The 1st matter of Life

Introduction

My email is being inundated with offers to sell me computer software that I have purchased in the past. This same software is being advertised on television and you may see it in the aisles at discount or Office Supply stores. This software is being pushed because of the reality that tax day is coming.

The common phrase is that there are 2 things that are inevitable. Software, a booklet from the IRS or an accountant can help you with one, but who is going to help you with the other?

This morning I am going to talk briefly about death, and next Sunday talk more about eternal death. Death is inevitable, but life is possible! God conquered death by raising Jesus 2000 years ago and you can conquer death as well by calling on the name of the Lord. Today we look at Colossians 2:13-14 to find out how to overcome death.

Colossians is primarily a letter about how Jesus is greater than any other religion or value system. And with all my being I believe that to be true. When God raised Jesus from the Dead and gave Him the name that is above every other name, at whose feet all creation will one day bow, the supremacy of Christ was established for all time.

But there is one section in Paul’s book to Colossae that explains that the resurrection is not only good historical news for Jesus, it is great news for each of us right now.

Colossians 2:13–14 ESV:2016

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Transition: By attaching our death to Christ’s experience on the cross, then the resurrection He experienced on Easter also speaks to life available to each person in reach of my voice. Some who are listening may be thinking, “I don’t need resurrection, I’m not even dead.”

Natural Man is Dead before God (v.13a)

Too many people presume the purpose of “religion” is to make “bad” people good or “good” people better. According to v.13, Christ came to make deadpeople alive!

Trespasses speaks to our actions/behaviors that leave us dead. Uncircumcision speaks to our condition from birth.

While there are many types of viruses with various levels of danger, it is true that some resistance is inherited and other immunity is acquired through exposure.

Illustration

Apart from the Covid-19 Virus that was so disruptive to all of our lives, there are many other viruses that threaten our health: polio, pneumococcal, RSV, Shingles, influenza, Bird flu, and various types of pox.

While all of these viruses spread (often through no fault of the individual), ALL of humanity is born with the fatal “sin virus”.

The Sin virus is 100% fatal, it has no vaccine, and there is no possibility of developing natural immunity.

If you are a fan of the British comedy troupe Monty Python, you know the different between “almost dead” and “dead dead”.

3. The ONLY remedy for the sin virus is a transplant: our guilt is transplanted to Jesus, and His righteousness is transplanted to us.

Acts 4:12 NLT:2013

12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Application

You may respond, “but preacher of course the Christian book is going to say the Christian way is the only way!”

Think with me for a moment. IF all paths lead to God, then salvation is possible apart from the Crucifixion of Christ. IF the crucifixion is only ONE of the ways to God, What kind of a God would permit His only son to go through that agony? Is that the kind of a God you want to spend eternity with?

The reason God decreed that Jesus would die, the Just for the unjust, is that this is the ONLY way to deal with those who are dead because of their natural condition AND those who are dead because of their behaviors!

Transition: Inquiring minds want to know, “How can Dead people call on the name of the Lord?”

God Makes us Alive [regeneration, resurrection] through the Resurrection (v.13b)

God initiates our salvation. God sent Jesus hundreds of years before your momma was ever born. Just as God breathed life into Jesus’ dead body on that Sunday morning, He breathes life into our dead spirits so that we have the ability to repent and believe.

For all who call upon the name of the Lord in this way Paul describes the same you who were dead are now made alive by having forgiven us all our trespasses!

Psalm 86:5 ESV:2016

5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Illustration

Yesterday I was introduced to sonogram images of my niece’s baby expected in August. Although months must pass until Desi and Anna can hold their baby. The reality of her life is already bringing joy to her parents. Today is being celebrated around the world by the symbol of eggs, because eggs contain chicks (you can check out live chicks coming out from eggs in a video Amy Budke posted 2 days ago) I wrote on Friday about the pasture burning that is happening around us. Every pasture that is burned is done so because the Ranchers fully anticipate that living grass is about to emerge from the earth.

The anticipation of life animates and motivates us!

Application

If we anticipate a future life with God, then we must NOW call upon Him in Faith

Transition: Calling is an act that looks to the future, but also benefits right now.

God Sets Us Free in Salvation (v.14a)

Explanation

1. Those who attend consistently will know that we have been studying through the New Testament book of Galatians. In our last Galatians message we read

Galatians 5:1 ESV:2016

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

2. The reality of many of our human existences can be summarized by the word bondage. There are many types of chains that hold us back.

Bondage has a strange way of entrapping us. I’ve heard that circus elephants are trained from their earliest day with a strong shackle that can withstand the abilities of a young elephant. Over time they learn it is futile to strain against the shackle, then the trainer can substitute a shackle connected to a short stake. The elephant senses the shackle, presumes it is strong enough to restrain, and no longer attempts to break free. Many of us remain bound by shackles that no longer have power to restrain.

3. A wonderful, Christ-based 12 step program is Celebrate Recovery. CR is available in Emporia and I would be glad to privately give you more information. CR sets out to celebrate true recovery from hurts, habits, and hang-ups.

a. You may be carrying a parent wound from something that happened in your family of origin. Some are bound up from being victimized physically, emotionally or spiritually.

b. Others today may be bound by habits that we have developed over time: addictions or coping skills that keep us from experiencing the abundant life God intends.

c. Still others can identify a trigger that sets us off psychologically. It may be whenever you hear the name of a particular politician, party, or issue that, although they haven’t wounded you directly, every time it comes to your mind something snaps.

d. I personally know people who have been released by the power of God through CR to overcome chemical dependency, porn addiction, and abuse scars.

4. The Gospel not only liberates us to escape hell and enter Heaven after death, it cancels all the debts we have accumulated throughout our lives, so that we can experience freedom now!

Illustration

Let’s take 90 seconds to consider what freedom looks like after a lifetime of captivity

Animal set Free - https://youtu.be/dSmdfJWbsuE

Application

This week an indictment was unsealed with 34 charges against a popular American. Once these charges are levied they must either be dropped or defended. The person in question will not be free until one of those 2 actions happens for each charge. V.14 states that God defends all charges against us by saying the penalty has been paid when Christ was punished.

Too often we turn to the “quick fix” even if it creates challenges in our future. That is NOT the life God desires for you.

“Never offer the sacrifice of the ultimate on the altar of the immediate.”

3. When Christ came to this earth, was crucified and resurrected on that first Easter morning it was so that YOUR record of debts could be cancelled and you could live freely now and into the afterlife in His very presence.

4. Our response to our bondage is often in chemicals, bitterness, or rebellion that masks our pain, but doesn’t give the true liberty of one set free.

Transition: God doesn’t just mask our pain that binds us, He permanently deals with the pain by...

God Nails Our Debt to the Cross (v.14a)

Explanation

Much has been said in the media recently about the 1st and 2nd amendments”. Freedom of Speech has been claimed recently to speak of perceived discrimination. Recent acts of violence have once again raised questions about the extent to which Americans have a right to bear arms.

If I mention the 5th Amendment, many of us would recall court scenes where a person has a right against self incrimination. But do you know that the 5th Amendment also has a clause that is referred to as double jeopardy? “nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb”

Our American law can be traced through Great Britain back to the Romans when Colossians was written. An ancient Latin text is translated as “the governor should not permit the same person to be again accused of a crime of which he had been acquitted[i].”

Not only are we forgiven, the charges cannot be raised again!

Illustration

A few moments ago we watch video of animals being released into open spaces. How would that footage been different if behind the camera was a line of hunters who had paid a guide to increase their harvest?

By cancelling the record of debt, God has posted a “no hunting” sign in the field where we are liberated. Since the indictment is nailed to the cross, it signifies the penalty has been paid and can no longer be used against us.

When God sets us free, the principle of double jeopardy is applied!

Application

When we moved back to Kansas, I needed a new title to get new license plated. My existing title listed a lien that our finance company held against the title. When I produced a lien release, the new title could be issued without any type of lien listed.

By nailing our debt to the Cross, God is declaring that NOBODY can make claim against our liberty or our Eternal Life.

Elsewhere Paul writes...

Romans 8:33–34 ESV:2016

33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Conclusion:

God, the ONLY arbiter of Heaven and Hell is the one who nails our lethal sin to the Cross, and Jesus is standing immediately to His right prepared to remind any who may attempt to bring accusation that Death has already happened for that sin and the principle of double jeopardy demands our freedom!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.

Because He lives, all fear is gone!

Life is worth the living because He lives!

Song of Response #210 “Jesus Paid it All”

Benediction: 1 Peter 1:3 (ESV) — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

[i] Digest of Justinian, Book 48, Title 2, Note 7