Romans 6:1–11 (NRSV)
What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus
Devotion
My two young sons are obsessed with superheroes. Big brother (almost 4) wears his Spider-man costume whenever it is clean, and little brother (almost 2), when asked his favorite color, recently responded “Hulk!” Tonight, we were watching the movie Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse for probably the 50th time, and I noticed something I never had before. As the boys were doing superhero jumps on the couch, the credits rolled all the way to the end and a quote by the late Stan Lee appeared on screen: “That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero.”
Christ, while he lacks the spandex, is one of those “real superheroes.” He suffered and faced death and sin head on. Those were the ultimate villains! And he did so not for glory, but to help us. To grant us great power over those same villains. His journey through death and resurrection is not just his origin story, but ours too. This passage makes clear that we are not to squander the power Christ has given us. Christ’s grace is not a free pass or get-out-of jail free card. It is a challenge, to do the best we can as flawed humans to live as Jesus did.
So, we must ask ourselves: what would Jesus do with the privilege we have? After all, with great power comes great responsibility.
Prayer
Dear God, help us to find our inner superhero through our journey with Christ to the cross, as we strive to make the world a better place.
Kate Edwards