You Only Live Once
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Several years ago, a statement became very popular especially with younger people: You Only Live Once. What was behind this statement for many people? If you desire to do something, you should do it because, after all, you only live once! Take the risk, go on the trip, say the word, do the thing - because, you only live once. Initially, there is a good aspect to this. We know that tomorrow is not guaranteed and we are to take advantage of the time and opportunities that we have! As a result, we should do these types of things rather than living with regret and wishing that we had done them. The primary question that we have to ask is this: What is the point of our life?
Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, has a daily podcast called the Briefing where he talks about world events and he always starts his podcast off by framing these events through a Christian worldview. Through a Christian worldview, what is our purpose? The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks this very question and notes, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” How about that? Biblically, we are reminded that our purpose is to know/glorify God and enjoy Him for all eternity. This is looking at things from a big picture perspective. Many people don’t do this, though. Lots of people around us focus almost exclusively on the here and now to the point that they don’t even think of the big picture. Some people look around and see things similar to how Solomon saw them in Ecclesiastes
14 There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.
15 So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
There are people who do good things who suffer and are not rewarded. There are people who do bad and get away without being punished at all. Therefore, what is the natural conclusion? I should do whatever I want. Whatever feels right. What is the difference or advantage to do something good instead of something that feels right? After all, I only live once.
Jared Wilson helps with this second lie by sharing, “Sin is fundamentally stupid. This lie is profoundly stupid because it risks to imply that you will live forever.”
We know that we are alive today but that there will come a time in which this will not be the case. We will die. Further, we know that there is life after death awaiting us. Because of this, we are reminded to take advantage of the time we have but we cannot use this idea or mentality to think that this life is all that there is. We can’t simply indulge in our desires and do whatever our heart wants.
9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?
Because our heart is deceitful, we can’t drop everything and do what feels right. We have to have boldness and courage, yes, but ultimately we evaluate what we do with God’s Word. We know that something better is awaiting us. This doesn’t give us a license to be lazy and live in sin, but it also doesn’t give us a license to be act like we have it all figured out.
Truth in the Statement
Truth in the Statement
What is the truth in You Only Live Once? You are alive today. You are breathing. You are thinking. You have choices to make and responsibilities to uphold. John Piper delivered a message to college age students several decades ago that has since become one of the most watched/listened to messages of the 20th century in which Piper pleaded with these students, “Do not waste your life.”
If we were not Christians and we were looking at the probabilities of human life, we would come to the conclusion that we are an anomaly. What are the chances that out of all the galaxies, stars, planets, and things out there that we would have life on planet earth? From a Christian perspective, we know that the answer is simple: God said let there be life… and there was life! Thinking, again, from an outsiders perspective, though, think about human life. Think about the human eye and how complex it is. Think of our brain and heart and how they do a million things every day and they go on largely unnoticed unless there is a massive problem. Think of how our bodies work. Think of how our planet is perfectly tuned in the universe so that we have seasons rather than frigid, constant cold or burning heat. Life is amazing! We should celebrate our life and we should praise the Lord along the way.
Jesus says in John 10 that He is the Good Shepherd for His sheep
10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
We not only have life, but we have it in abundance. We shouldn’t waste our life - we should use our time wisely and truly make the most of every moment. In this sense, You Only Live Once is true in that we have life and we should take advantage of the time we have.
Danger in the Statement
Danger in the Statement
The danger with this statement is enormous. Many people live their life getting whatever they can, canning whatever they get and whenever they retire, they sit on the can! What you learn as a Christian, though, is that there is no such thing as a retired Christian. Certainly, you might retire from your vocation or 9-5 job, but there is always ministry work to be done! The “You Only Live Once” statement not only implies that this life is all that there is, but that you should do whatever you please. Party it up - you only live once. On the other hand, some do really nice things because they believe it’s the right thing to do and if you do good in this life, you’ll have good done to you later on. This almost hits on another lie we’ll discuss in July, but there are some people who are very religious or very moral and they think that they have do all these good things so that their life here and now will be good. Kind of along the lines of karma. Do good and good will happen to you.
We know that there is danger in this thinking. We are called by Jesus to
12 Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Does Jesus say do good to others and good will come to you? No. We can’t do good in this life and expect good to be done to us. Further, we don’t just do good in hopes that our good will be good enough and save us. Jesus shares in John 3 to a religious expert, Nicodemus, that one must be born again
3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
What does it mean to be born again? To be born again, one must die. Does the Bible talk about the concept of dying to self? It absolutely does! Jesus says
23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.
We take up our cross. We die to self. We follow Jesus. We all will die, but if you are in Christ, if you are born again, you have the hope of resurrection. A Biblically accurate corrective to You Only Live Once would be: Live once, die twice. Live twice, die once. If you only emphasize living for yourself and you fail to do business with the Lord on this side of things, you will die twice. You will die a physical death and you will be separated from God for all eternity. However, if you repent of your sins, deny yourself, and follow after Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, you will die a physical death, but you have the hope of eternal life in glory with Him.
CS Lewis talks about the importance of dying to self in his writings and in one of his novels, he notes this, “Die before you die. There is no chance after.” At this point, some will ask, what does it look like to die to self? This is an importance question and one that the Bible helps answer.
It means to put Christ’s glory > your comfort
It’s no longer about what we prefer or like, instead, it’s about making Christ known.
Paul references this in Galatians 2
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
It means that we are given a goal
It’s no longer about what we want in life. Instead we are apart of something bigger and better! What is our goal? Our goal is to be on fire for the Lord and to live a life that is set apart and holy like He calls us to be.
One of the grave dangers in You Only Live Once for Christians is a tendency to not be active and on fire for the Lord. Who cares if I am still sinning, after all, I’m only going to live once and Christ died for all of my sin, past present and future. Therefore, I’m just going to coast through this life and do whatever makes my life easier. Jesus, not us, knows what is best and offers this word of warning in Mark 8
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
We don’t long to gain the world. We don’t long to satisfy our fleshly desires. We live for an audience of 1 and we aim to bring Him glory and honor. We can’t be passive about this, though.
Let us heed the warning given by Jesus to the church of Laodicea
15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot.
16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.
Let us be hot. Let us be on fire for the Lord! Let us be a church that lives and breathes the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we proclaim its power and truth to those around us. Let us keep our focus on eternity to come rather than our life here and now. As we do this, let’s remember that we are not the star of the show. We point others to the star/hero - Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We were created for eternity. The world, though, believes that this world is all that there is. This confuses us many times, but Paul talks about this in Romans 1
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
We read about the good that God has done. We read about all that He has created. We know that He has provided for us numerous times. We know that He is for us. That He has a plan for us. Yet, many people hear the stories, experience the stuff, go through the motions, yet they end up doing exactly what Paul talks about in Romans 1 - they exchange the truth for a lie. They take the good news and warp it to what they want it to be. They look at eternity with God in glory and they say, give me 70 years here and now and let me do whatever I want, however I want, whenever I want. Does this make a lick of sense? On one hand, no, but on the other hand, it makes perfect sense because it’s what humans have done since the dawn of time.
Let our response be to speak the truth in love. Let us not condemn people unnecessarily harshly for their faulty logic or worldview, instead, let us love them and share with them these truths.
This life is important
This life is not all that there is
There is no time better to do business with Jesus than today
To quote Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12
1 So remember your Creator in the days of your youth: Before the days of adversity come, and the years approach when you will say, “I have no delight in them”;
Don’t wait. Don’t waste your life. Don’t subscribe to the lie that it’s all about you. Remember your Creator in your youth. Remember that it’s all about Jesus.