Sin = Enslavement; Jesus Breaks Sins and Gives Life

"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. for the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts." (Romans 6:8-12)

In Christianity, we hear of the free gift of Christ very often. Here in Romans 6, Paul details to us what exactly Christ has done for us. Christ sacrificed Himself for the death that we should have died because of our sins, and being God His death has the power to cover all our sins. In addition, only the death of a perfect man under the law could serve as that sacrifice as a sinful man would already deserve death on his own faults. Christ's resurrection of Himself on the third day evidences that death's power has been overcome by Christ's sacrifice. If we believe in Him AND become His follower, then His death is extended to us because we die to our old selves, and are renewed in Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin - but are now slaves to righteousness.

This message isn't a simple one - and although I've been a Christian for a few years now, I also had to struggle with the above paragraph to try to break it down to something simple for me to write...and I only think that I half succeeded.

The part of Romans 6 that has really struck me though is the concept of Lordship. We are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness.

Sin attracts us because we want to be free to do whatever we want to do. Our society tends to live by the motto: "If it feels good, do it". Well, sin always feels good at first. There is a rush of doing something that even our souls know is illicit. We are going against God and rebelling feels good.

But as we do our sin more and more, something terrible happens. The enjoyment level falls but the craving to keep doing it increases. Soon we are slowly consumed by the need to sin more and more, while the only enjoyment comes from thinking and doing more perverse ways of sinning. We fall into a deeper and deeper cycle and addiction. Sin, which seemed so attractive and free, has ensnared us.

As we become enslaved to sin, the enjoyment of life decreases. It is difficult to live because we need to sin. We are not free any longer and we have given over our souls to sin.

But Christ is the light that saves us because He alone can break the power of sin. Yes, by accepting Him, we become His followers and His children. But, being our Creator, He knows the optimum ways in which we need to live. He has given us guidelines through His Word to direct us in the ways that will be beneficial to us - ways to maximize our enjoyment and our freedom. But one of the first things that He does for us when we become Christians is that He breaks the shackles of sin, and provides us with a way out of those sins. For some people it is a dramatic turnaround. For others like myself, it is a gradual working and changing of my life more and more towards His ways.

It is such a paradox that although Christ gives us commandments which seem to be so constrictive, our true freedom, peace and happiness is derived from those boundaries. It is like a rule that we can't eat a poison berry. Yes, the berry may taste sweet and delicious, but the poison will ultimately kill us. While eating the berry may seem like freedom, the death that it leads to is the anti-thesis.

Lord Jesus, today You have allowed me to think once again about all that You've done for me in my life. I know that I need to renew my understanding from time to time in order to keep strong in my faith - especially because I have such a short term memory and we are bombarded with messages to sin and live with the world on a daily basis. But, when I recall Your power to break sins, I have to sit and marvel at all the changes You've made in my life. While I am not perfect, You have given me new life, and I am so grateful for it all. I am free in ways I have never known and I have peace and joy deeper than I ever could have imagined. Thank You Jesus. In Your name I pray, AMEN.

A Nation That God Can Bless

"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it." (Matt 21:43)

This verse refers to the nation of Israel versus the Gentiles, but as I was reading it, I couldn't help but to think about our nation. The United States has lived a generally charmed existence and it was founded on the back of Pilgrims escaping religious persecution in Europe to found a set of Protestant Christian colonies. These people risked their lives and died in massive numbers, but succeeded in finding a place where they could worship the Lord without the oversight of a powerful elitist church leadership who were more interested in worldly power than spiritual piety.

From such humble beginnings, we grew up to be the nation that is the beacon of modern Christianity. From greater Europe to Great Britain, and now to the United States, the mantle of world superpower has passed. And along with each successive change in the title of world superpower, so has gone the strength of the Christian church in each nation.

I am not saying that the Kingdom of God is something to pass from nation to nation, but I do believe that it is God's hand that causes nations to rise and fall. And He brings about the rise and fall of nations in accordance to the faithfulness of that nation to His Word and His Ways.

Unfortunately, our nation has become a country of loopholes. People aren't looking to follow God in fullness, but are instead interested in finding loopholes that will allow them to sin without punishment.

In our nation, we don't lie, we misspeak. We cuss constantly and we have no qualms about showing adult sexual situations in the midst of family programming. We teach our kids that materialism is the most important thing in life and we no longer put a premium on honoring our mother and father. I don't know if even 5% of us are even remotely familiar with the 10 commandments (Even as a committed Christian, I am pretty familiar with them all, but can't name them for you in order - probably a good time to go study).

Are we a nation that is deserving of God's blessing? Has the recession, which was caused by personal greed by all levels of society, taught us anything that would get us to re-examine and reform our ways?

I can't say that I know if there is another nation in the world that has the spirit of God growing inside of them although the rumor is that China's underground church is already larger than ours. However, the point is not to be powerful as a nation. It is that we will all benefit from a nation that has God's hand upon it. A nation that respects the ways of God and lives them out in their daily interactions with their neighbor. A nation that prays and has personal charitable compassion for the society around them.

Lord Jesus, I know that a nation is only made up of individuals, and a nation You can bless is made up of individuals who make a personal choice to worship and follow You. So help me to be a person that lives in fear of You above all things, who has the strength to live as You guide us to live. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control - those are the fruits that come from a nation that is worshipful and fearful of You. Please help me to become that man more and more each day. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Even in Turmoil, God Has a Balance For Us

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." (Gal 6:7-8)

Being a Christian in the world is a tough business at times. Oftentimes the ones who do good are the ones who struggle along in life the most. For example, during the real estate boom, the people who borrowed illegally to flip homes made lots of money if they were able to get out in time. Mortgage brokers and Wall Street bankers who securitized bad mortgages made even more money - in the realm of millions per person. In order to do this business, many people directly committed fraud - and almost everyone in the industry indirectly were committing some sort of moral breach in participating in these cycles of bad mortgages that would one day need to come due.

Now society as a whole is reaping the corruption sown by these folks. In this environment, the few who were trying to manage their money and businesses right are left wondering at the injustice of it all. Why are we all suffering when a group of people were sowing to their flesh and made out like bandits? Will anyone come to justice for these frauds and sins? It is not likely. In fact, Wall Street has resumed giving themselves millions of dollars in bonuses based on bailout monetary policies (policies in which a monkey could make money since the Fed is giving funds to the Wall Street bankers for free).

All of this current theatre does seem like a mockery at times. In fact, it feels like it spits in the face of the average God fearing Christian. It is frustrating and maddening.

However, the truth is that God is not to be mocked. He knows everything that happened to the most minute detail, and it has not escaped him. I don't know what will happen to those individuals who are in the midst of this mess - but I do know that vengeance is not ours to take.

"Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to [God's] wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom 12:19-21)

In a legal setting, if a crime can be prosecuted and punished, it should be done. For a society cannot survive if consequences are not meted out against lawbreakers.

However, for those sins and corruptions and are not prosecutable by legal means - God will give to each man according to his doings. His wrath may never occur through monetary penalties, but it could certainly be reflected in the condition of their personal lives. We never know - but at least the responsibility for the judgment is not ours to take - and that is something that is a relief. Our role is to simply continue to do good as we are able and to not be drawn into evil through revenge.

For me, the verse in Gal 6 is personal. What am I doing to reap everlasting life? Have I been sowing to the Spirit, or have I been sowing to the flesh? It is a delicate question, and in truth I would have to say that the Lord has definitely limited my opportunities to sow to the flesh, for which I am grateful.

I have a great family with which to spend time - the times with them are the most important in my life next to my time with the Lord. We are all healthy and happy. In addition, we are not wanting for anything urgent - there is enough food and our possessions are okay at this time. Neither do I have the distraction that too much money can bring - the lure and desire for that money can be both intoxicating and endlessly obsessive.

No - I have a good situation in which I need to rely upon the Lord daily for everything, and because of that my focus is currently rooted in the Spirit. There is a balance there which helps me to my knees daily.

But, that can easily change. I know I am not immune to temptations and pride. It can strike any of us if we are not prudent and careful.

Lord Jesus, I know that there are many things in the world which seem unfair. However, I know that you will judge in your wisdom and each man will be given his due - for good or for bad. Am I so thankful however, that in the midst of the current economic turmoil, that You have sought out our family and structured our lives in a balance. A balance that continues to draw us nearer and nearer to You first and foremost. As long as we get closer to You, we will sow more and more of the Spirit - and in the end, we will rejoice with You in everlasting life. That is our deepest desire and wish because all that we see in the world will indeed fade away, and when that happens we want to know that we've been faithful in our worship of You. Please help us to walk in this way. In Jesus' name, AMEN.