Not Life and Death... But Death to Life!

So often during this passion week I start to focus on the transition Christ made in going from life to death for me. He sacrificed the life He had for death. This is, and should be a sobering thought. However, to focus on it and stop there is to miss the true purpose and meaning to the cross.

The enemy of our souls would want nothing more than for us to focus on the death of Jesus this Easter season and stop there. But, Jesus wants us to look at the bigger picture.

Jesus10:10 "10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

The entire purpose of His death was to bring life. Another version of this verse says that we may have "life more abundant." What does that mean??? This has always been a hard one for me. God wants my life to be full! To be full of LIFE!

Christ death was necessary to bring forgiveness for our sins. But the entire focus shouldn't be on His death. Three days later, He rose from the dead!

Romans 4:8-10 "8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God."

Oswald Chambers, in his book My Utmost for His Highest, puts it this way: "The term Holy Spirit is actually another name for the experience of eternal life working in human beings here and now. The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to apply the power of the atonement by the Cross of Christ to our lives. Thank God for the glorious and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey Him.

The entire goal is that we be forgiven and as a result our lives are changed by the work of the Holy Spirit. Today, make it a point to focus not only on His death but that He rose from the dead to give us life! Abundant life!

If Only You Knew Me!

If only you knew me. I mean really knew me, and all of my faults and failures. I have taken up a catch phrase over the last few years. It came from a sermon I preached some time ago. The phrase is, “Hi, I am Dave Buncher and I am a dirty rotten low down stinking sinner!” The process believers in Christ go through called 'sanctification'. This is the lifelong process of God making us more and more like Jesus Christ throughout the course of our lives.

Truthfully this has been a rough process for me. And, I do believe for most Christians, though we rarely admit it, even to ourselves. But God has been revealing Himself to me through times of personal trial.

I would like to share two portions of scripture with you and what they have meant in my life.

Psalm 19:12-14
12 Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

Verse 12 asks who can know my sins, even the secret ones. The answer is God. He knows all that we do and all that we are. This can be a scary thought but also a comforting one. God and God alone knows everything. He can, and wants to be our confidant. He wants to be the one that we can rest in, let down our defenses, and feel safe. Even though we have hurt Him to the very core He still wants us!

Verse 13 brings in the knowledge that all of us, even the best of us, purposefully sin. We set in our hearts and minds that we are going to do what we want to do because it will please us. Let us beg Him to keep us from this outright defiance.

The rest of 13 gives us insight into David’s soul. He wanted to be blameless and sinless. He wanted to be completely righteous (righteousness is making ‘right-choice-ness”) before God.
The passage completes on this thought: Even though we may fail let our wanting be acceptable to God. David truly wanted to be blameless and innocent before God.

Psalm 106:1-3
Praise the LORD!
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD?
Who can declare all His praise?
3 Blessed are those who keep justice,
And he who does righteousness at all times!

This passage comes at the same principle from another perspective. Verse one begins by giving praise to the only one that deserves it. God is the only one that is completely righteous and holy. He has never made a mistake, never been wrong, and never failed to hole true to a promise He made.

Verse 1 continues by stating that God is undeniably good and “His mercy endures forever.” God’s mercy, His forgiveness, lasts forever. Once He has forgiven you, you are forgiven forever. We see this repeated in John 8:36. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

I have been set free from sin! I am no longer guilty. When Christ died on the cross for me I have been made innocent of all my sin. And because Jesus Christ is eternal and timeless, I am innocent of all my sins past, present, and future!

So why can’t I just rest in this truth and get on with life? Why am I always assaulted with guilt at every turn? I am completely forgiven right? I believe it is for the same reason that I feel guilt when I do something to hurt my wife. Even after she has forgiven me I still feel the guilt because she still feels the pain. Forgiveness does not eliminate the consequences of sin just the blame. Though I have been forgiven for my sin, myself and others must still deal with the consequences of my bad choices.

So the bottom line is this: Lord, help me to run from my sin, both the secret and the blatant. Help me to keep from making the same mistakes over and over again. And help me to deal with the consequences, which, though I am forgiven, I still deserve. And help me to sin less and become more and more like Christ daily! In Jesus name. Amen