God’s Answer to a Rotten Life

 

Is suicide the answer to a rotten life? NO! Don’t think like that. Is meditation the answer? No, that won’t work by itself. How about isolation from people? No. Stop asking yourself the questions. Ask God. What is God’s answer to a horrible life? He has at least 2, and they both can change your perspective on how life should be.

INTRO

What makes life rotten? Is a horrible life created, or is it found? Is life bad because we had some catastrophic event happen in early childhood, and now our minds are bent to the point we can’t think straight? Does life stink because of a bad habit, say, an addiction? Does your life feel warped with little or no peace? Is there a constant string of insults and put-downs coming from everywhere? Does no one pay attention to your ideas?

There are so many ways that life can go bad. If you had 1 dollar for every way life can turn tragic, you might be able to retire on your own private island with plenty of servants. Wait, that wouldn’t work either, although it can be tempting.

Jesus not only taught about the answers we are looking for, but he demonstrated them, especially during the last few days of his earthly public ministry. The part that we call the Passion Week.

Jesus’ ministry, his travels, his care for people, and his love for his 12 disciples were challenged over and over again by both individuals and the religious elite. The high priest Caiaphas was so jealous of Jesus that he wanted Jesus dead. Matthew 26:3-4  Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas;  (4)  and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him.” How would that rate on a “rottenness scale” of 1 to 10?

But Jesus had already told everyone the 1st answer to a rotten life. He had already shown them that the answer is not innately inside your person. You do not have instinctively what it takes to fix life. But you do have access to the answer. The first answer to a horrible life is in Jesus himself. What did he say? Matthew 16:24 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Did you hear how he claimed that he himself is the answer? And that we must deny self. Then we take on carrying my Christian responsibilities. And thirdly, we start following his ways. But Jesus wasn’t finished with telling you the truth. His next words were, “(25)  “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Denial of Self is the first answer to a bad life. It is not about you. It is about others. Paul the apostle told us Philippians 2:3-4  Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;  (4)  do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Have you considered your plight IF Jesus has been selfish? What if Jesus had considered staying in heaven as more beneficial to himself than you? He would not have left heaven. And if he had not left heaven and lived on earth, God would not have had a perfect sacrifice for our sins. There would have been no Passion Week. No scourging. No Cross. No sacrifice. And you and I would have no hope of being forgiven. And hell would be an absolute certainty for everyone. That would be the worst life possible. All based on if Jesus thought more of himself than he thought of you.

So to improve your life, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and start following Jesus today.

But there are 2 answers to that rotten life, and here comes the 2nd one. Fortunately, it is somewhat related to the 1st answer.

Can you remember some of Jesus’ statements he made while on the cross? Maybe Luke 23:34  “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”…  Or maybe when he told John “Behold, your mother” (John 19.27). Or his words, “I am thirsty”.  But the one I hope you will focus on now is Luke 23:46  “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.  In this statement is your 2nd answer. He decided when he would die.

When Jesus died, his own self-preservation was not dominant. He did not fight the soldiers when they beat him. He did not resist them as they spat on him. He did not challenge the scourge, nor those nailing him to the cross. He was in control. Acts 8:32, “…and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he does not open his mouth.”

The 2nd answer to a rotten life is that we die to self. Jesus chose to die for you, so you can have a good life now and eternity with him. But it requires you to die to self.

Romans 6 was written about this death to self. Romans 6:4  “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” When we die to self through baptism, we get a “new life”. Not the old rotten one. Not the horrible one. One that is new!

Two verses later is another reference to this “dying to self” idea. Romans 6:6-8  knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;  (7)  for he who has died is freed from sin.  (8)  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,”

Paul the apostle became an example of this death-to-self idea. He said, Galatians 2:20  “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; …”

Let’s stop living in a rotten, horrible, disgusting life with self at the center. I urge you to begin denying yourself the evil passions, the temptations to sin, and start living with Jesus as your perfect example. And die to yourself today, through repentance, confession, and the baptism we have read about.

Answers to life are found in the Passion Week.

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There is another video in this series you need to pay close attention to. It is about “God’s Answer to Death”. Watch it right now. The link is below.

Thanks for watching. Until we can visit again, goodbye for now.