Deconstructing Romans 6 vs 5

Romans 6:5

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

What does the above scripture mean to you?

To deconstruct this, we should consider further verses, precisely verses 6 to 10 since they help bring the verse 5 of the scripture into context. We have a word, "sin", which is closely related to another word, "death". The bible informs us that the wages of sin is death but that the gift of God is eternal life. Death is not always used in a context of defeat and punishment though, sometimes death is used to symbolize a new beginning, or a transition to something greater, it may also signify victory over sin and Satan. For instance, our dying with Christ is talking about being dead to sin; and although Christ died a physical death, we understand that we are supposed to die spiritually but our dying is one done to sin. The meaning of dying to sin here is that we kill the ungodly desires of our fleshes.

From the beginning, God created man in his (God) image and after his (God) likeness and it was a good creation, so good that God had to attest to it. The first created man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, both had the image of God. This implies that they, to some extent, had what made God omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. God gave them an instruction on how to maintain and remain in that state of Godliness, he commanded them to eat everything provided by him in the garden, except for the fruits of one tree. He also warned them that the day they would eat of the fruit of the tree which he had commanded them not to eat, they will die.

Why would they die?

The answer is sin, in the case sin is disobedience to God. Now the bible also teaches that, the soul that sins must die, Ezekiel 18:20. Death here is not just a physical death but also a spiritual death. Originally man was not created to die because God does not die and man was created in his image. In elementary biology, the state of health of a man is a function of the state of health of the cells of the body and it was discovered that the cells of the body were all formed by the stem cells. These stem cells of the body replace every other living cell of the body periodically, healing and renewing them. The very nature of the stem cells gives us a glimpse of God's original plan for man. Also, God made provisions to sustain man for eternity in the garden of Eden. After man sinned against God though, he died physically after many days but spiritually, he died the same day. Adam and Eve died the same day because separation took place after he disobeyed God. Death in this case is a separation between the Spirit (God) and the flesh (man). So God stopped his fellowship with man after that day. Their eyes were opened and they hid themselves from God. Sin against God exposes our nakedness and there is no way to cover this nakedness without shedding of blood. Therefore God had to take a step further to kill an innocent animal to cover their nakedness. He did this because of his love for man.

Now the fact remains that man had lost his original state and God drove them out of the garden, not because he hated them but because he had to prevent them from eating of the fruit of life. Recall that after God made man, he gave them an instruction to be fruitful and multiply. The problem is that man never reproduced in his sinless state, he only began to do so in his sinful or fallen state, after he had lost his Godliness. Since every seed must produce offspring after its kind, whatever man would produce after that would be a sinful abomination to him. However, God had a masterplan to remedy this. His desire and plan for man to fellowship with him had not changed but it was impossible for that to happen in man's fallen state. God initiated a plan of redemption, intending to device a way for man to put the sinful nature to death and to take back up, God's sinless nature. This restoration implies the salvation or restoration of the three dimensions of man (spirit, soul and body). First man's spirit died (by disbelieving God, spiritual death occurred), then his soul died (by disobeying God and hardening of the heart, a death of man's conscience and selflessness) and then his body (physical death). The restoration of man is also designed by God to occur in that order. The salvation of the spirit begins by believing God, believing in his son whose blood was shed for the eternal remission of our sins (here we are justified by Jesus). The salvation of the soul refers to a change of heart, here man's wicked and ungodly heart of stone is replaced with a heart of flesh which is characterized by compassion, faith and genuine love for one's neighbors and God. The salvation of our soul is also known as sanctification. The last of final stage is called glorification and is classified by the salvation of our mortal bodies, here our bodies are transformed into become immortal and incorruptible.

Summarily, the verse speaks to the profound truth of our spiritual connection to Christ through our faith. Just as the seed is planted (falls to the ground and dies) in order to grow into a tree or a beautiful flower, we too are planted (fall to the ground and die) in the likeness of Christ's death through our baptism and faith in him. Consider this concept of being planted together with Christ in the likeness of his death and resurrection.

How does it resonate with your spiritual journey?

How can you allow this truth to transform and renew your life, guiding you towards a deeper relationship with God?