For whatever reason, humans are infatuated with death. Religions across the world and time have created gods of death and underworlds where the dead reside. Holidays commemorate the dead throughout cultures. Gravesides leave lasting monuments to people who pass by, proclaiming their deaths and that life for them is just about to end in less than 80 years.
We fascinate ourselves with Autumn because the leaves change colors. But in reality the orange and red and brown are all the colors the dying leaves give off. Living leaves are mostly green.
Christians and Catholics look to the death of Christ daily, creating emblems and monuments to recount His death on the cross.
Christians celebrate the deaths of their addictions and sins.
But in death there is often life. Whether it is before or after the death incident, there was life. When Autumn comes, there were seasons of life. After Autumn comes those same seasons of life in a cycle. But we don't celebrate the leaves in the same way. We celebrate the death of winter, or the maybe actually the life of flowers. But we get old of living leaves quickly.
When Christ died, he rose back to life after three days. He conquered death and embraced life. Yet we don't preoccupy ourselves with His life. We don't make Empty Tomb necklaces or make pillars with the Empty Tomb etched in them.
And we don't pursue Christian freedom as a new life. We view it as a final death hold on sin: that moment we conquer a sin habit and live in freedom. But it is more than killing sin, it is resurrecting righteousness. When we pursue righteousness, we embrace Christ's resurrection. When we go about seeking to live different lives, it ought to be because we want to live, not because we want to die.
Christ calls us to die, only so we can live. We can't live in Christ if we don't die to sin. But our pursuit shouldn't be death, it should be life. We should embrace the Kingdom of the Living.
"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses," --Col. 2:13
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. " --Eph. 2:4-5
We fascinate ourselves with Autumn because the leaves change colors. But in reality the orange and red and brown are all the colors the dying leaves give off. Living leaves are mostly green.
Christians and Catholics look to the death of Christ daily, creating emblems and monuments to recount His death on the cross.
Christians celebrate the deaths of their addictions and sins.
But in death there is often life. Whether it is before or after the death incident, there was life. When Autumn comes, there were seasons of life. After Autumn comes those same seasons of life in a cycle. But we don't celebrate the leaves in the same way. We celebrate the death of winter, or the maybe actually the life of flowers. But we get old of living leaves quickly.
When Christ died, he rose back to life after three days. He conquered death and embraced life. Yet we don't preoccupy ourselves with His life. We don't make Empty Tomb necklaces or make pillars with the Empty Tomb etched in them.
And we don't pursue Christian freedom as a new life. We view it as a final death hold on sin: that moment we conquer a sin habit and live in freedom. But it is more than killing sin, it is resurrecting righteousness. When we pursue righteousness, we embrace Christ's resurrection. When we go about seeking to live different lives, it ought to be because we want to live, not because we want to die.
Christ calls us to die, only so we can live. We can't live in Christ if we don't die to sin. But our pursuit shouldn't be death, it should be life. We should embrace the Kingdom of the Living.
"And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses," --Col. 2:13
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. " --Eph. 2:4-5
The focus is not death, but life. We were made alive, even when we were dead, because God loves us. God brought us to life.
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