Matt Sees

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

- 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Paul writes in this passage that those who are controlled by the love of Christ are that way because they have “concluded this”. Now we are taking the time to consider just what “this” is in all its implications, that we might conclude the same things, and be controlled by the love of Christ as well.

We have given some thought to the realities that Christ died for us, and that we have joined him in his death. The next reality we must consider is the fact that we, having been joined to Christ, have been joined not only to His death but also to His resurrection. This is implied by the term “they who live”, and is echoed throughout the New Testament, most notably in Romans 6:1-13.

Death matters because of the separation it causes, and life matters because of the connection it accomplishes. So to say that you are alive to God and dead to sin means that at the most fundamental level, you are now connected to God and separated from sin, whereas the opposite used to be true of you.

So what are the implications of your new life in Christ? There are many, and one of the most glorious is the fact that you win. God the Father raised Christ from the dead as a sign of Christ’s victory over sin. And the fact that we share in His resurrection means that we get to share in His victory. This is true both in terms of our position before God and in terms of our day-to-day life. Sin has been conquered for us, so now we can conquer sin. The victory Christ accomplished means that we can now both live before God and live for God.

This new life not only connects us to God, but it also empowers us to live for Him. This must have been part of what Paul was thinking about when he wrote that it was his ambition to know Christ “and the power of His resurrection” (Phil. 3:10).

You have been given a fresh start, and that freshness never goes away. You will always have new life in Christ. Even when the feelings of newness go away, even when you have fallen back into the old failures of your previous life (or better said, your previous death), you are always just as newly-alive in Christ as you were when you first trusted Him.

These realities are not merely things that have been proclaimed about us in some judicial sense. In some mysterious way they have actually happened to us. They have really changed us on the inside. And as a result, they should change us on the outside. Living a new life is a natural extension of having a new life. That is what Paul mentions next, and that is what we will plan to explore in a later post.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

- 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

We have been working through this passage together over the past few posts, motivated by the principle that if we are able to come to the same conclusions that Paul had come to, we will be controlled by the love of Christ like he was. We are doing this slowly, one concept at a time, because it takes time to process these things in such a way that they actually affect they way we think.

Therefore all died. Assuming you are a believer in Christ, this means that you died. You may not feel like any such thing has happened to you, but it has. Scripture is, in fact, full of references to the death of believers who, by all external accounts, are very much alive. Colossians 3:3 describes this by saying that “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Romans 6:1-11 describes this reality in detail, and concludes with this charge: “consider yourselves to be dead to sin.” We are told to believe a reality that we cannot see, and that we often don’t seem to experience, but is a reality nonetheless.

In Paul’s description of this principle in Romans 6, he makes it clear that the reason for our death is the fact that we have been joined to Christ. And having been joined to Christ, everything that belongs to Him now belongs to us, including His death for our sin. The fact that you have been joined to the death of Christ means that His death serves both to forgive you for your sin and to free you from it.

And this wasn’t just a judicial or symbolic transaction. You are not just dead to sin positionally. Your participation in the death of Christ has brought about such a change in your essential nature that it forms the basis for Paul’s emphatic question, “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:2) The question is whether we are going to view ourselves according to the flesh, or according to the word of God (2 Cor. 5:16-17).

If we are dead to sin because of the death that Christ died for sin on our behalf, how should this affect our view of sin? How should it affect our approach to dealing with sin? Does it leave any room for complacency, or for toying with temptation? If we understand it properly, it leaves room for nothing but the love of Christ to control us.

The even greater news is that because of our union with Christ, we participate not only in His death but in His resurrection. We are joined to His life. That is the reality we will plan to explore next month.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

– 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

In the last post we considered the idea that if we were to conclude the same things Paul had concluded – that is, if we were to take hold of these realities for what they really are – then we, too, could experience what it means to be controlled by the love of Christ. To that end, we will be stopping to consider each of the things that Paul had concluded, so that they might find their way into our minds and hearts.

One died for all. That one, of course, is Jesus. And the fact that He died for all means He died for you and for me. We were guilty and needed to be cleaned, and Jesus came to offer Himself as a guilt offering (Isaiah 53). We could not clean ourselves, either by the law or by our own sincere efforts or by any other means.

Sin is so serious that it requires death as its punishment. It is a capital offense. That is what the sacrificial system in the Old Testament was designed to communicate. As Hebrews 9:22 puts it, “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” But we also know from Hebrews 10:4 that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins”. God graciously allowed the sacrifices in the Old Testament, when they were combined with faith in the hearts of the ones offering them, to cover sin. But ultimately, covering sin is not sufficient. Sin must be taken away. And that is the difference between what animal sacrifices could do for us, and what the sacrifice of Jesus does for us. His sacrifice – the blood he shed in dying for us – takes away our sin.

The death of Christ paid for all the sins that you and I have committed; and if He had not died, we would have had no way to remove those sins from ourselves. We would have stood before God covered with the filth and shame of our own choices; we would have had no remedy for it, and no escape from His righteous anger.

The only one who could have died for you did just that. Do you have fifteen minutes this week to stop and consider this one reality? If we don’t chew our food, we don’t digest it properly, and we don’t get the nourishment from it that we could. It works the same way with spiritual truth. If we don’t slow down enough to consider it carefully, we will never absorb it in the life-changing way Paul describes here.

Let’s make time to integrate Christ’s death for us into our understanding of everything, that the love of Christ might control us.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

– 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Sometimes we need to be reminded of the most basic principles of the faith, and reminded in such a way that those realities grip us as they should. We can be so inoculated to Bible language that concepts often don’t get past the words used to communicate them. And that’s not because there’s a problem with the words. Rather, at least part of the problem is caused by the fact that we have habitually not lived the concepts communicated by the words, which eventually leads to dullness of ears and hearts.

Does the love of Christ control you? When you really stop and think about it, do you find that the love of Christ finds a place – any place – in the decisions you make? What do you really want out of life? What you really look forward to, either this evening or in twenty years? How much does Christ have to do with those desires?

Some of you, I hope, will find that Christ is very much at the center of all these things in your life. You are a much-needed example to the rest of us. Some of you, on the other hand, are more like me. When you and I are honest about what goes on in our hearts – and what doesn’t – it becomes difficult to describe ourselves as people who are controlled by the love of Christ. That’s not to say that there is none of this quality in us; just not nearly enough.

So if you find that the love of Christ does not control you as it should, what do you do about it? In this passage, being controlled by the love of Christ is shown to be caused by having reached a certain conclusion. If we can conclude the same things – really conclude them, and own them for ourselves – then that truth can have the same impact on us. Concluding this, though, does not come passively. It takes time, mental effort and dependence on God to work in our hearts.

Over the next few posts, I would like to meditate with you on the various aspects of the conclusion that Paul describes here. If internalizing these conclusions can lead to a life compelled by the love of Christ, it will be more than worth the effort. I invite you to join me in that quest, and in prayer that God will make His truth effective in our hearts.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” – James 4:8

This is a priceless promise. What a wonderful thing to know that because of Jesus Christ, we have access to draw near to the God of the universe. And how amazing to realize that when we do this, He will draw near to us. How readily would we jump on this offer if it were given to us by some great leader or athlete or artist? Yet I wonder if the reality of this promise from God is expressed more often in pretty embroidered wall hangings than it is in our own lives.

I think part of our problem with taking hold of this promise is that we don’t know what it means. We have some idea what it means for us to draw near to God – we know we can do this through prayer, study of His word, worship in song, and in a variety of other ways. But what exactly does it mean for God to draw near to us? When I draw near to God, what exactly do I expect Him to do? We don’t normally take this to mean that God will visibly display himself to us, or that He will speak audibly to us, or that He will meet us for coffee. We’re forced to think of God’s drawing near to us in a different way than we would think of our drawing near to one another.

I won’t even attempt to define the nearness of God, but it is worth the effort to describe it, at least to some degree. In order to take hold of this promise, we need to have some idea what we should expect the nearness of God to be like.

As believers, we already have a relationship with God through Christ, and that never changes. But when He is near to us in accordance with this promise, we are enabled to live in conscious experience of that relationship. We are granted the privilege of more fully participating in His nature, so that His character is more clearly displayed in us. He gives us an awareness of His presence with us, and opens our eyes to see His work in us. When He is near to us, we have an inescapable, undeniable sense that He is there, in all His goodness, for us.

The nearness of God is of infinitely greater value than anything this world has to offer. This year, let’s take God up on His promise. If we do, we will be able to say with Asaph, “the nearness of God is my good.” (Psalm 73:28)

Boy, this one almost got me. I got suspicious when I noticed that the ® on the Monster logo was half cut off. If it hadn’t been for that… I shudder to think. Just goes to show how careful we need to be before we go downloading certificated service tools.

I’ve had this buried away somewhere for a while, and found it again here. I read it to my Jr. High Bible class today, and it passed the “that’s pretty cool” test. Enjoy.

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS! FELIZ NAVIDAD!
By Lalo Guerrero, 1956

Twas the night before the Christmas, and all through the casa,
not a creature was stirring – caramba, que pasa?
Los ninos were all tucked away in their camas,
some in vestidos and some in pijamas.
While mama worked late in our little cocina,
papa had dozed off before the nublina.
The stockings were hung with mucho cuidado,
in hopes that San Nico would feel obligado
To bring all the children, both buenos and malos,
a nice batch of dulces and other regalos.
Outside in the yard there arose such a grito,
that I jumped to my feet like a frightened cabrito.
I ran to the window and looked afuera,
and who in the world do you think that it era?
St. Nick in a sleigh and a big red sombrero
came dashing along like a crazy bombero!
And pulling his sleigh instead of venados,
were eight little burros approaching volados.
I watched as they neared, and this quaint little hombre
was shouting and whistling and calling by nombre:
Ay, Pancho! Ay, Pepe!, Ay, Cuca! Ay, Beto!
Ay, Chato! Ay Chopo! Maruca! y Nieto!
Then standing akimbo with his hands on his pecho,
he flew to the top of our very own techo!
With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea,
he struggled to squeeze down our old chiminea.
Then huffing and puffing, at last in our sala,
with soot smeared all over his red suit de gala
He filled all the stockings with lovely regalos,
for none of the ninos had been very malos.
Then chuckling aloud, looking very contento,
he turned like a flash and was gone con el viento.
And I heard him exclaim, and this is verdad,
Merry Christmas to all! Feliz Navidad!

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ” (Matthew 2:1-3)

I’ve wondered at times what is meant by the last statement in this passage – “and all Jerusalem with him.” It’s easy enough to understand why Herod would have been troubled by this news. Herod had a clue, however faint, of the threat this “King of the Jews” represented to his authority.

But why was “all Jerusalem” disturbed with him? We’re talking about the Jews, who were looking eagerly for the appearance of their Messiah. Why would the fulfillment of their greatest hope have been troubling to them? It’s particularly ironic that Jerusalem joined Herod in being troubled, since he stood as the most prominent representation of the bondage from which they awaited deliverance. Perhaps, even though they were ruled over by Rome, their preference at the time was to endure whatever hardships that involved in order to maintain some sense of peace; whereas the arrival of a new King might create too great a shift for that peace to survive.

I wonder also if this sense of trouble had something to do with the way the news was announced. The magis’ statement was not, “Where’s that cute little baby with the glowing head? For we saw his picture on a card, and have come to gaze serenely at him.” The Magi had come looking for a King – someone who not only posed a threat to the authority of a Gentile king, but who would claim absolute authority over the Jews, thereby disturbing whatever remnant of peace they were currently clinging on to.

The question then becomes, what about us? Do we find ourselves troubled by the entrance of a king into our lives? Do we fear that it will shake things up too much, or inconvenience us in a way we’re not prepared for? Do we prefer Baby Jesus over King Jesus? I fear that often, we would rather constrain the role of Jesus to a nice little Christmas gift from God, who brings us seasonal cheer but doesn’t claim the absolute right to rule our lives.

This Christmas season, even as we consider the wonder of all that God did in sending His Son for us, let’s carefully avoid any attempt to take Jesus off His throne and put Him back in the manger. Let’s trust Him to rule our lives, and even to shake them up as He sees fit, for our good and His glory.

When God speaks through Asaph to John Piper to Shai Linne, you get a song called My Portion on The Solus Christus Project. Further hope that deep, foundational truths can be expressed in a compelling way through one of my favorite musical genres. However whitely I might be constrained to write about it, I’m beginning to see the prospect of rap as it should be… can I get a witness?

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)

When Moses spoke these words to the people of Israel, he was in the process of delivering the law of God to them. And in these statements, he summarizes some of the most important things for Israel to understand with regard to the law: 1) they were to love God with the entirety of their being; 2) they were to have God’s words on their hearts; and 3) they were to teach those words diligently to their children.

I think that most of us understand, or at least acknowledge, the importance of the first two principles. But what about the third? Do we give it the place of priority that God assigns to it here?

For most of us – especially most of us fathers – it’s hard to teach these things diligently to our kids. It feels awkward. It’s hard enough to clunk through family devotions, much less to talk of these things naturally throughout the course of a normal day.

A significant part of the solution to this problem lies in the second principle – they “shall be on your heart”. Are the words of God on your heart? Or to put this in 21st century terms, are they programmed into the control panel of your life? Your heart is the control panel for your emotions, your desires and your will. Are you governed by the word of God at this fundamental level?

The good news is that in the economy of God, all these principles fit together. A great way to get these things on our hearts, so that we can teach them to our kids, is to prepare to teach them to our kids. We will often find that in order to do this, we have to think more carefully, more thoroughly and more practically about what Scripture has to say. And as we do this, it will have the effect of writing the truth of God more clearly on our own hearts.

Parents, our default setting is to not teach our kids the things of God. And their default setting is not to love the things of God. In order to override these default settings, we’ve got to take action. Let’s do this together, in the strength that God will supply by His grace.