F
One brisk morning you walk out the door and are met at the
sidewalk by four well-dressed men who take you by the arm, open the door of their
sleek Mercedes and firmly deposit you in the back seat. The car speeds through
the town and out onto the open road. After what seems like
several hours, the driver turns up a wooded lane and stops in front of a
magnificent stone building.
You are ushered into a room
and given a seat at the end of a long table as the four guards seat themselves on either side.
“He’s
coming now,” whispers
one
of the guards.
"Who?"
"Why the Accuser, of
course."
A man dressed in judges robes enters and settles himself
at the head of the table. A book is brought in and opened
and all the major sins of your life are read aloud in the presence of these
four men.
Secret sins.
Sins no one ever knew.
Sin after sin is carefully
described.
Your life, which up to then, seemed more decent than most,
suddenly looks hideous, as your past is spread out before you, crowded with all
the misdeeds you had long forgotten.
It looks more like the past
of a murderer.
How is it possible?
The Accuser looks up from the book and fixes his eyes on
you. They are not kind eyes, they are not holy. The
Accuser’s eyes are hard, cruel and evil.
"You know the penalty", he says.
"I sentence you to death.
You will be returned to your home. When you arrive you will find that the clock hasn't moved one second
from the moment you met these guards. You will pick up precisely where you left
off.
Only remember this: my Executioner has been ordered to
take your life at the appointed time."
"When will that
be?", you cry in despair. "How much time do I have?"
"Ah" answers the
Accuser. "That is not for you to know.
It could be today.
It may be next week.
Perhaps not for 50 years.
You will not see the
Executioner, but he will follow you at all times. You
will never be out of his sight. He will stand in the shadows and await the
appointed moment.
Then he will strike.”
Soon you find yourself standing alone on
the sidewalk in front of your door. The time is exactly what it was when you met the strange guards. A friend comes down the
street and bids you good morning. You smile and return the greeting
but you are in a daze.
Was it a dream?
Was it a hallucination?
Or did it really happen?
Everything is the same as ever except that now you have
the unshakable feeling that you are being followed by someone.
In a few weeks you become accustomed to this presence
lurking behind you. You no longer turn around and try to see him. You’re no longer afraid to open doors or go
into dark rooms or walk down deserted streets.
You begin to laugh again and enjoy life almost as you did
before, except that deep within is the knowledge that you are living under the
sentence of death. You know that some day, somewhere, the Executioner will step
out of the shadows and strike.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and
blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he
might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong
bondage.
Hebrews
2
When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden,
they ate of the Tree of Life. They were alive in a way that humans today cannot
experience. There was no shadow hanging over them. In the evening
when the sun went down, they could sleep in perfect peace because tomorrow
would be another glorious day. They had nothing to look forward to but new joy,
new glory, in the garden of their heavenly Father.
But the day they ate of that forbidden tree everything
changed.
Suddenly they saw that they
were naked and covered themselves.
They were guilty and had to
run and hide.
Soon they were cut off from
God outside the Garden among the rocks and thorns of this insecure world that
we know so well.
Worst of all, they were
living under the sentence of death.
"In the day that you eat the fruit
thereof, you shall surely die."
The Serpent who had been
the Tempter was now the Accuser.
"You've
done it!
Now
you're in my power, and you're going to die!
Soon
you're going to die."
They could till the soil, and
herd their flocks, and raise their children,
and build shelters to protect them from the cold winds.
There were pleasures in eating, and
drinking, and loving, and overcoming obstacles.
But death reigned over them. They could no longer eat from
the Tree of Life. The bright hope of another glorious tomorrow was marred by
the ugly knowledge that tomorrow might never arrive.
When you and I were born into this world, we were born
children of Adam. Before we know what it is to speak a word or make a decision, we
already know what it is to be afraid.
What are we afraid of?
Why is a child frightened
by a loud noise? Or a sudden unfamiliar jar?
Why does a child panic when
it comes into the house and calls for its mother and there is no answer?
The fear behind all fears is the fear of that moment when
the Executioner will materialize before us and strike the blow.
The fear of death.
The aged woman who cries from her sickbed, "0 why
doesn't God let me die?" may think she wants to die. But her whole being,
tired and worn and sick as it is, is struggling for life. Still running from
the Executioner.
The young man who, in a fit of despair, puts a gun to his
head and blows out his brains is not running away from life. He's beside
himself like a man marooned on a single rock in the middle of an endless ocean.
Death has surrounded him. The unseen Executioner has deprived him of all hope.
And so, he gives himself up to the Executioner.
People don't realize what a grip their approaching death
has on them. How the body, mind, and spirit shudder every time they are
reminded that it's corning.
Death is not an event,
something that happens when your heart stops and the fires of this body turn
cold.
Death is a region that you
enter when your body falls away and you step forth into a world with shadow but
no substance.
A world where music is
often replaced by the sound of weeping.
Where time can be filled
with endless waiting.
Where the memory plays and replays and replays your past.
When the rich man in our Lord's parable entered the region
of the dead, he was not unconscious.
He was very
much awake.
He could see.
He could feel.
He could think.
He could speak.
"I
beseech thee father Abraham, send Lazarus that he may
dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in
this flame!"
Many years ago I was in a group of seven men on a weekend retreat. It
was Saturday night. We had just got up from our knees after being drenched in an
outpouring of the Holy Spirit with a force that none of us had
ever known before. We were sitting in front of the fire in silence when finally one man got up, walked over and stood by the
fireplace and said, "The biggest thing for me is that I know now – I know
that I'm never going to die".
What a strange thing for him to say! But
I noticed that from that day that man, in his own quiet way, had power he didn't have before.
He was like a rock.
He was filled with the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. So he knew he was never going to die. He would go on for a
few more years. One day they would have a funeral for him and lay his body in the ground. But this man will live forever, and so will
you, and so will I, if the Spirit that lives in this man rules our
lives.
My sheep hear my voice
and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto
them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand.
John
10
It is true
that Jesus came to preach good news to the poor,
and heal
the broken hearted,
and bring release to the
captives,
and open the eyes of the
blind.
But the chief reason for
his coming, the chief reason for Jesus' presence with us as we read these words,
is to raise us from the dead.
“The hour is coming and now is when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And they that hear shall live.”
John
5
We don't have to live under the curse of the Accuser. We
don't have to live in dread of the Executioner.
We
can have life that no man and no devil can take from us.
And
when we have this life, we are free from the shadow of death and alive to God
as never before.
Because
we are sustained by the Tree of Life.
We are eating its fruit.
Where is that Tree of Life?
It's up there on
Its fruit is the broken
body and the shed blood of the Son of God.
If any
one eats of this bread, they live forever.
"At the Cross, at the Cross, where I first saw the
light, And the burden of my heart rolled away."
The burden of our hearts is up there on the Cross! He is
dying our death. He is destroying our Accuser.
That through death, He might destroy
him that has the power of death, that is the devil, and
deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage.
Hebrews 2
When Satan tells you, "You are going to die!"
don't argue with him. Just point him to the Cross and he will shrivel up and
disappear.
Of
course we have to keep learning how to
live all over again. To live like free men, free women. And the way we learn to
live is by keeping Jesus' words.
If a person keeps my saying, they will
never see death.
John 8
The power of the Holy Spirit operates in our lives day by day, hour by hour, not through some glorious
experience we once had, but through simple obedience to the words of Jesus
right where we are.
“The words that I have
spoken to you, they are Spirit
and they are life.”
When Jesus says, "Love your enemies", and we
obey out of love for him, his power surges through us and blesses our enemy as
well as us.
When Jesus says, ''Proclaim
the gospel'', and even though we’re afraid, timid, self-conscious and
tongue-tied, we do it out of love for him, the gospel rolls out of our mouths,
a stream of living water.
The door to Everlasting Life is open and we may enter
afresh even now. The door is none other than the outstretched arms of this man
who raises the dead by dying for them, purges them with his own blood, and
quickens them with his living word:
Jesus.
Whoever has the Son has life, and whoever does not have the Son does not have life.
I John 5:12
Do we have this Son?
Are we walking with him?
It’s time to cast out the Executioner who has followed us
down the empty years filling our lives with dread,
and draw near as never
before to the risen Lord Jesus,
who to
know is life eternal,
who to serve is unspeakable
joy.