Kill (Part 6 of ?)

[It's down hill from here...]

We are getting in the way of a relationship with our Savior. It’s only in turning to Jesus and worshiping Him as God will we allow His death on the cross to kill our sin.

And partake in killing it as well.

In 1999 the controversial, now cult classic, film Fight Club (you know, “the first rule of fight club is, you do not talk about fight club) hit theaters and raised concern while sparking underground revolutions.

I was hardly ever invited to parties in high school so I spent a majority of my senior year drinking Pepsi and watching it with a few buddies (a loser I know, but a cool edgy loser). In the movie, a docile Edward Norton and a diesel Brad Pitt play alternative characters who are polar opposites. Yet as the story progresses you discover that they are disassociated personalities. Brad Pitt plays Edward Norton’s whacked out alter ego. Eventually Norton realizes that Pitt’s character is amassing some major damages and destruction and must be stopped.
(I have no problem ruining the ending of movies so…) In a dramatic final scene the main characters face off and Norton, desperate to be freed of his alter ego’s control and mayhem, shoots himself in the head killing Pitt on the spot.

Norton’s character survives.

And this is picture of Christian worship.

When someone surrenders their life to Jesus and worships Him as God they will do a lot more killing than singing. But it won’t be of people or alter egos, it will be of our selfish character produced by our sinful nature. We have to deal with a confusing misconception here before we move on. Some people, Christian and nonChristian, believe that if they can just get themselves together, clean up their act, and moralize their lives they’ll fix themselves and the rift between God. This belief and behavior is the same as trying to cure a cold by wiping your nose. We can wipe our nose a million times but the illness will never go away because the cold remains. You can’t cure a sickness by treating the symptoms.

And you can’t become sinless by sinning less.

All people are born with a sin nature. A natural rebellion against God. We are born at war with our Creator. Our sin nature is revealed by our sinful character expressed in thought, word, and action. This is why Jesus’ death on the cross is so crucial.

His death kills the cold and the symptoms slowly die as well.

When someone turns to Jesus the sin that separated them from God is forgiven.Then they are infused with the Holy Spirit to kill off the symptoms of sin while producing the character of God in their place. Romans 8:13 says it like this, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” This is where and why worship is vital for the life of a Christian.

In the letter to the Colossians the apostle Paul paints this amazing picture of who Jesus is and what He’s done and then he describes the necessary response of those who follow Him.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. [Colossians 3:1-5]

First Paul talks about the position of those who have put their faith in and given their lives to Jesus. He says they are, “raised with Christ.” Christians have spiritually come back from dead just as Jesus did physically. And this resurrection condition should alter our worship and behavior. Next Paul tells those who have been resurrected, born again, saved, to set their hearts and minds on Jesus — on heavenly things instead of worldly things. Here Paul is opposing the worship of the earthly idols they formerly held as god. This is a call to worship Jesus, and in doing so it’s a call to kill.

The Old Testament of the Bible is filled with historical accounts of the rebellion of people and the rescue of God. The Israelite monarchy was very similar to an episode of Jersey Shore. Most of the Israelite kings did evil in the eyes of the Lord but there were a few who did right. One of those kings was Josiah. Josiah became king when he was eight years old (I was picking my nose and shooting cap guns when I was eight). In the 18th year of his reign he rediscovers God’s laws, reads it, and is overwhelmed by it. He notices that the kingdom he rules is living in opposition to God’s way, full of idols and idolatry. So Josiah gets busy.

The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the LORD, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah. [2 Kings 23:4-7]

And this is what Paul has in mind when he instructs those who worship Jesus to “put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature.”

Worshiping Jesus kills idols.

Killing idols discontinues the expressions and behaviors associated with idol worship.

Colossians 3 explains that worshiping Jesus will progressively kill our self-worship — the remnants of our forgiven sinful nature.

What are we worshiping instead of Jesus that must be killed?

Potential.

Power.

Possessions.

Popularity.

Pleasure.

People.

As an act of worship, then, kill, resist, and destroy all the character produced from worshiping anything but Jesus.

Our culture views our sin nature as our identity that shouldn’t be tampered with. Religion prefers cleaning up, instead of killing completely, to modify behavior while neglecting idolatry of the heart. The Gospel reveals a God who is willing to die to kill our godliness so we could become godly.

Our reason we protect and hide our idols and fear killing them is because we believe we won’t survive. In killing our idolatry we will not only survive we will thrive. When we turn to Jesus and worship Him as God we will kill our selfish character and allow Him to clothe us with His character.

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