This Week In Recovery Lesson
Fool or Free? Dead or Alive?
And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 (NLT)
For one to reject the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, rather than embrace it, would be utterly foolish. To embrace Christ’s sacrifice of obedience unto death on a cross, is to sacrifice ourselves unto a life of surrender, committed to doing the will of God just as Jesus did (Romans 12:1-2). There is the one who believes in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God resurrected, as the vehicle to power and authority in this life. There is also the one who will agree with the historical evidence that Jesus lived as a prophet who died, but that’s it; the belief is that he is still in the grave. That one denies the history of the empty tomb as evidence of Christ’s resurrection. One is right and one is wrong. There is no middle ground, here. There is belief and there is disbelief. Because there is so much at stake; either the believer or the unbeliever is a fool.
What’s at stake? Imagine that your life is a house and you, of course, are inside the house since it is your life. The self-centered thinking, intentions and behavior that drives your life is a blazing fire. The house that is your life is on fire. The house is burning down and you are trapped inside with no way out as flames rage all around you. You are suffocating from smoke inhalation and it is so hot your skin is already beginning to burn. Fire is everywhere! The smoke is so thick. You are blind and lost and doomed to perish.
Suddenly, a fireman approaches you from the flames. He hears you crying out for help. He is fully equipped to rescue you. Do you refuse to go with him? Jesus Christ is the fireman that can and will rescue you if you go with him. If you were really trapped inside of a burning building in a panic knowing you will die unless someone seeks you out and finds you, would you ask the fireman if he could wait for a while longer for you to get your things? Of course, not. There wouldn’t even be a thought. The fireman grabs you and you are going wherever he leads until you’re free. In that moment, it’s all that makes sense.
- How would you explain Jesus Christ, the Fireman, has rescued you in your life?
- What would you say He rescued you from?
- How would you describe to someone what you believe about Jesus Christ?
- How would you describe to someone what you believe about Christ’s time on earth as a human being?
- How would you describe to someone His sacrifice for you dying on the cross?
- How would you describe to someone the resurrection of Jesus from the dead?
- How would you describe to someone who Jesus is today?
- How would you describe for someone who Jesus is in your life today?
The purpose of this lesson is two-fold. If you are struggling with disbelief yourself it is incumbent on you to consider the facts concerning the life of Jesus Christ during His time on earth as someone who came to us, died for us, rose again, and now lives in us when we let Him in. But if you are someone who believes, the challenge laid out in TWRAC 021 is to consider the truth of who Jesus is today. Do you live as free and alive, or do you tend to doubt and wonder, and feel like you are a fool to believe?
Please click now on TWRAC 021.
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