There is no debate among Christians
as to the validity of these statements about the Christian faith; Jesus Christ
came to Earth. He lived a perfect life. He died on the cross. Three days later,
He got up out of the grave and made many witnesses aware of that. All Christians know these facts are
some of the fundamental tenets of our faith and on these we all seem to agree - however his
primary reason for coming
seems to be the subject of much debate these days.
I am convinced the answer is much clearer
than most make it and the Bible is clear about it too. I do not believe what
many believe, whether they will say it or not – as their actions make their
beliefs clear - that Jesus came to show us how to live, and in order for us to
please God we must always try our hardest to live like Jesus lived.
Frankly – this opinion is just
this side of wacko. Not only is it contradictory to the clear teaching of
Jesus, but it diminishes the amazing, awe-inspiring life lived (and died) by
the Savior, in ways there are no words to explain, and shows an incredible
pride and lack of understanding of just how bad we really are, deep down.
Jesus came, first and foremost, to live, die, and rise
again for the sole purpose of setting sinners like us free forever from the
burdens of guilt and shame that we can’t escape without Him. We can’t be
free until we accept the fact that we all need someone to fill in the chasm
of our sin because deep down we are just not good enough to reach a holy and
perfect God by ourselves. Think about this - Ours is a God who exists as pure,
perfect love. Mind-blowing!
In
order for those who believe that their behavior is of primary importance to God they
must first intentionally determine that the Bible, and Jesus in particular don’t always really
say what they mean. For instance, take a look at just a few quotes of Jesus from Matthew 5 that are
commonly softened by folks like this:
Matthew 5:48
“You
therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
....gets softened to, “just do your
best.”
Or when they read -
Matthew 5:21
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not
murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to
judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You
fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
...they
say it means, “He’s just saying it’s bad to do all those things.”
Or this just a few verses later -
Matthew
5:27-28
“27“You have heard that
it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you
that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. “
This just becomes, “As long as your
gaze doesn't linger and you don’t dwell on it.”
There are two things that become
instantly clear to me when I read those verses –
1) Jesus is making the inescapable point that
all sins are of equal offense to God.
2) None of us are capable of
living a life without sin – no matter how "good" we think we are or how long we have been “born again”. When we believe that we can go long periods of time without sin, not only do we
delude ourselves, but we call Jesus a liar and mock the majesty and holiness of our God.
Remember - The people Jesus had
the biggest problem with were the ones who worked the hardest to follow the
rules – and thought they were succeeding. These are the ones we call the Pharisees and Sadducees. Martin Luther once said this, “Even our
most noble thoughts and actions need to be washed in the blood of Jesus.”
I’m going to challenge you to be honest
with yourself for a minute here – When you do the kindest things you do – isn’t
there always in the back of your heart or mind just a little pride at what a
wonderful thing you are doing and how happy God should be to have you in His
service? Or maybe a teensy weensy expectation that something good should be coming
your way, as if maybe the universe now owes you one? I think if we are honest with
ourselves, the answer is always yes to one degree or another.
Now - I know this is some kind of tough
stuff and may be a little different message than you are used to hearing from
me – even the words of Jesus seem tough here - but the Scriptures are clear - In
order to earn the right to stand in the presence of a Holy and perfect God – Jesus lays out only one requirement - Perfection
Of course, God knew that none of
us could ever live up to that perfect example, so He put into motion His
incredible plan that would allow us to make a decision to love Him – and
through that love cause us to grow to love others – even some of the ones who are
tough to love. ;-) You want to know how He did it? He loved us first – He graciously
sent Jesus to live that perfect life in our place.
So even though, yes – it is true - Jesus’ life
was the best example of how to live a human life in all of history – what
He taught was intended as a gift to us – not a new set of chains.
Think about this - When we take
the rules God has given us and soften them so that we can believe we are meeting
God’s requirements aren't we really doing what Jesus warns us about in this
passage in that same sermon?
Matthew
5:19
“19 Therefore whoever
relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the
same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven."
He didn't say all these tough things to burden us. He even tells us in Matthew 11:30 that our yoke should be easy and our burden light. No - He said these hard things to help
us understand this singular point - We CANNOT live a life worthy of God’s acceptance – we can
only accept the life Jesus lived in our place and live in His love, confident
that He will bring it all to pass because He even overcame the cross! –
Death itself could not contain Jesus. The fact that He got up out of that grave, and showed himself to over 500 witnesses who were willing to die to tell others about Him, proves that He can raise us from death to life as well… we need only accept the gift He offers us, and we are instantly transformed and raised from death to life, becoming friends with God - even though it still doesn't look or feel like it sometimes.
Death itself could not contain Jesus. The fact that He got up out of that grave, and showed himself to over 500 witnesses who were willing to die to tell others about Him, proves that He can raise us from death to life as well… we need only accept the gift He offers us, and we are instantly transformed and raised from death to life, becoming friends with God - even though it still doesn't look or feel like it sometimes.
Jesus didn’t come to show us rules
to bind us up. He came to live the life we couldn’t. He came to pay our debt.
He came to overcome death once and for all. Run to him and stop believing you
need to prove yourself to Him. He lived and died for you. You’ll love others a
lot better once you get a hug from Him, and you’ll probably even get a little better
too – but only because you see that the resurrection, not the rules, are the
main reason He came in the first place.
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