Last week I was hit square in the chest with a reality that I already knew, but I had not really given enough weight. It began as my wife Pat and I were watching a Cop show. I am not sure which one it was that we were watching. They are pretty much all the same, so I guess it doesn’t really matter.
As we were watching this show, someone got killed and as I watched it this feeling of despair came over me. This character in this show was dead. The character was one of the “good guys,” but if he did not know Christ Jesus and was not born again his faith, love and hope were GONE as well as his physical life.
Yes, I know he was a TV character, but he represented a character from life. That individual we hear about on the news or that person who is a friend of a friend, or an old friend we do not see often, but at this moment it no longer matters. Their life is over.
Now the character in that show shook me up, and that feeling has lingered, and every time I saw a character in a show die the response was the same.
Faith Hope and Love
I began to ponder the gospel and consider the Faith, Hope, and Love that is our salvation. I know it is a matter of life and death, but do I live my life like it is, and do I see the nonbelievers as walking dead. By worldly standards, some of the walking dead seem to look better than those of us that are alive in Christ, and the world can be quick to remind me of that fact. But as I pondered this new found sense of urgency, all I could think was a passage in Matthew 24.
Matthew 24:38-39 (ESV Strong’s)
38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Those people were walking dead. They lived their lives and continued unaffected by the work Noah was doing. This realization and study came to me in the strangest way.
Jesus Saved Us from What?!?!
A couple of nights ago Pat and I went on a YouTube binge of sermons. We listened to some by John MacArthur and a teacher I listen to now and then named Rev. Voddie Baucham. Reverend Baucham spoke on the same issue, but with a heavier stick. It felt like God was doing a bit more than nudging at this point.
He opened with a comment that struck me. He said that most Christians are reluctant to share the Gospel because they do not realize what Jesus really Saved us from. At first, I didn’t get it, but I was intrigued.
Paraphrasing his opening comments; We know we were saved, and we know that Christ died for our sins, but we do not internalize how horrible things were for us before we were born again. We do not see the horror of death in our sins. That makes us reluctant to share the Gospel because in our mind we do not grasp the horror of life without God. We see that nice guy or that little old lady and think to ourselves, “they are good people, surely they will be alright.” But we do not know if we do not ask.
Rev. Baucham used Gods word to show the foolishness of our perceptions. He went to Ephesians 2 which is one of my favorite passages.
Ephesians 2
I want to take you through how this passage impacted me after the sermon. I am still a bit bruised up so if I hurt your feelings, I must be doing something right. Baucham sure bruised me up a bit.
The opening to Ephesians 2 gets your attention, but I think I have read it so many times there are parts that I skim over and do not let soak in. The first three verses are a good example.
Ephesians 2:1-3 (ESV)
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
I read this verse several times, and I think for the first time I did not skim over the word DEAD… Paul did not use the word ill, or the phrase “nearly dead,” he clearly said that we were dead. We were dead in our sins.
The Dead
The dead cannot call out. They cannot reach out. They need to be saved from this horrible death. There is only one path to salvation. That is Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 (ESV Strong’s)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
I am reminded again of the life and death nature of this in Mark 16.
Mark 16:15-16 (ESV Strong’s)
5 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Jesus is clear. We are to share the Gospel. Those that believe will be saved but those that do not will be condemned: Life or Death.
Ephesians 2 Mercy
Turning back to Ephesians 2, Paul continues by reminding us of God’s rich mercy and his great love. What a wonderful gift indeed for those who believe and are born again.
Ephesians 2:4-7 (ESV Strong’s)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God called us out of that death covered in our sin and made us alive together with Christ Jesus. What a wonderful gift we have been given.
Ephesians 2 Grace
His love was so great that he gave us a gift of grace forgiving our sins.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV Strong’s)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
He made all this possible through His Son Jesus Christ who gave His all that we may be reunited with God in those heavenly places. It was a gift “so that no one may boast.”
Reflections
Now as I consider the verses in Ephesians and the words of Jesus there are great gifts for those that believe, but great horrors of condemnation for those that do not. That does not mean that it is my job to save souls by making people believe. It is my job to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone.
I believe this is one of the good works that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 2:10
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV Strong’s)
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
It is not just the preachers’ job or the elders and deacons. It is for all who believe to do because we all have a voice and we all have a testimony and a well-defined task assigned by Jesus. I believe that this is everyone’s responsibility.
Mark 16:15-16 (ESV Strong’s)
5 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
It is clear, but I think Paul adds further clarity in Philippians.
Philippians 2
I think about what Jesus did give up for me who was dead in my sins and unaware. Blind to the death all around me, including my own. But God placed a person in my path that got my attention. I do not know how many times, but I do know it was not just one, and I came to understand what Christ did for me. It increases in me this need to share the gospel with those that are dead in their sins. I do like what Paul said about it in Philippians.
Philippians 2:4-11 (ESV Strong’s)
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus gave His all and all for me. He truly paid my debt for my sins and all sins. Without Him, I would be lost. There would be no hope and no life, only death.
Closing Thoughts
As I think about all these things that God lead me through in His Word, I cannot help but have a greater sense of urgency for sharing the Gospel. A dead man cannot reach out. A dead man cannot cry out. He is helpless and lost. His only hope is the saving grace of Jesus Christ. He will not seek it on his own. He is dead. He needs to be told of the Gospel and called by the Lord.
Jesus has asked us to share the Gospel with the great commission in Matthew 28:18-20. It is a straight forward command to go and make disciples. There are so many passages from God’s Word that I could add, but I will stop here.
This whole issue is not one that should lead to sadness, on the contrary that sadness should lead to heart driven by the fruits of the Spirit to share the Gospel. It is the constant reminder that someone cared enough for me to share God’s Word with me. I pray every day that I might do the same, now with this deeper understanding of what God saved me from.
Prayer
Father, thank you for yet another day. Thank you for refocusing my view of life and death. Lord, please use me to reach all who are around me, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.