To Live is to Die: The Upside-Down Way of Finding Life
The Upside Down Way of Jesus (Lent 2024) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
On the night before his crucifixion the crushing weight of betrayal and abandonment and a certain impending tortuous death, was so unbearable, our Lord Jesus prayed, “Father , everything is possible for you. Please, take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but your will be done.”
In that moment our Lord expressed what all of us would. “Preserve my life. Protect me from death. Allow me to hold on to what I know, what I think I need, what I’ve worked so hard to maintain.”…please take this cup from me… We naturally want to hold on to our life.
And yet, perhaps in that very moment God’s Spirit brought to mind the very words Jesus had spoken to his own disciples:
25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
The paradox expressed in this saying of Jesus takes us to the core of the Christian faith. In dying we find life.
I think many of us realize that this apparent contradiction contains truth that we can all relate to. We can think of human experiences where some sense of dying is necessary in order to find life. Think about the arduous training required for an athlete. Months perhaps years of training, in effect dying to many opportunities for pleasure or comfort, in order to complete some great physical accomplishment, perhaps even winning a gold medal or some other high honor. In dying we find life.
Or think of this story of a man and his companions traveling across the Himalayan Mountains when they lost their way in a severe snowstorm. They were fighting to say alive and keep going when they literally stumbled over a man who was half dead in the snow. The man’s companion, wanting to save his life, refused to stop and so he continued on alone. The other man, however, put the dying man on his shoulders to carry him as best he could. Through his struggling and the mutual warmth of their bodies, he began to warm up, as did the unconscious man. Soon both of them were able to walk together. But before reaching the village, they found, frozen to death in the snow, the former companion who had tried to continue on his own.
“In dying we find life.”
Even from a human point of view we can think of stories that illustrate this apparent contradiction.
But surely this paradox means much more for us, and of course it does. In fact, what it means for us and for all creation is precisely why we call this Friday, “Good”.
The first thing that we can say about why this Friday is Good is that in one man’s death, we have life. And I mean that in a literal sense. The Bible teaches us that Jesus’ death was a substitute death for us. We deserved the punishment of physical death because of our sinful desires and inclinations. But Jesus came and out of his great love for us said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. (John 10:28). And he went on to say, “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:26). Why? Because the death of Jesus really does mean that “whoever believes in him will not perish but will have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Jesus’ physical death on our behalf meant that we could live.
But it really goes much deeper than that.
The Bible doesn’t just say that because Jesus died, we can live. The Bible also calls us to die.
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
I wonder if this verse from Peter’s first letter captures well for us the kind of death we must die.
24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
You see, the fact that Christ died in our place means that we must also die.
Yes it’s true that Christ died so that we might live. But he also died so that we might die.
And that takes us to the text we read from Romans 6.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
There is something remarkable that happens on the cross where Jesus died. As we look back on his death we realize that in the mind of God, we were there too. Our sins were nailed to that cross on him, and the death that we deserved was actually happening to us in him. Our sinful nature was nailed to that cross in Jesus.
Just a few verses earlier in Romans 6 Paul writes,
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
The waters of baptism are like a grave and going under the water is like a death, while coming up out of the water is new life.
Why is this so significant? It’s significant because if I embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord of my life, I am also embracing my own death as a sinner. I am choosing to turn from my sinful desires and inclinations.
I am choosing to do what Paul says in Colossians:
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
When I embrace my own death as a sinner, with God’s power and strength I am putting to death these things and am choosing to trust completely in God’s purpose and plan for my life, however difficult and challenging that might be. I am choosing to embrace this profound teaching of the prophet Isaiah
8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Remember what Peter writes,
24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
…to live for righteousness...... as I embrace Jesus Christ crucified, I not only embrace the death of sinfulness, I also embrace the life of righteousness. I embrace the righteousness of Christ so that His life may be lived out through me. This is how Paul puts it in Colossians.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
You see what happens when we embrace our death to sin, Christ’s life begins to manifest itself through us.
I think a beautiful picture of that is found in John’s Gospel.
And it’s a picture that I found beautifully captured in this piece of art created by an artist that I came to know in the Niagara region when I was serving a church there. His name is George Langbroek.
Show picture
This picture is based on John 12...
24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
[BLANK]
The seed that falls to the ground is of course Jesus.... but it’s also our lives too.... we die to sin, to selfishness, to pride, to self-will..... and that life is raised with Christ.... a life like a stalk of wheat that produces many seeds of new life and of Christian goodness.
In a few moments we will be invited to gather at that Lord’s Table....to present ourselves there in order to take in Jesus Christ....to take in his broken body and shed blood. As we take the bread and the cup together, let’s think of a concrete way in which we can embrace our death to sin.... what struggle with sin do you continue to experience in your own life? Take that with you to the Table and as you recieve the bread and the cup know that sin has been put to death in Jesus, so by his power you can put it to death in your own life too. And come to the Table receiving afresh the new life that comes from God.
Listen to these words again from Rom. 6:13
Romans 6:13 (NIV)
Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
I want to conclude with these words from a children’s Bible, the Jesus Storybook Bible, because they simply and beautifully capture the life that comes to us through death.
This is how God will rescue the whole world [Jesus says]. My life will break and God's broken world will mend. My heart will tear apart—and your hearts will heal … I won't be with you long. You are going to be very sad. But God's Helper will come. And then you'll be filled up with a Forever Happiness that won't ever leave. So don't be afraid. You are my friends and I love you.[1]
[1]Cf. The Jesus Storybook Bible.
Prayer....