Every good investigator knows a suspect in a crime needs a motive. Motivation, or motive in particular, is something that drives/forces us to act. Human beings have an infinite amount of motivators, of which the most prominent in my mind are power, fame, greed, influence (the Christian term for glory that we justify), greatness, legacy, and something I will call "like-ability." We are beings who desire to be accepted and approved in some way by those around us. Our time is either spent trying to get the spotlight, trying to keep the spotlight, or trying to avoid it so as not to draw attention to our folly. When we succeed we desire attention and praise, when we misstep we hope it is noticed by no one, and may it never be brought to light. Hold your head high, and when you stumble be certain to lift yourself from the ground and move on confidently. "Dust yourself off and try again" Aaliyah tells us. Unfortunately, I often feel like my moments to be esteemed are passed over whimsically, while my faults are brought to light readily by every living creature present (my dog reminded me of my selfishness just this evening).
We are such puzzling beasts, human beings. Most of our good deeds are done with selfish motives- self-glorification, adrenaline, heroism, etc- and yet we mask it with "humility" that is defined by the deflection of praise. This is no humility at all. We want so badly for our good deeds to be noticed, so that in the end they turn from selfless acts to self-serving acts. We wish to be viewed as great. Sherlock Holmes once said,
"You know a conjuror gets no credit when once he has explained his trick, and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all."
How it rings true in my soul that if people knew the real me they would see not just my very ordinary self, but even more so the wickedness of my heart. So, like the magician- we work to never ruin our "tricks." If we can keep people looking at the smoke and mirrors we may live a life smothered by "Ooohs and Aaahs" and at the end of our time be admired, heralded, maybe even touted (any time you can use the word touted in a blog it is a good day). And, if we're honest (which none of us ever are), we desire all of those things.
Problem- God calls us to make much of Him and not of ourselves. This isn't our nature. We are wired to seek our own glory and oh how we toil at building that legacy! We hide and shift and deceive in order to be regarded as great among men! Some of the scariest passages of Scripture to me are those like Romans 2:16 where Paul writes, "on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." To know that one day I will lay naked (metaphorically) before God, all my secrets and dark corners exposed, is a terrifying thought. And yet- if I am honest now my legacy is untainted when, on that day, according to my Gospel, God will judge by secrets by Jesus. People will not look on in disgust as a secret life of sin and shame are revealed...they will look on in eager longing for the revealing of the Sons of God. My body will be redeemed and they will see a broken man made whole again. They will see a man who claimed to be the chief of all sinners redeemed, cleaned, justified, sanctified, and pure before Christ.
So what have we to fear? Confession and transparency are messy work. But if they mean drawing nearer to God then are they not worth it? For HE is the motivation that sustains! He is the motivation that never fails, the passion that never subsides, the love that never dissipates! So rather than building my own legacy and chasing the wind in the life I have been given- allow me to step aside and build HIS legacy. Lord, Humble me so that all my works may glorify Christ and not myself! Let my motivation to see the name of Christ exalted and lifted high...may it never be my name. If this means humiliation and shame for a lifetime- let me not save face. I have great hope that the "face" I lose here will be lifted in Heaven to meet my glorious Savior as He allows me to enter in and rest.
Project- Try to do something this week to help someone. Bring them lunch, give them a loan, fix a car, do a favor, stay at the hospital, try anything. Only accept no payment and tell no one of it...see how difficult it is to refrain from seeking praise from men.
"“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Matthew 6:1-4
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Romans 7 Eats My Soul For Lunch
Paul opens Romans 7 by talking to brothers (those who know the law of the Old Testament), in saying that the law is only binding in life. Once death is reached, it no longer holds the person. Using the illustration of a woman who is married and her husband dies, she is free to marry again because death has set her and him free from the law. However, if a woman remarries while her husband is still alive, she is considered an adulteress. All this to point to the fact that the law is no longer binding upon death.
Here's where Paul chose to reach into my abdominal/torso area, pull out my soul, insert into mouth, and chew decidedly. He says likewise, like the woman whose husband had died, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, the one who was raised from the dead (Romans 7:4). Like the woman set free from the law by the death of her husband, we were set free from the law by the death of Christ. This is the reason Jesus must be fully human, if he were not, we would not have been granted freedom from the law. However, because of his perfection as a human being in not breaking the law of sin, he was declared innocent before God.
A law breaker (any normal human being), must bear the punishment of breaking the law, namely, in this case, death (Romans 6:23). In order for Jesus to be a sacrifice, he had to have been not guilty, otherwise, he was merely a sinner being punished for sin. But since he lived a sinless life, he had a "choice" to bear punishment in our stead. The punishment for our sin was death, and he bore that death on Good Friday. This is mind blowing to me- not only did he achieve for us eternal life, but he also died for us. I don't mean the metaphoric died for us in the sense that he loved us so much that he died for us, but in the most literal sense. We were supposed to die, and he did it instead. And Paul says that because he experienced death. all who would follow him for all time are also considered DEAD! I don't have to die to be dead? Seems odd.
Why this is important moves back to Romans 7. Verse 6 says that we may serve in a new way of the Spirit because we are no longer held captive by the law. We can bear fruit instead of bearing death. Why would I follow Jesus one might say? Well, because in Jesus we are dead. Oh what a joy you respond? Great joy is found in knowing that we are free from the law! The law that plagued man for centuries, that marked out morality and man continued to fail at. As every human in history fell short of the life they were called to, Jesus reached that mark. And in his death I consider myself dead and so freed from the law. Being freed from the law, there can be no transgression. Were the law not written I would never have known what it is to covet, had the law not said, "You shall not covet." (Romans 7:7) If the law had not existed, then we would not have recognized sin, and never recognized our own sinfulness, leaving us without need for rescue. But the law was created, and it was holy, but sin seized the opportunity to lead us astray, and so we became slaves to sin. We knew what was wrong and what was right, and yet continued to do what we knew was wrong because we were slaves to sin.
I cannot keep the law. Being born of flesh, I am a slave to flesh, and flesh is sold to sin. It belongs to sin. This is why I prize death. Having died through Christ, my flesh dies- I take on his death as my own. In doing so, I am no longer a slave to sin and am able to bear fruit for Christ. I die with him, but am able to continue living here to do his work while in the flesh, and yet not of the flesh.
I have died through the body of Christ- his human body, and because of His death I am able to preach the gospel today without being a slave to sin. This is the rebirth, the death of my flesh that produces life in my spirit. Oh how I pray that I would be a slave to righteousness and not to sin! That my flesh would be crucified with Christ in order that I may be raised with him to life, and not only life but life in abundance.
Here's where Paul chose to reach into my abdominal/torso area, pull out my soul, insert into mouth, and chew decidedly. He says likewise, like the woman whose husband had died, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, the one who was raised from the dead (Romans 7:4). Like the woman set free from the law by the death of her husband, we were set free from the law by the death of Christ. This is the reason Jesus must be fully human, if he were not, we would not have been granted freedom from the law. However, because of his perfection as a human being in not breaking the law of sin, he was declared innocent before God.
A law breaker (any normal human being), must bear the punishment of breaking the law, namely, in this case, death (Romans 6:23). In order for Jesus to be a sacrifice, he had to have been not guilty, otherwise, he was merely a sinner being punished for sin. But since he lived a sinless life, he had a "choice" to bear punishment in our stead. The punishment for our sin was death, and he bore that death on Good Friday. This is mind blowing to me- not only did he achieve for us eternal life, but he also died for us. I don't mean the metaphoric died for us in the sense that he loved us so much that he died for us, but in the most literal sense. We were supposed to die, and he did it instead. And Paul says that because he experienced death. all who would follow him for all time are also considered DEAD! I don't have to die to be dead? Seems odd.
Why this is important moves back to Romans 7. Verse 6 says that we may serve in a new way of the Spirit because we are no longer held captive by the law. We can bear fruit instead of bearing death. Why would I follow Jesus one might say? Well, because in Jesus we are dead. Oh what a joy you respond? Great joy is found in knowing that we are free from the law! The law that plagued man for centuries, that marked out morality and man continued to fail at. As every human in history fell short of the life they were called to, Jesus reached that mark. And in his death I consider myself dead and so freed from the law. Being freed from the law, there can be no transgression. Were the law not written I would never have known what it is to covet, had the law not said, "You shall not covet." (Romans 7:7) If the law had not existed, then we would not have recognized sin, and never recognized our own sinfulness, leaving us without need for rescue. But the law was created, and it was holy, but sin seized the opportunity to lead us astray, and so we became slaves to sin. We knew what was wrong and what was right, and yet continued to do what we knew was wrong because we were slaves to sin.
I cannot keep the law. Being born of flesh, I am a slave to flesh, and flesh is sold to sin. It belongs to sin. This is why I prize death. Having died through Christ, my flesh dies- I take on his death as my own. In doing so, I am no longer a slave to sin and am able to bear fruit for Christ. I die with him, but am able to continue living here to do his work while in the flesh, and yet not of the flesh.
I have died through the body of Christ- his human body, and because of His death I am able to preach the gospel today without being a slave to sin. This is the rebirth, the death of my flesh that produces life in my spirit. Oh how I pray that I would be a slave to righteousness and not to sin! That my flesh would be crucified with Christ in order that I may be raised with him to life, and not only life but life in abundance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
