We begin this Saturday by taking a look at the book of Romans, written by Paul, where he guides us step by step through the process of why Christ had to die for us. In verse 4 he states that “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life.” When we consider that moment of salvation when God reached down inside us like someone getting the last pickle in the pickle jar (yeah Pastor Rice!) and took away our sin and then made us a new creation, we often stop right there and just say, “Ok, here I am, a new creation. I am good to go in all aspects of my life.” We forget too often that our mind set about many things has to change. Where you were once in bondage and enslaved to sin, you are no longer! Where you once had no life, you do now!
We can focus, sometimes, too much on the old man, not realizing that he has been crucified with Christ for a reason: so our body of sin would be done away with and we would no longer be slaves to sin (v. 6). We do battle against principalities and powers of darkness and we are told that our battle is not against flesh and blood, so why do we usually think of ourselves at war with ourselves? An interesting notion to ponder and see if it is a Biblical. When we think about it, someone who has been crucified, as our old man was, is not exactly in peak fighting condition, unless that person has been raised from the dead, which the old man was not.
God took Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones and asked him whether or not they could live. Ezekiel’s response was understandable, “Only You know, Lord.” When we ask this question about the people around us dead in sin and even ourselves when we are in sin and feeling dead, the answer is an emphatic “YES!” We have life and life more abundantly. Imagine being asked a question like this by God in a time when you were the last prophet because the rest have been killed by a wicked queen and they were after you. Imagine hearing this question after going throughout your country and seeing nothing but spiritual and physical death. Ezekiel, with bags under his eyes from the weight of the visions of judgment given to him by God, standing in that valley and waiting for the Lord to answer, is like many of us today. We stand in the valley of the shadow of death and that is all we can see. We tell God we want to stand the gap for these people but we sometimes respond, even if only in our deepest heart, like Ezekiel and say, “Lord only You know if they can live or not.” We feel guilt as we are told things like, “well, if you only had enough faith it would happen,” or, “some Christian you are if you really do not know whether or not people will get saved.” But take a look at Ezekiel, arguably the mightiest OT prophet, replying to God with utmost sincerity and honesty, “Lord I don’t know.” How difficult an admission that is! To confess being uncertain takes strength of character many people do not possess.
God knew the state of Ezekiel’s heart and told him to begin to prophecy to the bones saying, “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live…you shall know that I am the Lord.” So the answer to the question God asked was yes.
As we go forth dead to sin and alive in Christ, nothing can harm us, for we have already been dead so what can the world do to us that is worse? What is the final punishment for crime? Death. How about when terrorists take hostages? Death. But to us who are reborn, death has no sting and the grave has no victory! How joyful is this news we carry! When the enemy tries to frighten us and tell us about the danger of what we are about to do, we only need remember that our death is gain, and that the result of this life is certain death. You can’t get around it and we don’t have to live in fear of it.
You see, the thing about the living dead is anything that is less harmful than death does not scare them. Not fire or cutting off limbs or drowning. Not anything. As the army of God we must go forth in such fearlessness partnered with wisdom and gentleness. Then we can see the dead become alive as we are.
3 comments:
-dead to the world
-it's okay to say i don't know
nice, i'll keep those in my head and heart as i live out today.
yo.
What an insightful exegesis. The thought that indeed, we can only come before the true presence of God and admit things that detract from us and magnify Him, that yes indeed, only He knows, but when he conveys that knowledge unto us we are supposed to take confidence and reassurance in that.
“When we think about it, someone who has been crucified, as our old man was, is not exactly in peak fighting condition, unless that person has been raised from the dead, which the old man was not.”
And moreso, Paul calls us to “cast off” the old man - the old man is a corpse that is literally “dead weight” upon us, keeping us from going forward, heavy and cumbersome. What we should really be wrestling with is the angels like Jacob did until God blessed him. Think about the difference of these images when you feel tempted, being pulled down to earth by a corpse or casting him off to run after angels ascending to and descending from heaven?
Very simply, death was not part of God’s equation, it does not need to be a presence in our lives.
Good one Obinna! You said what I tried to say, only much more succinctly. You are right about wrestling with the right things. I wonder, how are we supposed to meditate on God's word day and night if we are focusing on that "dead weight" more often than not? Hmmm...
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