identity amid all the competing and contending false identities being offered. He’s telling us what it means to be a Christian in terms of one’s personhood, one’s inner being. In terms of what’s called the person and how one comes to understand one’s personal identity, he is saying by the shocking use of the images of slavery to talk about freedom, liberation . . . Paul’s conviction is that there is no such thing as a truly autonomous self, no truly independent, individual self, free from a structure of power … the self is a heeding self, it is under something, either the domain of sin in Adam (Ro 5) or the domain of grace in Christ Jesus. No one is autonomous, through it may appear to be so!

… Bob Dylan … we gotta server somebody … it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but we’ve gotta serve somebody. The human condition is universal in Adam … who unleashed the reign of sin and death which is described as powers operating in a field of force from which one cannot emigrate by deciding to leave, by an act of will. The subsequent arrival of the law doesn’t heal the condition but only reveals it … the law doesn’t change the condition it merely brings a knowledge of sin (3:20) and increased the trespass (5:20) ... (Leander Keck's Commentary on Romans).

Emancipation, liberation, freedom from the condition of mortality comes in the same way, as in Adam, so in Christ Jesus, the Second Adam, the new human being, through the act of one man, there is a new freedom from sin and death in union with him.

Today's message is from Romans 8 and James 1, reflecting on how our lives are transformed through hardship and trials, the testing of our faith. Trevor Tychon leads the Connect Africa Team in Uganda, reaching into the Congo, South Sudan and Kenya. They equip communities with developing sustainable technologies.

Over the summer and fall, we’ll be considering the biblical foundations for one’s new personhood, addressing a Christian’s new identity in Christ. How does being “in Christ” touch my inner self, my personhood?

And who gets to narrate this identity?

Christian identity goes beyond the many temporal ways of describing and knowing yourself. And I believe that we know too little about the astounding reality of our identity … it is deeply theological and experiential …

Paul’s new identity is saying that within the inner life of a Christian, the Lord Jesus Christ has taken up residence, to animate and empower the inner being, the inner person, anthropos (human being). To be “in Christ” is a sharing in the inner life of God, Christ “in me” and “me in Christ.”

How did Paul arrive at this understanding? A personal encounter with the risen Lord, thus providing revelation of Scripture’s Grand Narrative – Adam and Christ.

Two humanities – the old and the new – from which our sense of personhood emerges. Out of these two humanities arise conflicting identities.

Paul begins a line of thought in verse 12 — Verse 18 continues the thought begun in verse 12.

Sin is not addressed as individual sins (plural) but the mouth of the river … the river of sins has a source called SIN. Paul is recounting the Genesis story to say that all humanity is in Adam and participates in the consequences of Adam’s disobedience … the entrance of sin is accompanied by the death, spiritual and physical. Here we see the loss of original righteousness and life.

We’ll explore more about sin in Romans 7, but for now read sin as not a series of wrong thoughts, words and deeds – the symptoms of the source called SIN, but read the entrance of sin into the world as an invasive power set on destruction of creation and is accompanied by death, the enemy of life within creation.

What are the similarities and dissimilarities between Adam and Jesus?

Similarities, v. 18-19 (read): Adam, by one act of disobedience, brought condemnation on the whole human race descended from him. He was given the one command from God, disobeyed it, sin entered the world, death followed sin, and sin and death have passed over to all of Adam’s descendants, including all of us.

But Jesus, through one act of righteousness, obtained the possibility of justification of life to all humanity. The one act of righteousness to which Paul is referring is the sacrifice of himself upon the cross for the sin of the whole world.

Therefore, both Adam and Jesus are representatives for humanity … the old humanity in Adam, under the curse of captivity to the reign of sin and death and Jesus, the second Adam, the new humanity, under the reign of righteousness.

v. 18 – is sayings, this one act of righteousness, Christ’s sacrifice, leads to justification and life for all – the reversal of condemnation in Adam … to justify is to provide an acquittal, a release from the penalty of sin, which is death. To be justified in Christ is to be justified, just-as-if-I’d never sinned, to be counted righteous and to be made righteous … (READ verse 19).

So, in Christ, there’s been a cosmic transfer of all his redeemed community, a transfer from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son.

Colossians 1:12-14

We’re transferred into the Kingdom of his beloved Son – by faith and grace, and the free gift of righteousness whereby we reign in life through the ONE MAN Jesus Christ.

This is the source of our transfer from one reign or dominion into another, from the Addam’s Family into the God’s family … restored communion with God.

What family do you most identify?

Condemnation or Justification?

We must continue to RECEIVE, v. 17, the abundance of grace to reign in life though the ONE MAN … the new man, the new self … Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Over the summer and fall, we’ll be considering the biblical foundations for one’s new personhood, addressing a Christian’s new identity in Christ. How does being “in Christ” touch my inner self, my personhood?

And who gets to narrate this identity?

Christian identity goes beyond the many temporal ways of describing and knowing yourself. And I believe that we know too little about the astounding reality of our identity … it is deeply theological and experiential …

Paul’s new identity is saying that within the inner life of a Christian, the Lord Jesus Christ has taken up residence, to animate and empower the inner being, the inner person, anthropos (human being). To be “in Christ” is a sharing in the inner life of God, Christ “in me” and “me in Christ.”

How did Paul arrive at this understanding? A personal encounter with the risen Lord, thus providing revelation of Scripture’s Grand Narrative – Adam and Christ.

Two humanities – the old and the new – from which our sense of personhood emerges. Out of these two humanities arise conflicting identities.

Paul begins a line of thought in verse 12 — Verse 18 continues the thought begun in verse 12.

Sin is not addressed as individual sins (plural) but the mouth of the river … the river of sins has a source called SIN. Paul is recounting the Genesis story to say that all humanity is in Adam and participates in the consequences of Adam’s disobedience … the entrance of sin is accompanied by the death, spiritual and physical. Here we see the loss of original righteousness and life.

We’ll explore more about sin in Romans 7, but for now read sin as not a series of wrong thoughts, words and deeds – the symptoms of the source called SIN, but read the entrance of sin into the world as an invasive power set on destruction of creation and is accompanied by death, the enemy of life within creation.

What are the similarities and dissimilarities between Adam and Jesus?

Similarities, v. 18-19 (read): Adam, by one act of disobedience, brought condemnation on the whole human race descended from him. He was given the one command from God, disobeyed it, sin entered the world, death followed sin, and sin and death have passed over to all of Adam’s descendants, including all of us.

But Jesus, through one act of righteousness, obtained the possibility of justification of life to all humanity. The one act of righteousness to which Paul is referring is the sacrifice of himself upon the cross for the sin of the whole world.

Therefore, both Adam and Jesus are representatives for humanity … the old humanity in Adam, under the curse of captivity to the reign of sin and death and Jesus, the second Adam, the new humanity, under the reign of righteousness.

v. 18 – is sayings, this one act of righteousness, Christ’s sacrifice, leads to justification and life for all – the reversal of condemnation in Adam … to justify is to provide an acquittal, a release from the penalty of sin, which is death. To be justified in Christ is to be justified, just-as-if-I’d never sinned, to be counted righteous and to be made righteous … (READ verse 19).

So, in Christ, there’s been a cosmic transfer of all his redeemed community, a transfer from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son.

Colossians 1:12-14

We’re transferred into the Kingdom of his beloved Son – by faith and grace, and the free gift of righteousness whereby we reign in life through the ONE MAN Jesus Christ.

This is the source of our transfer from one reign or dominion into another, from the Addam’s Family into the God’s family … restored communion with God.

What family do you most identify?

Condemnation or Justification?

We must continue to RECEIVE, v. 17, the abundance of grace to reign in life though the ONE MAN … the new man, the new self … Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Over the summer and fall, we’ll be considering the biblical foundations for one’s new personhood, addressing a Christian’s new identity in Christ. How does being “in Christ” touch my inner self, my personhood?

And who gets to narrate this identity?

Christian identity goes beyond the many temporal ways of describing and knowing yourself. And I believe that we know too little about the astounding reality of our identity … it is deeply theological and experiential …

Paul’s new identity is saying that within the inner life of a Christian, the Lord Jesus Christ has taken up residence, to animate and empower the inner being, the inner person, anthropos (human being). To be “in Christ” is a sharing in the inner life of God, Christ “in me” and “me in Christ.”

How did Paul arrive at this understanding? A personal encounter with the risen Lord, thus providing revelation of Scripture’s Grand Narrative – Adam and Christ.

Two humanities – the old and the new – from which our sense of personhood emerges. Out of these two humanities arise conflicting identities.

Paul begins a line of thought in verse 12 — Verse 18 continues the thought begun in verse 12.

Sin is not addressed as individual sins (plural) but the mouth of the river … the river of sins has a source called SIN. Paul is recounting the Genesis story to say that all humanity is in Adam and participates in the consequences of Adam’s disobedience … the entrance of sin is accompanied by the death, spiritual and physical. Here we see the loss of original righteousness and life.

We’ll explore more about sin in Romans 7, but for now read sin as not a series of wrong thoughts, words and deeds – the symptoms of the source called SIN, but read the entrance of sin into the world as an invasive power set on destruction of creation and is accompanied by death, the enemy of life within creation.

What are the similarities and dissimilarities between Adam and Jesus?

Similarities, v. 18-19 (read): Adam, by one act of disobedience, brought condemnation on the whole human race descended from him. He was given the one command from God, disobeyed it, sin entered the world, death followed sin, and sin and death have passed over to all of Adam’s descendants, including all of us.

But Jesus, through one act of righteousness, obtained the possibility of justification of life to all humanity. The one act of righteousness to which Paul is referring is the sacrifice of himself upon the cross for the sin of the whole world.

Therefore, both Adam and Jesus are representatives for humanity … the old humanity in Adam, under the curse of captivity to the reign of sin and death and Jesus, the second Adam, the new humanity, under the reign of righteousness.

v. 18 – is sayings, this one act of righteousness, Christ’s sacrifice, leads to justification and life for all – the reversal of condemnation in Adam … to justify is to provide an acquittal, a release from the penalty of sin, which is death. To be justified in Christ is to be justified, just-as-if-I’d never sinned, to be counted righteous and to be made righteous … (READ verse 19).

So, in Christ, there’s been a cosmic transfer of all his redeemed community, a transfer from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son.

Colossians 1:12-14

We’re transferred into the Kingdom of his beloved Son – by faith and grace, and the free gift of righteousness whereby we reign in life through the ONE MAN Jesus Christ.

This is the source of our transfer from one reign or dominion into another, from the Addam’s Family into the God’s family … restored communion with God.

What family do you most identify?

Condemnation or Justification?

We must continue to RECEIVE, v. 17, the abundance of grace to reign in life though the ONE MAN … the new man, the new self … Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Identity is a big word … it speaks of personhood, the self, one's inner being. God the Father is the one in whom we live and move and have our being, in union with the Son and the Holy Spirit. And our being, our humanity (anthropos), is known in relation to God, as creation is known by its creator. To know oneself is to return to one's origins.

Who am I? That is, who is the I (Greek, ego), asking the question? How might I know and understand myself? Jesus asked his disciples, "who do you say that I am?" We discover the need for divine revelation remains.

When the angel of the Lord speaks to Moses out of the burning bush, he responds to Moses’ question about the diety's identity with …" tell them I AM sent you". Identity comes from the eternal I AM,, created in the image of God. In him we live and move and have our being.

Being created in the image of God, we are given personhood. Of course, this personhood is prenatal. Persons come to discover self-identity within relationship. The discovery of personhood within relations is embedded from the Holy Trinity, eternal persons in relations.

We conclude with Paul's understanding of Christian identity - Galatians 2:20f.

I [Gk. ego] have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in [or, "of" subjective genitive - Gk.] the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The rest of the summer and fall, we will explore competing identities and our new personhood in Christ.

Identity is a big word … it speaks of personhood … who am I? How might I know and understand myself? Jesus asked his disciples, "who do you say that I am?" We discover the need for divine revelation remains.

When the angel of the Lord speaks to Moses out of the burning bush, he responds to Moses’ question about the diety's identity with …" tell them I AM sent you". Identity comes from the eternal I AM. In him we live and move and have our being. Being created in the image of God, we are given personhood. Persons come to discover self-identity within relationship. The discovery of personhood within relations is embedded from the Holy Trinity, eternal persons in relations.

We conclude with Paul's understanding of Christian identity - Galatians 2:20f.

I [Gk. ego] have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in [or, "of" subjective genitive - Gk.] the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The rest of the summer we will explore competing identities and our new personhood in Christ.

Identity is a big word … it speaks of personhood, the self, one's inner being … It addresses the question, who am I? How might I know and understand myself? Jesus asked his disciples, "who do you say that I am?" We discover the need for divine revelation remains.

When the angel of the Lord speaks to Moses out of the burning bush, he responds to Moses’ question about the diety's identity with …" tell them I AM sent you". Identity comes from the eternal I AM,, created in the image of God. In him we live and move and have our being.

Being created in the image of God, we are given personhood. Persons come to discover self-identity within relationship. The discovery of personhood within relations is embedded from the Holy Trinity, eternal persons in relations.

We conclude with Paul's understanding of Christian identity - Galatians 2:20f.

I [Gk. ego] have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in [or, "of" subjective genitive - Gk.] the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The rest of the summer we will explore competing identities and our new personhood in Christ.

Dean Greer is the National Coordinator for Living Waters, USA. He and his wife, Chrystal, are long-term friends of Fr. Michael and Liz Flowers. Over the summer, Dean will be speaking once a month at St. Aidan's, along with Fr. Michael, laying foundations about our common, divinely crafted humanity, made in the image of God.

Having been involved in healing ministry for over 25 years, Dean has trained leaders around the world to incorporate the healing programs of Desert Stream Ministries within the local church community. Dean has experienced first-hand how God is able to restore life and bring wholeness to a generation without hope. A native of San Francisco, Dean now lives in Kansas City, MO with his wife Chrystal and their son Jeremiah.

Foundations for this summer's series:

We see the restoration of the God's image in the purpose of our salvation:

2 Corinthians 3:16- 18

"Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

2 Corinthians 4:16- 18

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Colossians 3:10

"and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."

Christ is the New Humanity and we have been given a share in Christ! Secular anthropology falls short of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Our identity cannot be found in modernity's labels. Our lives are now hidden in Christ.

“The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and the life of human beings consists in beholding the vision of God”

St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 2nd Century.

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