Act 1: The curtain is drawn back, in a garden we are introduced to God, a man, and a woman.
Life is not a daily grind, it is full of joy and purpose and good communion.
Act 2: Enter a snake...(Why does it always have to be snakes?)
A lie, manipulation, distrust, and selfishness lead the man an woman to partake of the only forbidden part of the glorious garden. And thus sin entered the world and a death became an inevitable end to life. The purpose of work and life in the garden remained, to have "creation flourish in reliance on God," but sin tainted that which was good and made it hard. Mans' choice to judge good and bad on their own separated them from the good communion they had with God.
"The one who sins is the one who will die." ~Ezekiel 18:20a
The promise of sin, disobedience to God, is death. The result of knowing death awaits us is fear...fear that we will die too soon, that someone else will die too soon, fear that we will miss out on something we want in this life, fear of missing out in general (aka FOMO). Basically we are scared OF death. And this fear drives us to make selfish decisions and encourages our selfish motivations. We try to get all we can out of this life before it is no more, before we are dust.
"Since the children have flesh and blood, [Jesus] too shared in their humanity
so that by His death He might beak the power of him who holds the power of
death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery
by their fear of death. ~Hebrews 2:14-15
But praise God we can be set free from this yoke of slavery that is self fulfillment in this life, set free to a promise of eternal life and perfect communion with God. Through His life, death, and resurrection Jesus made a way for us to gain eternal life through faith in Him, the son of God.
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God!
He give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" ~1 Corinth. 15:56-57
His love, His great love, did that. His love reached out to save us and redeem our sin. It was embodied by Christ who perfectly lived life in human form and made a way for us to not depend on anything in this life for our happiness. He fulfilled the law and covered His followers in His righteousness. That love, that perfect love, drives out our fears of missing out on anything this world (or satan) has to offer us. It's wild and reckless and crazy love, and it means to reconnect us to the God who made us.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have
life and have it abundantly." ~John 10:10
Once we are set free from fear of death by God's abounding love we are able to look at this life through the filter of eternity, with the understanding that this life IS but dust BUT we are promised eternity. Our motivations change and begin to align with God's desires. We seek to live our lives for God's glory and to draw people to His family. We love because He loved us (well that brings me back to lesson 1...). Our lives change!
"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that
your labor in the Lord is not in vain." ~1 Corinth.15:58
Our teacher made the important and convicting point at the end of our lesson that "living in sin and claiming Christ isn't ok...it doesn't change your salvation but it does change your confidence in your salvation." But, he also reminded us, our response to sin in this world also changes. We do not become defensive and judgmental of those outside of God's Body, but instead we choose love, unconditional love, love like His love for us. Love that attracts people into the Body of Christ.
*A little video where Francis Chan explains this life vs eternity*
No comments:
Post a Comment