Dead or Alive?
A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
Recently our president, referring to the world's most wanted man, reminded us of the wording which used to be seen underneath Post Office mug shots of criminals, "WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE!" If they came looking for you, which would you be, dead or alive? The answer is, "Yes - Dead and Alive!" Have you noticed how glibly we use words related to death?
* Someone you disagree with is "dead wrong", or if you don't want them to do something, you might say, "Not over my dead body!" * A parent might say to their teenager, "You will be the death of me." * We casually talk about "death by chocolate." * We say we were frightened to death - then how is it we can live to tell the story? * Or when someone is startled they might say, "Please don't do that again! You scared me half to death!"
* What is really confusing is when someone claims that theirs was a "live Christmas tree" when indeed it was very dead! >/ul>However, the Bible also seems to present a confusing message about "dead and alive". The prophet Ezekiel wrote, "The soul that sinneth it shall die" (18:20), which reminds us of what God said to Adam and Eve: "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:17). But Adam and Eve didn't die! Then there is the teaching of Jesus:
Similar words were spoken to the man we call "rich young ruler" - "One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Mark 10:21) From this it appears that taking up the cross has to do with getting rid of anything which could come between us and God, which the rich young ruler wasn't willing to do. Jesus also said, "Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." (Luke 17:33) This sounds down-right contradictory!
Another good example of this apparent confusion is in Colossians 2:12,13, "Having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins." What we have here is the repetition of a couplet: "buried-risen"; "dead-quickened". The so-called confusion is simply due to the fact that there are two kinds of death, when we die with Christ we really become alive, but then we are dead to sin. So yes, we are both dead and alive. Near the end of his life, Paul expressed what could well be a life motto: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21) To live is to die, but to die is gain because it means eternal life. Are you dead or alive? When you confess that you are a sinner doomed to death, and trust in Christ who died and rose again, you will be both - dead to sin and alive to God.
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