To Live We Must First Die

Have you ever had a thought pound away at your mind so persistently that you believed it would never go away?  I have been thinking about the incarnation of Christ.  The whole concept is totally incomprehensible.  Contemplating the reality of God becoming human so that he might save filthy, depraved, unworthy, stench-filled, morally corrupt human souls by the shedding of his precious blood is a fathomless mystery.  The Prince of God left the splendor of his eternal dwelling and clothed himself with humanity, took up temporary residence in the womb of a very young woman who finally gave birth to him in a stall made for sheep and donkeys.  The Christ child was laid in a manger filled with straw and his first breath was filled with the offensive aroma of manure.

Why did he do it?  He came to live the life of a human and his coming was filled with love and purpose.  He came to reveal to us what the holiness of God looks like in a human life.  His coming provided the only ray of hope in a world darkened by the sins of unbelief and disobedience.  He lived the life he lived in order that he might die the death that he died.  He died the death that he died so that we might have an opportunity to live the life that he lived.  Through the impartation of the Comforter he promised to send, we can live Christ-like lives.  We can be Christians.

I went to the garage a few weeks ago and retrieved some seeds I saved from last year.  I wheeled out my tiller and worked the soil in my small garden and then planted the seeds.  In just a few days I saw sprouts begin to grow.  And I wondered as I do every year, how does it happen?  Those seeds lay in my garage all year and never sprouted.  There have been reports of seeds having been found that were over 800 years old.  These seeds were planted and they sprouted and grew and produced fruit.  Scientists know what happens when a seed germinates but they are unsure why it happens.  When a seed is placed in the fertile soil it will germinate and it will grow.

Paul contemplated the mystery of the seed when he wrote to the Corinthians:  “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Cor. 3:6-7)  Who can explain this miracle of life?  The best explanation is simply that the Author of life demonstrates his gift of life through the germination of the seed and the growth that follows.  Men must bow their heads in humility as they contemplate what God can do and what they cannot do.

Christ came to live the life he lived to qualify him for the death he died.  The child born in a barn was finally nailed to a Roman cross.  His body was then gently removed and buried in a tomb and like a seed buried in the ground. Christ experienced the miracle of life, the resurrection.  This miracle is the basis for our salvation.  Those of us who are followers of Christ share in the same hope Paul expressed to the Philippians:  “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”  (Philippians 3:10-11)

But there is an earlier resurrection that Christians must not overlook.  Some Christians can live their entire lives in a state of dormancy like seeds on a shelf.  If they are never buried they will never experience germination or a resurrection.  They will never know the fullness of growth and life. The journey has just begun when Christ responds to our repentance and forgives us.  God wills that we continue on the path that leads towards the abundant life but this life is preceded by death and burial.  The sanctification of our souls requires that we die to our own selfish desires and bury our own ambitions and bow in total submission to God.  Then the miracle happens.  The burial of our seeds of selfishness is the prerequisite to a resurrection into a life of holiness and growth. 

The new life that we experience is the life of Christ indwelling within us.  Many believe the deception that salvation is available by simply offering mental assent to a list of doctrines.  Even Satan and his imps believe that Christ is the divine Son of God.  The acceptance of his divinity doesn’t save them.  It fills them with dreaded fear.  God wants more than a verbal admission of his divine nature.  He wants us to wholly experience salvation.  Simply having knowledge of God does not change behavior.  A radical change in behavior comes when we have experienced the indwelling Christ.  When we are filled with his love we learn to love him properly.  We are motivated to please him, not because we want to be rewarded with heaven or escape a horrendous hell, but because of our love for him.  We don’t want to hurt him.

Just as this experience is not based on an exercise of the mind, neither is it based on an accumulation of good works.  If we believe that we should be granted entrance into heaven based on good behavior, why would we not stand before God in judgment and refuse the benefits provided by the shed blood of Christ and demand that we be judged by the law of God?  Would we dare lay our righteousness, our filthy rags, (Isaiah 64:6) alongside the righteousness of Christ and demand we be weighed in the balance of his justice? Of course we would not.

If we have had our eyes opened (John 9:10) we would never dare to do such a foolish thing.  Some have “eyes to see but they do not see”.  (Ezekiel 12:2)  Those who do see understand that our only righteousness is in Christ Jesus.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

A Christian’s Fear of Death is Irrational

We often fear what we don’t understand.  We fear what we have never experienced before.  A common fear nearly all of us struggle with is the fear of death. No one ever comes back from the grave to tell us about their death experience so it remains a great mystery.

 My six year old son was about to drift off to sleep the other night when he called out to me, “Daddy, there is a face staring at me from my closet.”  I looked in his closet and sure enough, there was an Iron Man mask staring outward.  So, I shoved it deeper in his closet and covered it up with some of his other toys and my son drifted off to sleep.  The fear of death is the monster in every closet.  We don’t want to talk about it or think about it.  We prefer to shove it back in the dark recesses of our mind and pretend it’s not there.

We were visiting our friend’s house recently.  My wife, Shannon, and I were talking to his elderly mother.  Shannon has an uncanny ability to discern when others are troubled.  I was surprised when she asked ‘Gran’ if she was alright.  Gran replied, “Oh, I’m a little discouraged.”   “Why, what’s wrong,” my wife asked.  “Well, I took my friend shopping yesterday and she just wasn’t doing so well, you know, forgetful and tired acting.”  So I asked her, “How old is your friend?”  “Oh, she is 95”, she said in a matter-of-fact manner.  “How old are you,” I asked.  “I’m only 92,” she boasted.  I sensed Gran was denying old age and she seemed to be unfettered by the fear of death.

Death is the shadow in everyone’s future.  There are many things we don’t know in life.  Some people dedicate their entire lives to the discovery of things we know nothing of.  There are so many uncertainties in life, but we are all certain of one thing; “for the living know that they will die.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5) But “no man knows when his hour will come.” (9:12)

Man’s first experience with death was perpetrated by Cain.  Imagine the pain and horror the first family felt as they witnessed the death of their son, their brother.  They were stunned by the solemn realization, as they looked on the dead body of Abel, that “it is appointed unto man once to die.” (Hebrews 9:27)    David wrote of this universal fear when he penned Psalm 23:4  “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

When a Christian fears death he is being irrational.  A Christian’s belief in the deity of Christ eliminates his fear of death.  Jesus didn’t mince any words when it came to proclaiming that he was divine.  The Jewish leaders came to him and asked, “Who do you think you are?”  (John 8:53)  “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”  Calling Jesus a Samaritan was the equivalent of using the “N” word in today’s culture.  Jesus was willing to risk his life to tell them the truth.

“I am not possessed by a demon,” he said.  (John 8:49)  “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was, I am!” (John 8:58)  He was declaring to them that he and the Father were one in their eternal nature.  They were enraged by this truth and commenced to pick up stones and tried to kill him but he escaped.

Jesus said something even more shocking earlier in this passage.  He clearly proclaimed his divine nature to them.  “If you knew me you would know my Father.” (John 8:19)  Jesus had made very plain to them that he and his Father were in perfect agreement as to what his purpose was when he took on humanity and came into this world.  “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him”.  (John 3:17)   His enemies were shocked that Jesus would claim to be God,  they were astonished that he claimed power to bring salvation to their souls.  This was a day for them to remember because they had never heard any man utter such outrageous things.

Perhaps most shocking of all, Jesus told them that if they believe in his divinity, if they accepted the fact that the only path to salvation was through Jesus Christ, the son of God, “I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word…(long drum roll here)… he will never see death!”  (John 8:51)  What?  “Did they hear him right?”  Yes.  Jesus told them that his divinity qualified him to be their Savior, if they would believe, confess their sins and accept his gift of righteousness, they would never see death.

Keep in mind Jesus didn’t say, “You will never die,” he said, “You will never see death.”  When his opponents were trying to clarify what they had heard they changed it a bit by asking him, “Are you saying that if we keep your commandments we will never taste death?”  They substituted the word ‘taste’ for ‘see’ but Jesus never corrected them. 

While they were speaking of physical death Jesus was speaking of spiritual death.  Jesus didn’t deny that all men would die physically.  Nevertheless, he was teaching them that at the point of physical death the soul leaves the body and ascends to another dwelling place.  The life of the soul continues uninterrupted by the physical death of the body.  This is all possible because Jesus laid down his life down for the sheep.  He arose from the dead, thereby, eliminating the sting of death for all those who believe in him.  He provided us an opportunity to be righteous.  He satisfied the cry of his Father’s pure heart for justice and he permanently shut the gates of hell to those who are stamped with his image.

Therefore, it is irrational for the Christian to fear death when Christ himself has taken away the sting (fear) of death and promised us eternal life.

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.