It isn't a sacrifice if it is easy.
Do we dare to imagine it was EASY for our Savior to
suffer the things He suffered just because He was God born into flesh?
Do we dare believe as He felt the slap of a hard
calloused hand against His bearded cheek, and the inside of His mouth slammed
into the unrelenting hardness of His teeth and He tasted His own blood, that it
was EASY for Him?
As that horrid torture device shaped in a crown yet
made of long, thick, very sharp thorns was hard pressed into his head and the
needle tipped points of the severest kind dug deep tearing through flesh until
stopped only by the hard bone of our Savior's skull, that it was EASY for Him?
As the hot, slimy spittle came at His face from all
sides and it filled His eyes, sliding down His cheeks, as He tasted another's
spit on His own lips, do you really, truly imagine it was EASY for Him?
When the rough hands hardened by years of training
grabbed up His arms and squeezed - bruising His flesh, injuring muscles as He
was yanked and dragged about, that was EASY for Him to endure?
Then, when His garments were torn from His body
exposing His bare flesh and He was fastened to a whipping post, the awful
anticipation, the humiliation rendered to Him- this was EASY as well?
For those of us who have felt the strike of a belt
across our bodies, or endured the painful sting of a thin willow branch on our
flesh, we know minutely the pain of a brief whipping given by the hand of a
chastising parent. Our Savior was not being chastised by a loving, yet firm,
guiding hand for His own learning, His own good. Our Savior was being brutally
whipped by a weapon created to inflict the harshest of pains. The whips used
upon criminals were forged to tear open the flesh upon impact as it sank into
the muscle beneath and when yanked backwards out of that bed of flesh and
blood, it took bits and pieces of skin and muscle with its horrific release- it
was this sort of whip that was used upon our Savior- do we dare in the least
manner believe this was EASY for Him?
He felt the agony of that whip over and over until the
flesh of His body hung from him in bloody, raw strips. The hands wielding the
whip were well practiced in the art of this torture and spared nothing because
before him was God in the flesh. He didn't recognize our Savior as God in
flesh, he had orders to follow and he knew to do his job to the fullest
or face his own punishment. Our Savior felt every single strike of that whip,
and the pain went far beyond any light, barely mark inducing whippings we might
have endured.
Most certainly as our tortured Savior was placed upon
the wooden beams in the form of a cross and the nails pierced His flesh, IT WAS
NOT EASY FOR HIM!
And now, do you imagine on another avenue of thought
that before He was taken captive by the soldiers at the behest of the Jewish
hierarchy, that His three years of ministry were pain free? We all know there
are pains that are not induced physically. Do we imagine it was EASY for our
Savior to see all the evil about Him, to endure the knowledge that so many
would be lost to Him? Yes, many were saved, many were brought to Him, many were
healed by Him, many listened to Him, and yet many more drew back away from Him.
Remember we've read where five to seven thousand people were following Him
witnessing His miracles, listening to His preaching of the gospel of the
kingdom and yet all of them left when they realized He didn't want to be made
an earthly king, and His sayings grew hard for them to comprehend. This
was not EASY for Him, how could it be?
Sacrifice is not easy, if it were, it would not be
called sacrifice.
1Co 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye
should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all
passed through the sea;
1Co 10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the
cloud and in the sea;
1Co 10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual
meat;
1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual
drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock
was Christ.
The story of the great exodus from Egypt, how amazing
and wonderful to be freed from bondage, from enslavement to others, from the
inability to worship your God. ALL the people freed ate the same SPIRITUAL
meat. ALL the people drank the same SPIRITUAL drink- the source- CHRIST
OUR SAVIOR in His SPIRITUAL GOD FORM before He was born into flesh becoming the
only begotten Son of the Father God. ALL of them freed from bondage were
given the same SPIRITUAL access to their SALVATION. However--
1Co 10:5 But with many of them God was not well
pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
With MANY of them God wasn't well pleased. These
people who were given access to all they needed Spiritually were OVERTHROWN in
the wilderness. They weren't overthrown by God, but of their OWN LUSTS. They
were NOT willing to sacrifice, to suffer privation, to suffer in any way at
all!
1Co 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to
the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
They are now our EXAMPLES, they are held up in front
of us and we are made to see that we, like them, should NOT lust after EVIL
THINGS! Yes, we will be tempted of evil for that is the nature of evil -
to tempt, but we should not LUST after the evil- giving in to the temptation.
And THIS requires SACRIFICE, do not let anyone try to tell you
differently! Suffering, sacrifice, painful agonizing denial of our fleshy
lusts. Why do we imagine we shouldn't have to sacrifice? That somehow it's not of
God if we are called to painful sacrificing? That a loving God would not ask us
to suffer the agony of sacrifice. Why do we believe those things, those lies of
Satan?
1Co 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some
of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to
play.
1Co 10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as
some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
Twenty-three THOUSAND people died in one day because
of their evil lusts. And what do a lot of people today say to this? They
say that only proves God is evil and not a God they want to serve. They
are claiming God is the evil one for destroying innocent people who only want
to live in pleasure and happiness. They say God hates people having a
good time. This is what the world is saying today, this is what the world is
claiming because they, like the twenty-three thousand are only concerned with
being able to indulge their passions and pleasures and care nothing of true
love which is selfless, which is not self-servicing in any way. We are a very,
very incredibly self-serving people- even using our seeming selflessness in a
very selfish way.
Twenty-three thousand perish because of their
self-serving, their inability to truly love. Self-absorbed, pleasure seeking,
thrill seeking, self-seeking people- and today this is taught as a good thing.
Long gone are the days of true discipline, where working hard and helping
others is the goal of a person. We are
taught to work hard only so we can play even harder. I'm not talking wild
partying alone either. I'm talking about being able to take our ease, to relax we
long for these things. We long for rest and relaxation, to not have to concern
ourselves with anything but what we desire to do. These are what we call good.
Seeking to help others, we call that work, or at the least we think of it as an
intrusion on our self time. We talk about how we had to do this and that, we
felt obligated to do this and that, and how put upon we are. In the next breath
we might claim not to mind, but the mere fact we aren't actively seeking to
help, and have even a sliver of dread when called to help reveals that we are
not selfless, but more concerned with self than others. This is one of the
biggest problems we have - selfishness.
We do not live to happily serve.
Notice I said "HAPPILY" serve.
Twenty-three thousand people perished because of their
selfish lusts.
1Co 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of
them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
Again, they tempted Christ because of their
self-serving. They wanted more than to be simply sustained by God. They wanted God to prove Himself. They were
NOT dying of thirst or hunger, but they were thirsty and hungry. They believed God had brought them away from
their water and food only let them die rather than believe He would sustain
them. They doubted God. How often do we doubt? We cannot doubt, but rather
believe! We do not want to be numbered among those who tempt Christ. We must
believe.
1Co 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them
also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
To murmur, to complain that God is not the God we know
He is. To murmur, to complain that God will not save us as promised. To no
longer believe. We MUST believe! The
unbelieving will be destroyed, not because God forces obedience, but because
love commands obedience. The unbelieving do NOT desire to live eternally with
God, and because God promised to do away with all evil they cannot be allowed
to live. They believe they can live without God, but that isn't true. Without
God they cannot live. If they choose NOT to believe in God, they are choosing
to no longer be sustained by God. There isn't a single innocent, loving,
selfless person who will perish. To say
there are many people who do not believe in God but are wonderful selfless,
caring people is to say there are many people who are not truly selfless, but
believe they are selfless and caring of their own accord, therefore they cannot
be selfless all the while they might be seemingly selfless. Is it any wonder
those who seek to prove, to tempt, to murmur against our Savior are destroyed?
They aren't destroyed out of pleasure to destroy, but out of mercy. None who
choose not to believe will be forced to believe. If you choose to not believe
in God you cannot expect Him to save you with eternal life.
1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto
them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends
of the world are come.
We must study these things and comprehend people of
all ages have the same tendencies towards sin, towards selfishness. No one time
period had it easier than another we all face the inward battle of selfishness.
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall.
TAKE HEED! Pay
attention! We have to pay attention especially if we think we are standing, it
is when we believe we might be closest to our God that we might be on the brink
of falling!
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but
such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to
escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
TRUTH! We have to believe this is truth. You may be
called to SACRIFICE, to SUFFER so that you can escape, but a way is made for
you to escape. It doesn't read that an easy way will be given you so you can
escape falling into temptation. We want an easy way but that's foolishness on
our part. To believe that we have to have it easy in order to comply, that we
shouldn't have to outwardly, consciously work in any way, shape, or form to
escape. As soon as we begin to realize that we have to suffer and sacrifice
Satan is right there taunting us telling us that we are trying to work for our
salvation. God's word says this--
Php_2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out
your own salvation with fear and trembling.
No, salvation will
not come by our WORKING as if we earn grace, but the Christian life is a WORK
in and of itself and Satan would have us believe otherwise. The WAR we all
fight in, this battle between God and Evil, is a real FIGHT and that fight is a
work. You can't fight by laying down and doing nothing and expect to be
victorious. We are told to put on armor and pick up a sword- all Spiritual, all
REAL. Just because they are spiritual
does not mean they are pretend! Perhaps
that's where we go wrong some, playing pretend war when it is a REAL
battle! Yes, we will be tried and
tempted but we are given all we need by God to overcome, and we must work,
suffer, sacrifice in a very real way.
1Co 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee
from idolatry.
Flee from anything that would take God's rightful
place in our lives! And you know what? Fleeing is an ACTION! Fleeing is a WORK!
Fleeing is a sacrifice and suffering in that sacrifice!
Please Father in heaven, please help us as we struggle
in this horrific world dominated by Satan and his followers on all sides. We do
NOT want to belong to Satan, we would be YOURS and only YOURS, help us towards
this end! We don't want to be numbered among the twenty-three thousand who
chose selfish indulgence in our lusts rather than choosing to live for YOU,
serving YOU, and following YOUR will in all things! HELP US! SAVE US FROM
OURSELVES! Please, by the love and grace, through the mercy of YOUR SON, Jesus
Christ our Lord, now and forever!
Amen!
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