IN CHRIST. [SPECTATORS OR PARTAKERS].

 THE OLD SPIRITUAL ASKS, " WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED OUR LORD?"
 THE ANSWER IT EXPECTS IS " YES "I WAS THERE. i SAW IT HAPPEN."  NO DOUBT THE WRITER HAD IN MIND BEING THERE IN MEMORY RATHER THAN FACT. HIS QUESTION MAKES A STRONG APPEAL TO TAKE THE EVENTS OF THE CRUCIFIXION PERSONALLY AND SERIOUSLY.
THE NE TESTAMENT ASSURES US THAT AS A BAPTIZED CHRISTIAN WE WERE NOT MERELY SPECTATORS OF THE CRUCIFIXION WE EXPERIENCED IT. IN  [ ROMANS 6: ,4,]
ST. PAUL WRITES: " FOR SURELY YOU KNOW THAT WHEN WE WERE BAPTIZED INTO UNION WITH CHRIST JESUS, WE WERE BAPTIZED INTO UNION WITH HIS DEATH, BY OUR BAPTISM THEN, WE WERE BURIED WITH HIM AND SHARED HIS DEATH, IN ORDER THAT JUST AS CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM DEATH BY THE GLORIOUS POWER OF THE FATHER, SO ALSO WE MIGHT LIVE A NEW LIFE.
THE APOSTLE USES SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS ELSEWHERE IN THIS CHAPTER:
          " FOR SINCE WE HAVE BECOME ONE WITH HIM BY DYING AS HE DID, IN THE SAME  WAY,   WE SHALL BE ONE WITH HIM BY BEING RAISED TO LIFE AS HE Was,"
6:5 " SINCE WE HAVE DIED WITH CHRIST...." 6:8.
 WHEN WE WERE BAPTIZED, GOD MADE US SHARE IN ALL THAT CHRIST WAS, SUFFERED AND ACCOMPLISHED. BY VIRTUE OF OUR PHYSICAL BIRTH, WE SHARE IN "ADAM." [BORN IN SIN.] BY VIRTUE OF OUR SECOND BIRTH IN BAPTISM, WE SHARE IN "CHRIST" [ETERNAL LIFE].
 WHEN CHRIST LED A SINLESS LIFE, WE, BY VIRTUE OF OUR BAPTISM, LED IT WITH HIM. WHEN CHRIST WAS PUT TO DEATH TO SUFFER THE PUNISHMENT FOR HUMAN SIN, WE SHARED THAT DEATH. WHEN CHRIST WAS PLACED IN THE GRAVE WHICH SIN BRINGS, WE WENT INTO THE TOMB WITH HIM. WHEN HE ROSE VICTORIOUS FROM THE TOMB, WE ROSE WITH HIM, [EPHESIANS :5,6.]
IN CHRIST, GOD GATHERED THE HUMAN RACE INTO ONE PERSON. HE THEN LET THAT ONE PERSON BE WHAT HE INTENDED THE HUMAN RACE TO BE., AND SUFFER WHAT THE HUMAN RACE TO BE, AND SUFFER WHAT THE HUMAN RACE DESERVES TO SUFFER, IN OUR BAPTISM, GOD MADE US SHARERS IN ALL THAT ONE PERSON WAS, SUFFERED, ENDURED AN CONQUERED.  HE "INCORPORATED"  US INTO CHRIT SAVING MINISTRY AND MISSION.
BECOME WHAT YOU ARE!
 IN CHRIST, GOD HAS DECLARED US TO BE HOLY, [1 CORINTHIANS 1:2]. IN OUR BAPTISM, HE GAVE US CHRIST'S SINLESS LIFE AS A SET OF CREDENTIALS, NOT OUR OWN. HE WILL WELCOME US HOME, NOT ON THE BASIS OF WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED, BUT  FOR WHAT CHRIST ACHIEVED. WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE LAST GREAT DAY. SEEK TO DEMONSTRATE WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN. "BECOME WHAT YOU ARE!"  TO GRASP THE MEANING OF THIS IS TO POSSESS A KEY WHICH UNLOCKS MUCH OF SCRIPTURE.
 OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD THROUGH BAPTISM REFLECTS THE EVENTS OF THE EXODUS,  WILDERNESS WANDERINGS AND ENTRY INTO THE PROMISED LAND. BY VIRTUE OF OUR PHYSICAL BIRTH, WE ARE IN "ADAM," AND THEREFORE HELD CAPTIVE TO THE POWER OF SIN. THE RISEN JESUS DWELLS AMONG US TODAY, AND GUIDES US ON OUR JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS OF LIFE. [1 PETER 1:6-8].
TODAY WE LIVE ON EARTH AS "STRANGERS, EXILES, AND PILGRIMS [1 PETER 2:11] WE ALREADY POSSESS A PROMISED LAND, [1 PETER 2; 9, 1O.] WE KNOW WHEN WE MAKE THAT "FINAL CROSSING, " ALL WILL BE WELL.