What does the Bible say about dying and rising with Christ?

The Bible passages below can be used in sermons, prayers, or worship planning focused on dying and rising with Christ.  

• 1 Corinthians 15:21-52, since death came through Adam, so all will be made alive in and through Christ; the dead will be raised and we will be changed
• Romans 5:18-19, by one man's obedience, all have life
• Romans 6:2-11, we were buried with Christ through baptism and will be united with him in resurrection; we are dead to sin and alive in God
• Galatians 2:19-20, we have been crucified with Christ and now live by faith in him
• Ephesians 2:4-6, though we were dead, we are alive together with Christ, having been raised with him
• Colossians 2:12, we were buried with Christ through baptism and raised with him through faith
• Colossians 2:20, we died with Christ, why do we still live as if we belong to this world?
• Colossians 3:1-10, if you have died and have been raised with Christ, seek things above; put aside what is earthly

Sermon ideas about dying and rising with Christ

What can our sermons say about Paul's theme of dying and rising with Christ? There are four ways in which believers die and rise with Christ. These are tangled together in Paul's writing, especially in Romans 6, but with a little sleuthing we can disentangle them. 

The second Adam 

The key to the first way is Paul's confidence that Adam and Christ are parallel heads of the human race. They are the first and second Adams (1 Corinthians 15; Romans 5), in whom all of humanity is represented or even compacted. So their actions affect all people, whether for death or for life.  

Because believers are the body of Christ, because they belong to the community formed by the major events of Christ, and because they are "in Christ," when Christ died and rose, so did his body. The head does nothing without the body. Our old self was crucified with Christ, Paul writes in Romans 6. 

This adds great poignancy when we sing, Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Were you there when God raised him from the tomb? 

We died and rose with Christ in A.D. 29. That was the first time. 

In baptism 

Our sermons about dying and rising with Christ can point out that we died and rose with him a second time when we were baptized. Paul twice says (Romans 6, Colossians 2) that we were buried with Jesus Christ in baptism. Baptism means going down into the Red Sea and coming up on the other side. Baptism means going down into death and coming up into life. Jesus' death and resurrection are the second exodus. And so our baptism is exodus all over again. The symbolism of going down and coming up therefore seems better represented by immersion than by sprinkling. Greek and other Orthodox Christians immerse even infants. 

Death to the old self 

We died and rose with Christ when he died and rose. We did it again in our baptism. And so, says Paul in Colossians 3, since you have died and risen with Christ in these ways, keep the rhythm going. Keep on dying and rising with Christ.  

This is the third theme we can explore in sermons about dying and rising with Christ. 

Put arrogance to death and let humility arise. Put greed to death and let gratitude arise. Put malice to death and let kindness arise. Put wrath to death and let forgiveness arise. In traditional Christian theology this double move is called mortification and vivification. It's central to the conversion and ongoing sanctification of a human being. 

Colossians 3:12-14 uses the image of clothing for the new self: clothe yourselves with compassion, humility, and so on. This is almost certainly a baptismal image, suggesting that a Christian emerging from baptism will don the virtues that now fit somebody who has been raised with Christ. These virtues are the family uniform of the followers of Jesus. 

Physical death 

The three ways of dying and rising with Jesus Christ just described are a rehearsal for our physical death and physical resurrection. Our dying and rising are practice for the day when the shadows lengthen, the evening comes, and we close our eyes for the last time.  

Our sermons about dying and rising with Christ can assure listeners that one day we will physically die, but for us Christians who die into the heart of God, it will be nothing new. We've been practicing dying and rising all our lives. 

Excerpts about dying and rising with Christ 

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org sermon resources about dying and rising with Christ: 

"We are dying and rising with Christ; we have been doing so from the moment sacred water made us clean in the newness of the One who broke the bonds of death, from the moment faith was implanted and imputed and infused." Sermon Preparation or Illustration by The Living Church  

"Jesus' dying and rising is a nice shorthand way of thinking about the paschal mystery, but there is so much more to the mystery than even what happened on that first Good Friday and Easter Sunday two millennia ago." Article about Theology by Joyce Ann Zimmerman from Calvin Institute of Christian Worship  

Worship ideas about dying and rising with Christ 

Following are sample excerpts from Zeteosearch.org worship resources about dying and rising with Christ: 

"In Christ we live and in Christ we die and in Christ we rise up again. Let heaven rejoice and let earth be glad and sing, 'Alleluia, amen!'" Song by John Bell from Arts and Theology