Saved to Sacrifice

Meaning

Discussion with Professor X about a man being charged with the murder of a Mom and Baby. If it was Mom she would have been enabled to terminate the preganancy. Life is inherently meaningless - it only has value when a person of value ascribes it value.

“Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless...” said the preacher. So are the opening words of the Book of Ecclesiastes.

What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of your life? Are there any more profound questions than these? But these are questions worth asking, are they not?

Solomon’s words in the book of Ecclesiastes come after a life lived pleasing and pleasuring the senses. He says that he has been King in Jerusalem and applied himself to gain as much wisdom as he could. His conclusion? Ecclesiastes 1:13 “...It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.”

Solomon applied himself to gain much knowledge. Even in this he found no meaning. Ecclesiastes 1:18 “For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”

Solomon then applied himself to receiving as much pleasure as he possible could. Ecclesiastes 2:1–2 “I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”” even in this, Solomon found no meaning.

Solomon turned his heart away from the Lord and pursued what has become known as hedonism. Allowing oneself to be immersed by every and all pleasures.

What Solomon sought three thousand years ago, is the same pursuit of the human heart today. For centuries the Judeo-Christian worldview provided some kind of moral direction or moral compass to our society and all other societies in the West. But this religious foundation has been systematically dismantled and destroyed and replaced with ‘reason’. The result is a philosophy known as secular humanism.

Secular humanism is a philosophy, belief system, or life stance that embraces human reason, logic, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism, while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision-making - Merriam Webster.

It was the philosophers of the enlightenment era that argued that reason and philosophy could solve all of the worlds problems. Emmanuel Kant began the assassination of God when he found that all reasonable attempts to explain the existence of God using reason alone were defective, illogical, and impossible.

Heine describes Kant’s Critique as “the sword with which deism was executed in Germany” making Kant, of course, the executioner. A hundred years later, Nietzsche came along and, having witnessed god’s decline in the world, single-handedly ushered in his demise in philosophy. What followed was a sudden rise in a belief of nothing; a godless world devoid of meaning, one in which – in Dostoevsky’s phrasing “all is permitted” and a radically new way of understanding the world and how humans were to live in it. Friedrich Nietzsche is then said to have pronounced, “God is dead”.

Power

Since Nietzsche great pronouncement that ‘god is dead’, what has replaced God in the world and what therefore gives humanity meaning? There are two contenters to god in the world; Power and Sex. On the issue of power, we have seen the rise of radical marxism, which was intended to establish equality of outcomes for all people, but brought nothing but death and destruction. Joseph Stalin was responsible for the death of nearly 40million people in Russia, Pol Pot nearly 2 million people in Cambodia, and 60 Million people in Moa Zedong’s China. If we include Hitler in the list, we have tens of millions more.

In recent decades, radical Islam has tried to establish itself as the dominant force in the world. We are told that it is a religion of peace, and yet nothing both death and destruction follows in its wake. We have watched with horror as the Taliban has established sharia law in Afghanistan. We have seen the rise of Isis and the death and destruction that followed that organisation in Syria, the rise and fall of Al Qaida in Iraq and various other Islamist terrorist organisations in Lybia, Oman, Iran, and Pakistan.

In the west we are seeing the rise of soft authoritarianism, where governments in so-called democratic countries are beginning to over regulate and over involve themselves in the lives of their different populations. We see this in Canada, Britain, Australia, and most European countries including France and Germany. In fact, arguably the greatest genocide of the 20th and 21st centuries has not happened in communist Russia, China, Germany, or Cambodia - but it has been the murder of the unborn in the West. Hundreds of Millions of babies destroyed because they are an inconvenience to their would-be parents.

The point is this, when you remove God out of society we do not get order and balance, society degenerates into chaos, disorder, and death. All of the philosophies that I have mentioned are philosophies of death.

Sex

Sex has become another pretender to the throne of human meaning. Since the 19760’s, the world has seen a rapid shift away from the institution of marriage between a natural born man and a natural born woman. Marriage can now take place between people of the same gender, in fact, you can even marry yourself. We have seen the rapid rise of various forms of sexual perversion. Sex has become a commodity that is freely traded on the worlds economic markets. More than 50% of all internet traffic is pornographic.

The result has not been satisfaction and happiness. In response to our over sexualised world, 30% of young people now describe themselves as asexual and have no desire to be in a close intimate relationship with another person. The birth rate in the Western world is at historic lows with countries like Japan, South Korea, Germany, and Sweden and others all with populations in serious decline.

If neither sex nor power are the answers to the human need for meaning, then what is?

Sacrifice

Human society has flourished when the people that live within it are willing to sacrifice themselves and their own desires for the good of their families, their churches, and their communities. Our text this morning has much to say on this issue. Let us read it together.

Philippians 3:8–21 ESV

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Maturity

Who would you say is the most mature among us? Well, that depends on how you define maturity, you might say.

There are a variety of meanings for mature:

We could say that to be mature is to be fully grown or developed. A teenager or child would be undergoing a process of maturation. An adult would be regarded a mature.

Maturity could refer to the end of an investment cycle.

Maturity can be used as a euphemism for older people.

However, this not how the bible defines maturity.

Biblical Definition for Maturity

The greek word for Maturity in the new testament is the word, ‘teleios’. It carries with it the idea of being made perfect. We find a similar use and a similar meaning for this word in

1 Corinthians 14:20 “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.”

and,

Colossians 1:28 “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

Now we have already seen that the process that all Christians undergo between their justification and their glorification is the process of sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which Christians are changed and grow in their moral perfection or maturity. In this way, Christians become more like Christ.

But that still hasn’t given us a definition. So if I had to ask you for example, what seperates a human adult from a human child, the difference extends beyond mere physical maturation. There is something distinct about an adult that differs from a child. We might say that it is the capacity for repsonsibility, and that would be true. Adults should be able to accept responsibility for others. That would be a marker for maturity. However, the definition must extend even beyond this.

Defining maturity

The best definition for maturity that I have come across is as follows:

Maturity is a willingness to sacrifice the pleasures of today for the rewards of tomorrow. At the heart of maturity is a willingness and ability to sacrifice. The difference between a human adult and a human child is the ability for the adult to sacrifice themselves for the good of other people. Parents sacrifice themselves for their children. Husbands sacrifice themselves in loving service to their wives. Wives sacrifice themselves in humble submission to their husbands. These relationships are at the very center of what it means to be human, what it means to be mature, what it means to sacrifice.

So how does this play out in all of scripture? Who is the most mature person to have ever lived? Well according to our definition, it would be the person who has sacrificed the most and been the example by which many people after him have done the same.

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

John 10:17–18 “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.””

At the heart of the good news of the gospel is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. You will notice from John 10:17 Jesus chose to lay it down. He willingly, knowingly, deliberately, intentionally laid his life down. He wasn’t forced to, though the Romans soldiers would certainly claim it. His life wasn’t taken from him, though the Jewish religious leaders would argue that it was. No, Christ willingly laid it down, and in that moment we have on full display for the world to see the greatest display of sacrificial love the world has ever and will ever know - the Shepherd laying down his life for the sheep (John 10:11 - 18).

Maturity as a major theme of the letter to the Philippians

Christ as our example

Why would Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, willingly lay his life down for sinful men? If Christ was God, surely he ought to have embodied power like none before him. Why choose to be born in a humble manger, why choose to be born in the likeness of men? Well Philippians 2:3 - 11 helps to answer this:

Philippians 2:4–8 ESV

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Don’t let the familiarity of this passage cause its message to be lost on you. God the son became a man and humbled himself to the point of death. But his sacrifice wasn’t without hope. Christ laid his life down because he knew that he would take it up again.

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ sacrifices himself willingly, knowing that after his death, he would take up life again. This time though, he would not only have the glory that he had with his father in heaven from eternity past, but he would also have the glory due to his name from every human being on earth. Those who trust him will glorify Christ willingly. Those who have not trusted him, will be forced to acknowledge him when they realise that this man was indeed God. Christ’s sacrifice was made in hope, eternal hope.

Paul as an example

Paul’s example of maturity in the book of Philippians is also remarkable.

Paul imprisoned in Rome (1:13)

Paul willing to die for Christ (1:21)

Paul’s hope of future glory (1:23)

Paul sacrifices himself for the Philippian Church (2:17)

Paul counts everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Chapter 3:7 - 10

The Philippian Church

Their partnership with Paul (1:5)

Suffering for Christ (1:29)

Paul calls Philippians to deny themselves in service of each other (2:3 - 4).

Paul calls the church to sacrifice the sinful pleasures of the world and to allow their moral perfection to shine in a dark and sin cursed world (2:14 - 16)

Application: Maturity - every Christians Responsibility

The mature sacrifice

When does this begin?

Upon salvation when Christ calls us to be baptised. Baptism as you well know is a public spectacle, where the Christian publicly testifies of his or her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thereafter, the call is for the Christian to daily deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow Christ.

But notice that this is not burdensome. Paul in Chapter 1 says that he would far rather go to be with Christ than to continue living in the flesh. His desire is to be with his master, with his Lord, with his saviour. This is true for every person who has been saved by God. Increasingly, the object of their desire becomes the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He become their highest thought, the strongest affection, their highest hope, their most abundant joy.

1 When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God! All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them through his blood.

3 See, from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4 Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

In this song we have the sacrifice of the mature. Out of a deep and enduring love for Christ, the Christian is willing to lay all aside in pursuit of Him. Brothers and sisters, is the cry of Isaac Watts in this song yours? Do you love Christ and know him enough to lay your life aside in pursuit of him?

The mature persevere (vs. 16)

In verse 12 and 14 Paul uses the phrase “I press on”

In verse 13, Paul uses the phrases “straining forward”

In Chapter 4:1 - “Stand firm”.

The value of imitating others (vs. 17)

Philippians 3:17 ESV

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

Behaviour is caught as much as it is taught.

Christians should start out imitating others.

They should then become people worthy of imitating like Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12–13 “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”

The cost of immaturity (vs. 18 and 19)

Philippians 3:18–19 ESV

For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

James 4:4 “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Friendship with the world means embracing its hedonistic values. It is selfish, self seeking, and pleasure desiring.

Hebrews 3:11–13 “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’ ” Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

The mature look to the future with hope (vs. 20 and 21)

Philippians 3:20–21 ESV

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Concluding remarks

Life isn’t meaningless because the philosophers of the enlightenment were wrong. These philosophers missed one key issue. Life is not about the attainment of wealth, power, or pleasure. Fundamentally, human life is built around and on this sacrifice.

The mature among us know it because they follow the example of their Saviour. An example worth repeating:

“Though He was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in Human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross”.

Husbands denying themselves to love and serve their wives.

Wives sacrificing themselves for their children.

Families denying themselves as they gather with the Church on Sundays and use their gifts for the benefit of others.

Give yourselves for the service of one another in this Church. It is the imitation of Christ our saviour. It builds the Church. It gives meaning and purpose to life.