Foundations of Truth

Guest (Male): You're listening to Foundations of Truth, the radio and podcast ministry of Firm Foundations Ministries. Our mission is to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word, rooted in Scripture, anchored in the grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Each week, Dr. Timothy Mann opens the Bible to bring clarity, conviction, and encouragement for everyday life.

What difference does the resurrection of Jesus really make in your everyday life? Is it simply a truth we celebrate once a year, or is it the foundation that reshapes everything: our purpose, our identity, and our relationships? Today on Foundations of Truth, Dr. Timothy Mann opens the Bible to Romans 14:7–9 to show us the real implications of the resurrection.

Dr. Timothy Mann: I am not going to try to convince you this morning of the resurrection of Jesus. I'm not going to try to prove to you its historicity. It just is. It happened. It's real. Whether or not we believe it, it's a fact. We can discuss all that goes along with that, but I'm not going to intellectually try to convince you today that Jesus died and was buried and was raised again.

The Bible states it, and we come to God's Word this morning with the understanding that God's Word is true. We accept it as such. I want to tell you, just a fact of the matter is this: if you can't accept the reality that Jesus Christ, God's Son, died on the cross for sin and was buried and was raised again from the dead—really, literally, physically, bodily, in a new glorified body—and then He ascended back to heaven after a little over about six weeks and is coming again, if you just can't grasp that and if that seems too incredible for you and you say, "I cannot believe that, there's no way," then the sad reality is if you can't believe that, then you can't be a Christian. You can't be saved. You can't be forgiven of your sins.

Because it's all about what Jesus did and who He is and, ultimately, who God is. We're going to talk about that today. So if you came this morning expecting simply to hear the narrative, the story of the resurrection, that's not going to be the case. The story is He's alive. He was buried, He rose, and He's alive. That's the story. That's the Gospel. You can read about it. I'm not going to recount those for you this morning.

I want to tell you a little bit more about my intentions of the morning. My intentions of the morning are to discuss Jesus, His resurrection, other people, and ourselves. Jesus, His resurrection, other people, and ourselves. For those of us who are Christians, beyond us just being forgiven of our sins and going to heaven someday, there are much larger implications of the resurrection beyond just that.

Now, there are not many people, I suspect, in this room or maybe anywhere, people who have studied 17th-century English prose literature. I'm just curious. If you have, raise your hand. I want to see if you're among us. There's not many people that have ever studied 17th-century English prose literature, even if they were English majors in college.

But that was the century of John Donne. He was best known for his *Songs and Sonnets*. Have you heard of that *New York Times* bestseller? I'm being sarcastic. But Donne became a preacher and he also wrote great sermons as well as other prose literature. Among his prose writings were some titled *Meditations*, which he composed while confined to bed recovering from a very serious illness.

At one point, he heard a church bell ringing, the death knell for some other person. And he reasoned that it is never merely for other people that the bell tolls. Since each of us is mortal, it rings for us. And so Donne wrote, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were."

"Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." Now, those last words are well-known. You've probably heard that at least. They're the source of the title of one of Ernest Hemingway's best-known novels, for example. But they come to mind for me this week as I was studying this passage, not because of Hemingway or because of any other reason, but because of this text that we're studying.

Because of Paul's teaching in Romans 14:7–9 and its implications for us today, especially as it relates to the fact that Jesus has risen. Let's read it: Romans 14:7–9. The Bible says, "For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, or for this very purpose, Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living."

Verse 9, let me read it again: "For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living." This is God's Word. And this is a little bit of a different Resurrection Day message, certainly a different Resurrection Day text. I don't know if you've ever been to church on a Sunday morning on Resurrection Sunday and heard this text preached, but it's important for all of us in this room, especially those that profess to be a Christian.

In this passage, let's talk about that: Jesus, His resurrection, other people, and ourselves. In this passage, the Apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit of God, is reflecting not so much on a Christian's relationship to other people—that is, being a part of a much greater community of mankind or even the body of believers as John Donne did in his prose.

But rather, what the Apostle Paul is reflecting on here and writing is on each Christian's relationship to God. If you're a Christian, he's talking about this idea that we belong to Jesus. That's the idea. We belong to Jesus. Now, yet it is also true that we do belong to one another, Christians to other Christians. And that's appropriate to the context of Romans 14.

I told you verses 7 through 9 are kind of tucked in a bigger subject here in Chapter 14. The idea, of course, that those who belong to Christ also belong to one another is a natural extension of what is being said in Chapter 14. Because in verses 1 through 6 of Chapter 14, the Apostle has said already that Christians are to respect the convictions and spiritual experiences of others, meaning that we're not to harm them.

And then, moreover, the fact that we belong to one another is also connected to what follows. You get down to verse 13 and on, the Apostle Paul begins to say that for the sake of other believers, we ought to abstain from some things that we consider permissible. And so the point then, therefore, of this particular passage, at least this verse at the beginning: you, Christian, you are not acting in isolation when you either live for Christ or you fail to live for Him.

You're not acting in isolation. It's not just about you when you either live for Him or fail to live for Him. Because there is this thing of the believer and other people and the impact that we have. Now, this is said many times in the Bible, including numerous occasions in the Apostle Paul's writings, but there's one passage that says it exceptionally well. You say, "Well, how in the world does the resurrection of Jesus apply to any of this?" You're going to see that very clearly in just a moment.

The idea that you're not acting in isolation is important because we see that in 1 Corinthians 12:12–26, where the Apostle Paul actually compares the church as a whole to the human body. He says the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

If the foot should say, "Because I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I'm not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you," and the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you."

On the contrary, these parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. and the parts that we think are less honorable, we treat with special honor because God has combined the members of the body and has given them greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

It might go far, listen, it might go far to establish us in godliness and maybe help to cause us to live for Christ a little bit more wholeheartedly if we really understood that in one way or another, everything we do, whether good or ill, always affects other Christians, especially usually beginning with those who are closest to us in your family.

So there's a bigger implication. And you could say, "Well, yeah," and yet the world could say much of this itself quite apart from biblical revelation. I mean, we hear all the time about, it's commonplace today to talk about living in a global village and this global economy and all this kind of stuff, and what we do affects other people. What we do in America and our economics and morals and politics affects other places in the world. You hear all about that kind of thing on the news.

I understand that. But what is profound here in Paul's teaching is that none of us as Christians especially, none of us is isolated from God. None of us. With the result that what we do in terms of that vertical relationship that we have, that deeply affects how we either help or harm other people. We're talking about Jesus being Lord. That He is Lord. Don't forget that. We're getting to that in more detail in just a moment.

Well, as a matter of fact, let's just look at it. Notice the threefold repetition of the words "to the Lord" in verse 8. Did you see that when we read it? "If we live, we live [to the Lord]; and if we die, we die [to the Lord]." Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. We are the Lord's. We belong to the Lord. And so the point is that we are to be, as Christians, we're to be in a right relationship to the Lord.

And we're to serve Him in everything. And indeed, everything we do is related to God one way or another, whether good or bad, whether we realize it or not. Everything we do. And we're to be in such a right relationship with the Lord. Jesus is to be our Lord. That's the point. Because that's what this is about.

You see, Jesus died and was buried and was raised again—not just only as Christians to provide you a sacrifice for sins so that if you would believe on that, you would be forgiven of your sins and put in right relationship with God and not be condemned to go to hell and go to heaven. Most of us this morning are here celebrating the fact that, "Hey, I don't have to go to hell anymore. I get to go to heaven because of what Jesus did." I'm so thankful for that. Praise God for that. Aren't you grateful for salvation this morning? Amen.

And we're here celebrating that, but that is shortsighted, ladies and gentlemen. I want to submit to you today that is not enough. The resurrection was not just about that, according to this passage. This passage says that because of the fact that Jesus died, was buried, and was raised again, the very purpose of that was so that He would be your Lord. That He would rule. That you would belong to Him. That's a little bit different than "I get to go to heaven now."

Do you get the difference? Do you really? If you did, it would change how you relate to other people. That's what this text says. You would begin to get in your head, "I'm to be in such a right relationship with my Lord. I'm to serve God in everything I do in such a way so that I do not hurt other people, so that I help other people in living my Christian life, because Jesus is my Lord."

Guest (Male): Coming up, Dr. Timothy Mann will continue the message from Romans 14 as we explore the life-changing implications of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Friends, we're able to bring you this program each week because of the generosity of listeners like you, but we can't do it alone. If God is using this ministry in your life, now would be a great time to step in and help sustain it. Every gift, large or small, makes a real difference. Go to firm-foundations.org and partner with us today. We'd be deeply grateful.

The message you're hearing today is one that changes everything: the truth that Jesus Christ is risen and that we belong to Him. You're listening to Foundations of Truth, the radio and podcast ministry of Firm Foundations Ministries. Here now is Dr. Timothy Mann.

Dr. Timothy Mann: This week, I read an illustration of this principle that showed how those who are not Christians sometimes understand this better than some believers. The first king to unite the warring tribes of the Arabian Peninsula was King Ibn Saud. He ruled in the early years of the 20th century, and he died in 1953. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, American oil companies were starting to develop the great Arabian oilfields.

And that meant that many foreigners, particularly Americans, were beginning to move into this, as you know, strongly Islamic country. Some of them were Christians. And early in this development of the oilfields, a number of these expatriates, these Americans, approached the Saudi king to see if they could establish churches in Arabia. He said he would think about it, telling them to come back in several weeks for his answer.

About a week later, another group of oil company employees came to the king to ask if they could have alcohol in the company camps. Now, you need to know alcohol is forbidden to Muslims, and in Saudi Arabia, it's illegal. The king replied with a question. He asked the Americans, "If you could have either churches or alcohol, which of the two would you choose?" That became an important issue for the company, and the question was carefully debated.

At last, the Americans returned and said that they would prefer to have the alcohol. And King Ibn Saud—now, that was a very important moment of time too, by the way. You realize that, what could have happened in Saudi Arabia at that time with the Gospel? You understand that, right? Do not think for a second, listen—I hold the sovereignty of God as high as anybody. I believe God is in control, absolutely.

But do not think for a moment in time that your genuine willing choices do not have consequences. And you will be held accountable for them because they do. The king replied, "If you had said churches, I would have given you permission to have both. But since you said alcohol, you can have neither."

In his own way, that Muslim ruler understood that if people are right with God, really, that if people are right with God, they can actually be expected to order life in a responsible way not only for themselves but for other people. Not only for themselves but for their family. Not only for themselves but for the people they work with and the other people in their church. In other words, they realize that they don't live unto themselves.

What they do affects other people. When you understand that and Jesus is your Lord, that changes the game. On the contrary, if we will not submit to God, then you can't be trusted to care for one another. If you're a husband, if you will not submit to Jesus as your Lord, how in the world can your wife or children really expect for you to take care of them? Same as a wife.

If you as a Christian employee, if you will not submit to Jesus as your Lord, how in the world can your employer have any confidence in you that you're going to do what he says you should do? If you as a church member are not going to submit to Jesus as your Lord, how in the world can he expect you to be a productive, active, responsible, contributing member of the body? What you do affects other people.

Well, our text tells us that believers in Christ do not live to themselves but to the Lord. And that they die—not only live to the Lord, they die to the Lord. Now, what does this mean? Well, let's start with our purpose of our being here on earth. That's a good place to begin. The best-known Christian answer to our purpose here is the one found in the first response of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Now, what is a catechism? It's a summary of principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers. It's used for instruction of Christians in some church traditions. The catechism asks, "What is the chief end of man?" What is the chief end of man? In other words, what's my purpose? It answers this: "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."

Now, that teaches—and the Bible indeed teaches this—that our chief purpose in life is not for our own self-fulfillment. Our chief purpose in life is not for the achievement of a sense of self-worth or even of helping others, important as they may be. But our chief purpose in life is the glory of God. The glory of God. That is to say that God always comes first in everything. Why? Because He is first. He is first. He is the first and greatest of all realities. God is Himself.

It reminds me as the Apostle Paul wrote in that great doxology at the end of Romans 11: "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." And so, therefore, in the most literal sense, each of us as Christians is to live to the Lord. In the most literal sense, we live to the Lord.

But strikingly and brilliantly, I must say, the catechism also adds the words "and to enjoy Him forever," indicating that this living to God or this pursuit of God's glory is not some painful or self-denying, grim, or grievous thing, but rather it's a joy and a delight for those who do it. We enjoy Him forever.

In a book titled *The Supremacy of God in Preaching*—I know that's exciting to some of you—John Piper writes, "God's deepest purpose for the world is to fill it with reverberations of His glory in the lives of a new humanity ransomed from every people, tribe, tongue, and nation. But the glory of God does not reflect brightly in the hearts of men and women when they cower unwillingly in submission to His authority, or when they obey in servile fear, or when there is no gladness in response to the glory of their King."

"When God sends His emissaries to declare, 'Your God reigns,' His aim is not to constrain man's submission by an act of raw authority. His aim is to ravish our affections with irresistible displays of glory. The only submission that fully reflects the worth and glory of the King is glad submission. Begrudging submission berates the King. No gladness in the subject, no glory to the King."

I agree with Piper. But no one of the world's people has any idea what this means, of course. On the contrary, the world is determined instead to suppress all knowledge of God and live for self. Read Romans 1. And this way of living leads downhill so that we begin to act like beasts. And not only do we do what animals do, being beastlike in our behavior, we do the things that animals would not do.

And the only way, the only way we ever learn to live uprightly, the only way we ever learn to actually experience the power to live uprightly is when we live our lives to the Lord, like this text says. When we live our lives to the Lord. There is a Latin phrase: *coram Deo*. *Coram Deo*. It speaks to this idea. It means "before God," or "before the face of God," or "in the light of all of God's all-seeing presence."

*Coram Deo*. That's the idea that we're dealing with here, before the face of God. And only the Christian can and does live *coram Deo*. Only the Christian. In fact, that as a Christian, you must live for God. As a Christian, you must live to the Lord. Because that is the one thing that, if nothing else, that is the one thing being a Christian truly means: that you live to the Lord.

Ladies and gentlemen, I tell you today that if you are not living—if you profess to be a Christian and you are not living to the Lord, you're denying the profession that you've made. Because that's what it means to be truly a Christian is you live *coram Deo* before the face of God. You live to the Lord. That's what the resurrection's about. That's why He died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Foundations of Truth, the radio and podcast program of Firm Foundations Ministries. True worship isn't confined to a place or a moment; it flows from a heart transformed by the truth of God's Word and the power of His Spirit. May your life be an offering of worship to Him. For more resources, visit firm-foundations.org.