For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Rom. 6:5.

The first man was the first Adam. Christ is the second Adam. Both are heads and representatives of the human race. Adam stands, on the one hand, responsible for a race of sinners. After sinning, Adam could not transmit to his posterity what he did not have. Separated from God, his descendants suffered the same alienation. Christ, on the other hand, as the second Adam, brought new life to the race, for those who believed in Him. We are said to be planted together with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. That is, we share in the very experience and power that raised Him from the dead. We are also said to be crucified with Him; that is, we die to self-will in order to live in harmony with God.

We are what we are because of Adam's alienation from God. Equally so, as Christians we are what we are because of Christ and His righteousness. Jesus, the second Adam, has the right to be our Redeemer and our Lord.

Whether Christ can release in us His resurrection power depends upon our staying together with Him. We choose Him. We commit our lives to Him. We place ourselves at His disposal. We respond with glad obedience to His will. We burn our bridges behind us, in that our past life is rejected and done with. We never withdraw ourselves from His control, from His loving hand. We cultivate the habit of doing His will in every situation. The weakest Christian may have this power from God. We henceforth and forever accept Christ as the center of our purposes, decisions, and activities.

There are two possibilities for our lives. One is that we consider the life we have as our own, to do with it as we please. The other is that it belongs to another just as definitely as when we commit our lives to another in marriage. Drifting away from Christ is always a possibility. To be casual about this relationship with Christ means to drift. No one in the world ever drifted into a great achievement. None of us drifts into Christlikeness. This comes by a daily choice, commitment, surrender, personal initiative to walk with Christ. As we do this, we experience His transforming presence.