This week I decided to go to my church’s Saturday evening service mainly because there are a lot less people and it’s easier to find a seat. In preparation for Easter, we are going through a series on the cross. It just started last week, so tonight was the second part of the series and it centered around Romans 6:4: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
On a personal note, a lot has happened to me over the past several weeks that has called me to face myself and my faith in new ways. Though I won’t explain these things in detail, suffice it to say that I have been experiencing a transformation that can only be attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit. God has begun to reprioritize my values and put me in a place of uncertainty, all the while telling me over and over to trust Him.
The sermon, though not specifically addressing my uncertainty, blindsided me with something I know intellectually but desperately needed to be reminded of. The gist of the message was that those who have faith in the Messiah have been crucified with Him. We, who are part of the church, are familiar with this kind of language because we have heard plenty of sermons on Galations 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” When I hear this passage I’m prone to think, “Ok, so I shouldn’t sin.” I make it a passage of condemnation rather than reconciliation. Our pastor, Mike Erre’s, message was a clear reminder to me to listen to what both this passage and Romans 6 are actually saying. We are new in Jesus the Messiah. When Christ died on the cross, all condemnation, all of who I was outside of Jesus’ Kingdom, all of the idolatry and wickedness I partook of, is NO LONGER ME! It has been put to death on the cross. I am a new creation!
I truly believe that much of my personal struggles when it comes to living for Christ and overcoming sin stem directly from not hearing the voice of the Scriptures when they tell me who I am. Instead I only hear them tell me who I should be and I am overwhelmed by the breadth of the call. However, the sermon pointed out that in Paul’s writing he always starts with the positional status of his hearers and moves to the provocation. THIS IS WHO YOU ARE, SO BE WHO YOU ARE! Your sinful nature was crucified, so kill it. The old man has been crucified, so put on the new man. You are righteous, so be righteous! Mike compared this to being a parent. As soon as you have a child, you are a parent. So then be a parent! This theme runs throughout all of Paul’s writings. Recall I Corinthians where Paul says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus…” (6:9-11). The Corinthian church was full of people who were involved in the sins he was listing. However, Paul was saying that is not you! It no longer defines you.
We tend to define ourselves by sin rather than victory. But, in doing so, we have made the good news so insignificant. The Gospel is good news because we are not who we were. Because of Christ’s death, the old self is dead, and because of His resurrection, we are completely new creations alive and freed from the bondage of sin. We are new people, filled with God’s Spirit, and are part of His Kingdom in the present fallen world. We are priests, we are righteous, we are holy. So, since this is who we are we need to BE WHO WE ARE! I agree with Pastor Mike that we need to dare to hope that we can be victorious in our Christian life, in and through the work of the Spirit, because Christ has been victorious for us!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Easter is a Pagan Holiday!
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise your head
And you shall bruise His heel."
Genesis 3:15
The beginning of the Jewish Creation narrative describes the fall of humanity and the subjection of the cosmos to the curse of death and decay. Adam and Eve choose to listen to the serpent, despite the God's commands. Romans echoes this beginning when it refers to the unrighteous who "worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator..." (Rom. 1:24). Adam and Eve were subjected to the curse because they chose to obey the creature rather than the Creator. The promise in Genesis is that, through the seed of Eve, one is coming whose heel will be bruised, but who will crush the head of the serpent. Throughout the historical narrative, YHWH has been reconciling the world to Himself (I Cor. 5:16-20). Through the death and resurrection of Messiah the head of the serpent (the curse of sin) has been defeated.
Again and again, those who oppose Christianity say that Easter is a stolen holiday. The truth is they could be right. There were pagan holidays centered around the Spring Equinox. The Christian celebration of resurrection takes place during Jewish Passover. Christians historically believe that Jesus was crucified and rose during this time of year. It may be true that Jews began to celebrate Passover during the pagan holidays, the intention would have been clear to the pagan nations surrounding them: Worship your gods, but we will use your celebrations as vehicles to worship the One True God who brought us out of exile from Egypt. The God who saves his people and laughs in the face of other gods (as He did with the Egyptian plagues). In addition to this, Christians can say our God has conquered death and will one day enact his power over death by raising all of those who are in Christ and by restoring the cosmos. This is our hope!!!
On this Easter Sunday we celebrate one thing and one thing alone: The resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. The resurrection is not a story about some ghost-like spirit coming out of the tomb. It is not a claim guaranteeing that those who have faith in Christ will have entrance into heaven. It does not mean our souls will be saved and our body will be destroyed. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the power of God displayed in and through Creation. It is the promise of the bodily resurrection of all (Dan. 12:2- some to life and some to damnation). It is the beginning of God's reconciliation of the entire earth to Himself through the reign of His Messiah and people (Romans 8). It is the wedding of heaven and earth. Death has been defeated and the grave has been swallowed up in victory (I Cor. 15:54-55)!
When those who oppose our faith tell us the holiday was "stolen", we simply respond "That may very well be true. And if it is, the point is clear: Our God will be worshipped over and above any others, because He is the ONLY God. Worshipping on a pagan holiday is a slap in the face of paganism. It is YHWH knocking over the idols of stone and wood and taking His rightful place as King."
For more information on the power of the resurrection visit:
http://www.roanoke.edu/crs/audio/TomWright-3-16-07.mov
"Now if Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are then liars regarding God, because we have said that God raised up Christ, who He did not raise up - if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have died with faith in Christ have perished. If in this life we have put our hope in Christ, we are of all men the most foolish. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep! For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death."
I Corinthians 15:12-24
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise your head
And you shall bruise His heel."
Genesis 3:15
The beginning of the Jewish Creation narrative describes the fall of humanity and the subjection of the cosmos to the curse of death and decay. Adam and Eve choose to listen to the serpent, despite the God's commands. Romans echoes this beginning when it refers to the unrighteous who "worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator..." (Rom. 1:24). Adam and Eve were subjected to the curse because they chose to obey the creature rather than the Creator. The promise in Genesis is that, through the seed of Eve, one is coming whose heel will be bruised, but who will crush the head of the serpent. Throughout the historical narrative, YHWH has been reconciling the world to Himself (I Cor. 5:16-20). Through the death and resurrection of Messiah the head of the serpent (the curse of sin) has been defeated.
Again and again, those who oppose Christianity say that Easter is a stolen holiday. The truth is they could be right. There were pagan holidays centered around the Spring Equinox. The Christian celebration of resurrection takes place during Jewish Passover. Christians historically believe that Jesus was crucified and rose during this time of year. It may be true that Jews began to celebrate Passover during the pagan holidays, the intention would have been clear to the pagan nations surrounding them: Worship your gods, but we will use your celebrations as vehicles to worship the One True God who brought us out of exile from Egypt. The God who saves his people and laughs in the face of other gods (as He did with the Egyptian plagues). In addition to this, Christians can say our God has conquered death and will one day enact his power over death by raising all of those who are in Christ and by restoring the cosmos. This is our hope!!!
On this Easter Sunday we celebrate one thing and one thing alone: The resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. The resurrection is not a story about some ghost-like spirit coming out of the tomb. It is not a claim guaranteeing that those who have faith in Christ will have entrance into heaven. It does not mean our souls will be saved and our body will be destroyed. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the power of God displayed in and through Creation. It is the promise of the bodily resurrection of all (Dan. 12:2- some to life and some to damnation). It is the beginning of God's reconciliation of the entire earth to Himself through the reign of His Messiah and people (Romans 8). It is the wedding of heaven and earth. Death has been defeated and the grave has been swallowed up in victory (I Cor. 15:54-55)!
When those who oppose our faith tell us the holiday was "stolen", we simply respond "That may very well be true. And if it is, the point is clear: Our God will be worshipped over and above any others, because He is the ONLY God. Worshipping on a pagan holiday is a slap in the face of paganism. It is YHWH knocking over the idols of stone and wood and taking His rightful place as King."
For more information on the power of the resurrection visit:
http://www.roanoke.edu/crs/audio/TomWright-3-16-07.mov
"Now if Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how do some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are then liars regarding God, because we have said that God raised up Christ, who He did not raise up - if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have died with faith in Christ have perished. If in this life we have put our hope in Christ, we are of all men the most foolish. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep! For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death."
I Corinthians 15:12-24
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