Last month, I learned that my pancreatic cancer had returned. My oncologist’s first words were, “you must start treatment immediately.” Considering how quickly the cancer had advanced since my last treatments, I said 'no.' But more to the point, I have God's perfect peace about “going home,” an event some refer to as death.
But John says we “in” Christ have already “passed from death to life” (1 John 3:14), and will never die. As Jesus’ death is in the “past,” ours too. And as He lives, we too.
“Passed” (not “past”) means to move beyond. As long as we are on earth, there are things in the “past” we cannot seem to get “passed”—things that still affect us, even if only indirectly. In light of this, think again of Paul’s declaration, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new person. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Admittedly, this proclamation is somewhat elusive while we are bound by time and space. But after we “pass” out of time into eternity, our newness will be profoundly palpable.
Did you know many Muslims believe that the end times are
here? According to Mideast expert and theologian J. Richardson, many jihadists have joined the conflict in Syria because they see it as an apocalyptic
war. Just before the Muslim
messiah, Mahdi, comes to earth, there will arise a Sufyani, an enemy of Mahdi, who will battle for control of the earth. Such are the implications of the Syrian conflict. And because of this end-time perspective, jihadists are willing to fight to the death.
In addition to being just plain fascinating, the Islamic end-time
doctrine evokes thoughts of Christian themes: Armageddon, antichrist, martyrdom, and John's description of the tribulation saints who did not love their life even when faced with death (Rev. 12:11). When Jesus told his first followers to pick up their cross, they knew exactly what he meant: they had seen thousands of their countrymen crucified by the Romans. But unlike Islam, Christians don't die for a cause, but for Christ's glory! The start of Passion Week is a good time to consider the question: Have I given up everything to follow Christ (Matt. 10:28)?
The Rev. Fred Phelps, the founder of Westboro Baptist Church
in Kansas, died last week. You may know
of him for his hate-filled protests at the funerals of U.S. soldiers, claiming their deaths were God’s revenge for America’s
tolerance of homosexuality. His animus disgraced the Gospel with his
unadulterated message “God hates gays.”
How unlike our Lord Jesus who came to seek and save the
lost (Luke 19:10). Are you not troubled when you hear so-called fundamentalist Christians speak hatefully against sinners, and even more venomously against those who struggle with sexual identity? Our culture has given rise to numbers of believers who are
engaged in this battle. Yes, God hates sin, but “God demonstrated His own love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Jesus
not only loves the lost, He loves His lost sheep who have gone astray (Luke 15:4).
"Off with their heads!" was the expression used by the Queen of Hearts from ‘The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland.’ But beheading is hardly a laughing matter, especially in light of last month’s brutal beheadings of 17 men, women and children by the Taliban. Having lived in Afghanistan, I was not surprised by such primitive violence. “But why beheading?” I thought.
Beheading is not unique to our times. You probably remember from your high school ancient history class about the beheadings of English and French royals in the Middle Ages. Back then, beheading was considered an honorable way to die. But 21st century terrorists are beheading their victims after they die: an expression of contempt. To cut off a head shows vile hatred for a person's beliefs (remember John the Baptist). And, it strikes terror in the heart of one’s enemies.
The spiritual analogy here is rich. The head represents one's mind—thoughts, beliefs, plans and dreams. No wonder Satan goes for the head. If he can capture the mind, he can control a person's emotions and behaviors. This is why Paul tells us to cover our heads with the helmet of salvation and hope (Eph. 6:17: 1 Thess. 5:8). Our enemy hates those who have the mind of Christ, and will stop at nothing to destroy them. I’m sure the battle cry of Satan’s minions must be “Off with their heads!”
The largest power failure in history (since electricity) occurred last month! No, not the one in the Mid-Atlantic states, but one in India that affected 670 million people, nearly 10% of the world’s population. While some Americans (and probably some Indians too) may have been mostly annoyed that Starbucks was closed, the real danger, of course, was the lack of energy to homes and hospitals for air conditioning and medical equipment. Without power, people die.
But that pales in comparison to the greatest power failure in human history: the day Adam sinned, after which, “death spread to all men” (Rom 5:12). Despite that, men tried to be powerful in their own right. They built cities, and eventually the tower of Babel (Gen. 11:4), a monument to their abilities and achievements: man power. But it failed, as did all subsequent attempts at self-empowerment!
And even though, at new birth, God’s power is turned back on: resident within us (Acts 1:8), most of us experience personal power shortages all too frequently. And these are the moments to ask ourselves if we have built any towers of self-reliance, because our attempts at self-empowerment will always result in power failure. And in the spiritual realm just as in the physical, without power, people die.
We live in a world where it is more normal to be persecuted for your faith than not. We who live in the “free” world must never forget those who live in the face of death every day. Strangely, our nation is allied with countries where Christians are faced with death for following Christ—Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan are each on the list of the top ten where Christians have almost no freedom to worship.
Perhaps you read about the brutal murders of Christians in Nigeria this month? One attack was at the Deeper Life Bible Church in the capital: 9 worshipers killed, 19 wounded. One witness said, “There was blood all over the church; it was a horrible sight.”
Can you imagine living every day facing death? But in fact, we do. Dying to 'self.' Every time God shows us the things in our heart we love more than Him (Jn. 14:24). Long before our friends in Nigeria were martyred for Christ, they had already made that decision to love Jesus more than their own lives, even when faced with death (Rev. 12:11). Imagine this: Jesus looks into your eyes and says: "Do you love me more than ____?" (Jn 21:16).
Steve Jobs was one of the greatest innovators of my generation, and it didn't take long for the people who loved their Macs, iPhones, iPods, iPads to begin paying their respects to this world changer.
Everyone would like to die believing they left the world a better place. There is something in all of us, a God-given desire, to make a difference in our world of family and friends. Is this not what Paul meant when he said in doing the ‘good works’ that God created for us to do, we would change our world (Eph. 2:10).
Steve Jobs' philosophy of life is summed up in the title of his 2005 Stanford commencement speech: "How to live before you die.” Steve Jobs had become a man of great reputation. But however noble it may sound, Steve’s Buddhist doctrine is an inside-out “truth” easily mistaken for the real thing. For the Bible says we can’t accomplish anything until we die to (give up)—selfish ambition, pride, and reputation (Phil 2:7). Only then, can we, as Jesus did (John 17:4), accomplish the things God has created us to do. Our commencement speech would be “How to die before you live.”
Paul’s secret to life is found in these words: “[I am] always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in [my] body… death works in [me], so life [can work] in you” (2 Corinthians 4:10-12). The only real world changer that ever lived was Jesus. So only His life in us can make us world-changers too.
Last week, one of the Church’s giants in faith, David Wilkerson, was killed in a head-on collision. I wondered about the violence of David’s death. It’s one of those things that David would have told us not to fret about—just trust in God’s sovereign goodness, and don’t try to make sense of it.
As I reflected on the violence of his death, however, I thought to myself ‘David died much the way he lived.’ His was a ‘violent’ Christianity, living every day with passion and power, as though it were his last. He lived with self-abandonment. David Wilkerson was one of the Church's “violent men” who take the kingdom of God “by force” (Mat. 11:12). The “gates of hell could not prevail” (Mat. 16:18) against David Wilkerson and the mighty army of men and women he raised up.
But the words “violent” and “force” do not tell the whole story. He was a very humble man, a servant leader—even as Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death (Philippians 2:8). David did violence to his own flesh long before an auto accident took his life so violently. Likewise, Peter, Paul, James, and most of the Apostles and early followers of Jesus died violent deaths. But they were all long dead to this world before that happened—men who “did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die” (Rev. 12:11), even a violent death!
As I read the USA front page article on the deficit reduction, this quote nearly jumped off the page. You can understand why. No true believer could fail to see the spiritual analogy! People want to balance the budget, but they don’t want to give up anything to do so. Unfortunately, there are born-again believers who want "the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies" (Eph. 1:3, 20), but are unwilling to give up (die to) treasures on earth.
On one occasion a wealthy young man came to Jesus asking how to get to Heaven, and Jesus told him “go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Mat. 19:21). And though the young man wanted to go to Heaven, he was unwilling to give up anything (die) to do so. Seeing a teachable moment, Jesus told the Disciples “everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will have eternal life” (Mat. 19:29).
Jesus' first followers found themselves facing economic hardships because they decided to follow Him. But we are told they “accepted joyfully the seizure of their property” (Heb. 10:34). I don’t know if you and I will ever have to endure such persecution in our life time. But before that happens, it should be a settled issue: to gain Heaven, we are willing to give up (die to) our treasures on earth.
“Then the LORD gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab's chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.” (1 Kings 18:46). In this Old Testament story, Elijah outruns King Ahab’s chariot. Chariots represent the strength of man.
Chariots signify speed, accomplishment, and domination. Yet, Elijah outran the chariots. You may think that Elijah must have really been ‘in the zone’ at that great moment. But the fact is, Elijah was so discouraged and despairing, he was ready to give up. Even though he had just been used by God to defeat and destroy 450 prophets of Baal, he made a 180 degree turn, and ran for his life when Jezebel threatened to kill him. Running to the desert, he sat down and prayed “Lord, I’ve had enough; just let me die.” (I Kings 19:4).
How is it that no matter how much God shows His power in our lives, we, like Elijah, so easily turn away when our feats are followed by defeats, and we say I’ve had enough? These are the times when God simply wants us to relinquish control and believe in His power, having confidence in God's promise “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9). If only we could abide in that truth, we would be able to outrun the chariots.
Paul said it: “To die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). And he was speaking literally—not figuratively. Was he morbid? Our Christian Brother Zac Poonen asks: “Did he have an unhealthy fixation with death? Did Paul show a lack of respect for the life God had blessed him with?” And then Zac answers his own question: “Absolutely not! Paul lived life to the fullest. To him, life was a gift, and he had used it well to fight a good fight. He had overcome the fear of the “sting of death” and could now say, “It’s better to die and be with the Lord than to stay in the flesh.”
Why? Because Paul had already died to his attachments on earth. He possessed nothing here, and would receive his heavenly possessions there!
Do we love life on earth so much (all of our possession) that we are conflicted about leaving? Would losing these possessions make dying a great loss? One of the chapters in A.W. Tozer’s book “Pursuit of God” is titled: “The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing.” Just think about it. If you had no attachments on this earth, not only would you be ready to leave in a New York minute, you’d be eager. Having nothing here, you’d have everything to gain. Could that be what Paul meant when he said “to die is gain”?
Tomorrow is the birthday of my younger brother Jeff. He would be 55 this year. But he died—suddenly and unexpectedly—at the age of 38, of a hidden heart condition. Had he known, he would have received treatment; perhaps he would be alive today. We’ll never know…
This week I learned that a younger sister in the Lord has had a moral failure. I was shocked of course. But I was able to put it in perspective by remembering that my sister has a heart condition—a spiritual one; and it went untreated. I had been her counselor off and on—her spiritual ‘doctor,’ you might say. Had I known she had this heart condition, perhaps I could have prescribed a daily dose of truth to be applied to her vulnerability. But it was not to be; her heart condition remained hidden—all the while eroding her good health by shutting off the flow of Jesus’ life through her spiritual veins.
Several years ago, my older brother Ken had a massive heart attack—again, a hidden heart condition. My response? I immediately scheduled an appointment for a thorough examination by a cardiologist, to make certain I had no hidden heart condition.
So when our sister or brother has one of these spiritual ‘heart attacks,’ does it not motivate each of us to take inventory of our own hearts, that God might show us our own deep-seated vulnerabilities? And if we should find a weakness, to begin working on a treatment plan? “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart; [for I know] You desire truth in my innermost being” (Psalm 56:2: 51:6).
I have a friend who is in ‘critical condition.’ In fact, I have several friends in critical condition. Of course that means their condition may result in death. Generally when this happens, a person will be put in a hospital ‘intensive care’ unit until he gets better or dies. You may think I'm heartless, but I have not visited even one of my friends in intensive care. You see, they are not in the hospital; their condition is not physical—their critical condition is spiritual.
Jesus said unless a grain of wheat goes into the ground and dies, the life inside of it will never be released, but when it is in the ground, the conditions of the soil break it open (John 12:24). It is a rather messy process as the seed is cracked and broken—falling to pieces! The exact moment the seed is placed in the earth is critical—the point of death. As the seed breaks up, it is completely changed from its former identity of ‘seed’ to a ‘sprout’ that will someday become a fruit bearing tree.
God has placed many of you in conditions that are breaking you. Perhaps you have lost your job, or your business. Or maybe God has put you in a difficult situation or a hard relationship. You feel like you are falling to pieces. Your temptation is to say “Lord, get me out of this.” But instead you ought to pray “Lord, if you are breaking me from my natural life; if this is my cross, then I choose to take it up.” (Matthew 16:24) By taking up your difficulty (your cross), you are allowing God to bring you to the end of your self life. And after you have come through your crisis, you will find you are experiencing more of Christ’s life.
There will be many such crises in your life, when you will find yourself in God's intensive care. But as you look back on these, you will know it was the best thing that ever happened to you.
Today my family will be commemorating and celebrating my father’s life. The day he passed away will be forever etched in my mind. I was with him when he passed. This last week I was reading an article by Arthur Pink, in which he made this statement: “I remember the day Arthur Pink died,” referring of course to the day he comprehended and then fully embraced, his co-death with Jesus—the day he really came to the end of his self.
What about you? Do you remember the day you died? Died to your own desires, opinions, rights—in short, the day you died to your own will? Or, are you still waiting for that day?
Just as important, do you remember the day you became alive to Christ’s resurrection life: the “life of Christ” resident within you, empowering you and filling you? I mean do you remember the day you actually began living as though you were ‘dead to sin,’ ‘crucified to this world,’ and ‘alive to God?’ Or are you still waiting for it?
Today we will celebrate my earthly father’s life in Christ. But what prevents us from celebrating our life ‘in Christ’—every day. With great joy we should be mindful that our daily union with Christ in his death (pick up your cross and follow Me) means His resurrection life can be released in us. Can you say: “I myself no longer live, but Christ is living in [and through] me?” (Gal. 2:20a, NLT) If not, what are you waiting for?
I read an article some time ago which holds a peculiar relevance to me on the occurrence of my father’s passing. It was entitled: “Few see themselves as ‘old,’ no matter what their age.” In a survey of 3,000 adults, those under 30 said that 60 is old. Those over 60 said 75 is old. At our wedding (25 years ago), my father was not quite 60. I thought he was old. Now that I am 61, I no longer think so!
However, I do find myself checking the obituaries more than I used to, to see if any of my high school classmates have died! But personally, the more I attempt to live the truth that I am dead to this world and alive to God, the less I care about my age, or concern myself with how many days are left to me.
In 1994, it seemed that my younger brother died much too young at age 38 from cardiac arrest. But if you and I are truly not ‘of this world,’ can there really be any such thing as an ‘untimely’ death. As a “son of God,” neither your life nor your time is your own (1 Cor. 6:19). And if you are truly experiencing your death to (separation from) this world, it seems to me that it almost makes physical death irrelevant. Over this last year, I reminded my father many times that he was never going to “die”—because he had already died in Christ. That’s why we use the word “pass”—we simply pass out of time into eternity.
Paradoxically, as a ‘spirit’ being, you are ageless but always getting ‘younger.’ Paul says If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature…all things have become new…our inner man is being renewed day by day… [Therefore, you should] walk in the newness of life (2 Cor. 5:17; 4:16; Ro. 6:4). And don’t forget: “all things new” may begin on this side, but it continues on the other—with new heaven and earth, a new Jerusalem, a new name, a new song. Jesus said Look, I am making all things new! (Rev. 5:9; 14:3; 21:1,2,5).
Last year I had a "stress test" to see how my heart was functioning under physical stress. God has a stress test too! He allows, even engineers, pressures in your life to see how your 'heart' will respond.Jesus said “"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens…and you will find rest for your souls” (Mat 11:28-29 NLT).
In Revelation 14:13, John says "blessed are the DEAD who DIE in the Lord from now on...so that they may rest from their labors". As you live as one who has died with Jesus you will find rest from the stress of living inthis world. But as long as you are living by your own will power, you will not be able to find God’s rest.
When a person dies, we say that person has “entered his final rest.” Our death with Jesus has brought us into a state of rest just as much as if we had died physically. But while we remain alive to self-sufficiency or self-reliance, there can be no such rest.
And worse, until we have died to our self-life, we are not living by His life! Paul says: “Consider yourself dead to sin and alive unto God in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 6:11). Being alive to God means living by His strength—not your own.
When it is “no longer I who live, but Christ [is living] in me” (Gal. 2:20), I have entered His rest.
Moses had the audacity to ask God: “Show me your glory.” And God agreed to show Moses the backside of His glory, saying “you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen…for no man can see Me and live!” (Exodus 33)
If not one can see God and live, then logically, can we not say that only dead people can see God!?
I find two “dying to live” principles that derive from this Old Testament decree (no one can see God and live) that relate to us as New Covenant believers:
First, Jesus said blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The only way our hearts can be ‘pure’ is to die to our sinful and self-centered selves. So to see God, we must surrender, or die to, our self-centeredness. The wonderful result is a God-centeredness that changes the way we see all of life.
Second, since only ‘dead’ people see God, doesn’t it make sense that the ‘deader’ we are to self-life, the more alive we become God-life, and the more we see God.
Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus…and pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord (Romans 6:11; Hebrews 12:14).
