42
When I was a teenager I used the love the “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe.” In this “increasingly inaccurate trilogy” some other life form or alien species want to learn the “Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything.” They built a supercomputer “Deep Thought” which takes seven and a half millions years to bring an answer. After the long wait the aliens are surprised to find that the “Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything,” is 42. In their confusion they ask the supercomputer to produce the “Ultimate Question” but the computer could not. However, it could produce a program that can; the Earth. To the best of my memory after 10 million years the Earth was destroyed within five minutes of computing the “Ultimate Question.” So the scientist, on a whim, decided it was “How many roads must a man walk down?” from Bob Dylan’s protest song “Blowin’ in the Wind.”
What fascinates me about this story is how many of us know the answer to our problems, the answer to our strife. As Christians we know that Jesus is the answer, the door, the truth and Word. But as Christians how many of us know the “why, what or where?”
It is oddly curious to me that God gave Abraham a promise; “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:18) After this promise God then gave Moses the law. It’s perplexing that God made a promise to Abraham that his “seed” would bless the whole earth and shortly after God would chastise His people with the Law. As Paul said, “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.” (Romans 7:10) And after the Law we have Jesus whom fulfilled the Law and was the promise. What was the purpose of the chastisement between the promise and the promise deliverer? Would the seed of Abraham bless the earth by redeeming the population, by saving them from the burden of God’s standard?
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (1 Timothy 1:15)
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoptions as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
Jesus Saves! This we hear frequently. This statement is heard so often that we Christians, and I fear the world as well, have gotten too comfortable with it. We should know by now that Jesus saves, but what does He save from? “Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” but from what? If Abraham’s promise from God was the salvation of the world, what was the promise of God going to save it from?
Therein lays the question. The Law is the “why” to the Gospel of Christ. As the law reveals to us the holiness of God, as it reveals the nature of Almighty God and His conditions to be satisfied in justice and holiness, we are taught that “You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” (Leviticus 20:26) All the while, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6) As well as, “The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” (Psalms 14:2-3)
The Law of Moses essentially is the question to the answer. Jesus died for me, because God is holy and I am not. Jesus saves me, from the wrath of an almighty and just God. Jesus endured the cross so that I would not have to. Because you see, I deserve the cross. There is no part of my body that is worthy to come before God. The law shows me this. But with the blood of Christ on my soul I may boldly enter a relationship with the creator of the universe.
“Just so: The law is for the self-righteous, to humble their pride; the gospel is for the lost, to remove their despair.” (Charles Spurgeon – All of Grace)
“What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:7)
In closing, a reasonable question to ask when told that Jesus died for you is “why?” Why did Jesus hang on the cursed cross for you? Several quick answers may or may not have been indoctrinated in you to snap back with an easy response. But I challenge you to get personal with this question. Truly, personally, why did Jesus die for you?
This was an extremely pivotal moment in my Christian walk. A church I used to go to a couple years ago had a very evangelistic approach. There were several really good people that I liked there. The church also had some great services that it did for the community. However the preacher preached a message that was sent out to the hurting, the broken, the poor and needy, the addictive and the incarcerated. Although a wonderful message, I was left confused. I was married to the love of my life, with a miracle daughter along the way. I had a good job and a nice home. I didn’t have any significant family problems I wasn’t addicted to anything and had no legal problems. I was happy, well adjusted and doing good. Likewise I was a decent person. I didn’t really lie or steal. I tried my best to do what was right. I found myself in an odd situation; why did I need Christ? I found myself on a spiritual journey where eventually I found the Law. Through the law and the teachings of some good Bible oriented teachers I learned that I had broken every commandment of the Ten Commandments. I learned that I needed Jesus because I was guilty before God having sinned against Him. I realized that I was riding a train with a one way ticket to hell. It wasn’t until that point that I understood John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Not till then did I realize the great love and mercy God had shown me.
Again I ask you to ask yourself “Why did Jesus die for me?” Dare I to say, because you are a sinner. I love the saying “I am a great sinner but I have a greater savior.”
Amen
