There is a church in Allerton Bywater that has a sombre message above its Lych Gate: Death The Gate Of Life. Imagine the joy in passing through this every Sunday... I was wondering what the writer was trying to say to the gathered as they came to church. Was it a message of holding on until our coffins' finally made that blessed journey and we are released to be with the Lord? Was it a message of sobriety to keep us from living passionately (and therefore sinfully) and always mindful of the cross we are to bear?
Yet this message does lie at the heart of the gospel. Jesus restored life for the human race through his sacrificial death on the cross. The cross indeed is THE gate of life for believers. Deeper still in the gospel truth is the death that takes place in our lives when we are baptised. "I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I that live," says Paul, "but it is Christ who lives in me." (Gal 2:20)
The tragedy is that for many, the message is only optimistically applied for coffins. Christ's gate of life is a way to be entered in this life - don't count on dying just the once!
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Having our minds set on God
Jesus once set an impromptu quiz entitled ‘who do you say that I am?’. Peter graduated to another level that day when he answered ‘You are the Christ - the son of the living God.’
From that moment, Jesus began a new teaching topic - how he was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem and on the third day rise again. Star pupil Peter totally disagreed with this sentiment and openly said so to Jesus.
Jesus had to put Peter right and explained to him that he would never understand the cross and suffering from a purely human perspective. He needed to see things as God sees them. The difference in views is simply that God can raise the dead.
If we have graduated with Peter in knowing who Jesus really is then our lesson is similar. To follow Jesus and participate in his life, we MUST learn to think supernaturally with regards to our own suffering and crosses. The cross was not the end for Jesus but the necessary cost saving human souls. Our divine work has a cost and we need a resurrection perspective.
From that moment, Jesus began a new teaching topic - how he was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem and on the third day rise again. Star pupil Peter totally disagreed with this sentiment and openly said so to Jesus.
Jesus had to put Peter right and explained to him that he would never understand the cross and suffering from a purely human perspective. He needed to see things as God sees them. The difference in views is simply that God can raise the dead.
If we have graduated with Peter in knowing who Jesus really is then our lesson is similar. To follow Jesus and participate in his life, we MUST learn to think supernaturally with regards to our own suffering and crosses. The cross was not the end for Jesus but the necessary cost saving human souls. Our divine work has a cost and we need a resurrection perspective.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
