“From Death to Life”
October 26, 2008
John 5:24-29
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”
When God made Adam and Eve – they were perfect in every way. God doesn’t make anything flawed. They were perfect human specimens. Physically, I think they must have been awesome. Strong; perfect skin; perfect hair; perfect teeth. They would have been the envy of anyone in Hollywood.
I think they had abilities we can hardly imagine. I think they could communicate perfectly because of an extra sensory perception that we have lost. Their hearts were created to love. Their instinct was to obey God. Their spirits were finely tuned to be one with God. It was not natural for them to rebel or to hate. The natural inclination of their heart was to do God’s will. They would have been perfect little human robots – except God created them with one ability that was their doom. No – it wasn’t a flaw. It wasn’t a mistake. It wasn’t bad – it was good. That ability was the power of free will. And it was a necessary gamble for God. For with the power of free will they could choose life – or they could choose death. They could choose obedience – or they could choose to rebel. They could choose love – or they could choose hate. They could choose to be free of sin – or they could choose to be free TO sin. You know what they choose.
But why? Why did God give them this great ability and power? It has doomed and enslaved countless people and has caused unfathomable suffering.
The answer is simple – without free will – there could be no love relationship. Forced love is not good –it’s evil. Love to be the exquisite thing God meant it to be; Love to be the tender, the beautiful thing God meant it to be – must be freely accepted and freely given. God created all kinds of creatures that were beautiful and amazing and different – but man was the only creation, other than the angels, that was created with a free will. You see, God wanted a friend. God wanted a being that He could not only love – but that could freely love Him in return. So it was necessary for God to create Adam and Eve with free will. Free to choose to love Him – or free to choose NOT to love Him.
And you know the story. When temptation came - they choose sin – not holiness. They choose rebellion – instead of obedience. They choose death rather than life. And a strange thing happened. Where once their spirits were pure and perfect and in tune with God; where once their natural instinct was to obey God – now it became twisted and depraved. They not only fell from their pure estate; not only did they loose their innocence; but their very inner nature was to do their own thing and go their own way.
We usually blame Eve for the fall, because she fell first and then got Adam to sin, too. But if Adam would have remained strong – it is possible that their off-spring (US) wouldn’t have that twisted sin nature. But Adam DID sin. And so the bible says:
“… sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” Romans 5:12
The Bible attributes the fall of man to Adam – not eve. Because the twisted, rebellious, nature would not have been passed on unless both had rebelled. So that depraved, selfish, rebellious nature is now genetically passed on to all of Adam’s off-spring. It’s called “the genetic mode of transmission of inherited depravity” in theology. And all of us are born with a tendency to sin and rebel and have a self-centered will. And that means we are all born in death because the result of rebellion (which is sin) is death. The Bible says,
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Romans 3:10-12
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
It is important for every person to come to realize that they are sinners and condemned to hell. It is important to realize we are enemies of God and on our way to everlasting hell. If we don’t realize we are sick – we don’t seek the cure. If we don’t realize we are sick – we don’t call the doctor. We have to come to a place where we realize we need a savior. The Bible says,
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”
Ephesians 2:1-3
That’s a pretty gloomy picture – but the Good News is that Jesus loves us. God loves us so much He sent Jesus to die in our place for our sins and pay our penalty of death. Our Scripture says,
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” V.24
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9
So, in each of lives God has given us a choice – just like Adam and Eve.
“See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” Deuteronomy 30:15
At some point in our life, we all get an opportunity to choose life or death. We get the opportunity to use our wills to choose Self or God; heaven or hell; sin or obedience. Have you made the choice? No choice is a choice in itself. If you have never willingly and thoughtfully accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and willingly and freely confessed and repented of your sin – you are on the path that leads to hell and everlasting separation from God and all that is good. The Good News is that God doesn’t want any to perish. He wants all to come to repentance. His arms are open wide for all who will come to Him.
Most of you have made that choice. You have confessed your selfish rebellion and turned to Jesus and are striving to walk in His ways. But before very long, you are confronted with a big problem. That pesky attribute of self-will fights against our spirit. Listen to Paul’s description of the struggle.
“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”
Romans 7:14-25
Have you ever been there? Do you know what Paul is talking about? Have you experienced wanted to live for God – but the fleshly desires are so strong that you can’t? We all have. The bible says,
“For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” Galatians 5:17
As important as it is to realize you are a sinner and need a Savior, it is just as important to realize that you are a slave to sin and need help. The need is a broken will. Even as Christians we struggle with our will. Our will and our spirit are in conflict with each other. The need is to have our will broke. Our will needs to be totally surrendered to the Father. Our self will needs to be killed and resurrected in God’s will – so we can pray as Jesus did in the Garden, “…not as I will – but as YOU will.” (Matthew 26:39)
Before that happens, even as Christians, the ugly head of rebellion pops up. We are naturally rebellious. We are by nature sinners. We have a bent to sin. And living as a Christian with a selfish will; living as a self-centered Christian -is a miserable way to live. Paul said, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” It’s miserable being up and down as a Christian. It’s terrible to live a defeated life. We rationalize our sin and excuse our meanness away and call what is perversion and abnormal – normal. We continually have to confess our sin and repent. We strive to live a life that is pleasing to God and continually fall short. We get in a confrontation and before we know it we are cursing and the ugly head of sin pops up and we are so embarrassed. We are doing fine and something pops up on the internet and before we know it we are looking at pornography. We get in hot water and before we know it we are telling a lie. I’ve being there – and I hated it! It some ways it was more miserable that not even knowing God’s will.
But I have some more Good News for you. You can be delivered from that awful place of defeat. Paul answers his own question. He said,
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Jesus has provided the victory over the depraved will. With His blood He not only provided salvation – but power to live a victorious life as well.
“… through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. for what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son…” Romans 8:2-3
The provision has been made through Jesus Christ. And as we came to Him with our sin for salvation – we must come to Him with our will to be broken. David prayed, “Create in me a NEW spirit.” And that is our need as well. It is only when we come to God in brokenness and have an inner longing and yearn for righteousness; it is only when we come in total surrender of our will - can He take control of us and fill us with His own Holy Spirit.
And when we are truly surrendered to His will in every area of our lives, He begins to purge and purify us. He will point out to us habits, attitudes, acts, lack of acts, that need to change or be removed. As long as we grip that thing and it is more precious to us that doing His will – we will live in defeat and the Christian walk will be very difficult. When we come to a place of total surrender and release to God will, and He begins the purifying process – then the Holy Spirit can indwell and possess us in a way we would never allow before. Only then can He begin to produce the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives the way He wants to. Before - we may have tried to do good and be good – but it was strained and sporadic and inconsistent. After being filled with the Holy Spirit, the fruit will come as a natural process of allowing God to have His way in our lives. We will grow in grace and knowledge and blossom into the spiritual being God meant for us to be all along.
Where are you in your journey? Are you living in rebellion and spiritually lost? Have you confessed your sin and accepted Him as Savior – but still struggling with your will and fleshly nature? Or have you died out to self – and each day are allowing Christ to be in control of your life?
I encourage you to pray that God would break your will – so He can shape your spirit. He wants to shape your spirit into Christ’s likeness. But He won’t do it unless and until you freely surrender your will to Him.
Lord Jesus,
I love you and I have asked for forgiveness and I know I am your child and saved by grace. But I realize that I am still trying to control my life. Break my spirit, Lord. I surrender it to you. Help me to die out to self – and allow your will to be done in every area of my life. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and do your will through me. Produce your beautiful fruit in my life. Jesus, I release total control of my life for you right now – and I will strive with all my being to do Your will.
In Jesus Name,
HYMN “Have Your Own Way”
