BECAUSE HE LIVES!
Music has always played a significant role in my life and I find more and more that it has shaped much of who I am and what I believe to this day. The words, "Because He Lives" are from an old song that my parents use to listen to when I was a child, which still bounce around in my head from time to time. The words meant little to me then, but like the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears, I too have come to understand the meaning of His words concerning her selfless act. Jesus said, "I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." (Luke 7:47)
Consider the following statement from John Piper:
“It seems that most Christians in the prosperous West describe the benefits of Christianity in terms that would make it a good life, even if there were no God and no resurrection. Think of all the psychological benefits and relational benefits. And of course these are true and biblical: The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, and peace. So if we get love, joy, and peace from believing these things, then is it not a good life to live, even if it turns out to be based on a falsehood? Why [then, as in 1 Corinthians 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”], should we be pitied? What’s wrong with Paul…Was he not living the abundant life? Why would he say that if there is no resurrection, we are of all men most to be pitied? It does not seem to be pitiable to live your threescore and ten in a joyful and satisfying delusion, if that delusion makes no difference whatever for the future. The answer seems to be that the Christian life for Paul was not the so-called good life of prosperity and ease. Instead, it was a life of freely chosen suffering beyond anything we ordinarily experience. Paul’s belief in God and his confidence in resurrection and his hope in eternal fellowship with Christ did not produce a life of comfort and ease that would have been satisfying even without resurrection…Yes, he knew joy unspeakable. But it was a “rejoicing in hope.”
“But now Christ is risen from the dead…” (1 Cor 15:20) These words, spoken by the Apostle Paul, are perhaps the most significantly powerful words in the entire Bible. They represent a point of debarkation that is unparalleled in all of creation. Christ is risen from the dead, a fact that changes all points of reference in the known universe and renders all other truth completely inconsequential compared with it. The birth, life, ministry, teaching, and even death of Christ mean absolutely nothing if Jesus did not ultimately rise from the dead and then ascend into heaven, where He remains alive today.
That being said, I agree that, “The Christian life for Paul was not the so-called good life of prosperity and ease. Instead, it was a life of freely chosen suffering beyond anything we ordinarily experience (Piper)", but not all Christians should expect to live a life similar to Paul’s, and not all will be called to the level of suffering and persecution that he was called to. His was no ordinary experience. Jesus said of Paul, “…he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake." (Acts 9:15)
If our life is truly devoted to Christ and we are endeavoring to live righteously, we are guaranteed varying amounts of tribulation and persecution for our faith, but this does not necessarily doom us to a persecuted life of martyrdom, such as Paul and the other disciples experienced. Jesus told us that tribulation would come to all Christians, but that in Him we could have peace because He overcame the world. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."(John 16:33)
Regardless of what carnal Christians in the west may think about the so called fringe benefits of the faith, if Christ is not risen, those benefits don’t exist. The fruit of the Holy Spirit; love, joy, and peace... etc., do not come as a result of merely, believing these things, they spring from the well of the Holy Spirit Himself who was sent to the believing Church as a result of the resurrection power of God. It is impossible to separate the abundant life of the believer from the abundant power of the Holy Spirit. No Jesus, no joy. No power, no peace; it’s just that simple.
Jesus was very clear about our life in Him being supernaturally powerful: “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13-14) Love, joy, and peace are not expressions that we can fake for very long and eventually our true colors will bleed through; which is precisely why Paul’s life, and the lives of the Apostles, stand in such stark contrast to our own, sometimes.
Christians in the west benefit from the amazing blessings that flow from the diligent work of our forefathers and the faithful church leaders of centuries ago. They helped establish western nations on a Judeo-Christian footing and as a result, even the most zealous Christians among us only suffer a modicum of persecution for their outspoken faith. However, it is well documented that in many places in the world, your life would be snuffed out rather quickly for even mentioning the name Jesus to the wrong person, in the wrong situation.
Therefore, we see a great disparity between the Christian faith practiced here in the west, and by those in other countries around the world. In the west, we are living the “prosperous good life” that Piper speaks of on borrowed time, taking for granted the suffering and persecution that was endured by stalwart believers centuries before us in order to secure our freedoms, often oblivious to the suffering that is still being endured by faithful saints today, all over the world. So what should Christians in the west do about this disparity? Sell everything and give it to the poor? Should we sail across the ocean without delay and enjoin ourselves with Christian’s who are being persecuted for their faith, so that we can stand in solidarity with them?
Perhaps. If that is what God is calling you to do, then absolutely, yes! If that is God’s will for your life, you can do nothing else. Certainly, we are called to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and give them aid and comfort however and whenever we can. We are commanded by Jesus to “GO”, take the message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth and make disciples of all men everywhere. For some this will mean pain, suffering, persecution, trial and even death.
For others it may mean that you are the only person in the office that your co-workers will come to when they are upset and desperately needing help. While at the same time you are the laughing stalk of the office at happy hour around the block at Jimmy’s pub every Friday night for your prudish and old fashioned biblical outlook on life. But for everyone who names the name of Christ and follows Him faithfully in the sincerity of their hearts, it means that love, joy, and peace will abound in their lives.
Jesus spoke of the abundant life in eternity but also here in this life. “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Individual Christians will experience this abundant life to varying degrees, with differing amounts of difficulty and strife, as well as prosperity and peace. But to the Christian who sells out completely, as Paul and the other Apostles did, God is faithful to deliver them and He pours out an overabundance of His grace on them which produces a joy and peace that defies all human logic and experience.
Through it all we can say with Paul, “…longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me... ...And out of them all, the Lord delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Tim 3:10-12) Why? "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives! (Gaither)"
By Pastor Glen Mustian
Works Cited:
Gaither, Bill. Because He Lives. The Gaither Trio. 1972.
Piper, John, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006.
New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher. 2001.
