I see you have quite the gash there. Allow me to unscrew the lid off this salt-shaker, it comes out much quicker that way… Nothing like kicking a guy while he’s down. It’s like telling your friend that you saw his unsigned fire insurance policy on the kitchen table as his new house is burning to the ground. But you know, that’s what God is telling us in the Bible. He says that we are sinners, and that there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Talk about adding insult to injury.
The cross is offensive. It’s insulting. It declares in no uncertain terms that our best is simply not good enough. Death is the only way out of sin. We balk at that, don’t we? We like to think that if a guy gives it the old college try, then there ought to be some recognition for it, right? Well, sounding good, doesn’t make it so. What we don’t realize is that trying to better ourselves is like pouring water on a grease fire. Good luck with that.
The truth is, we need to be offended. It’s good for us. Not that the actual act of being offended is good. There used to be these high and mighty terms for it like, “injured merit” or “affronted dignity”, that made it sound like being offended was a virtue of some kind. But don’t we read in the love-chapter (1st Cor. 13) that love is not easily offended? What I mean is that it is necessary for us to be offended. I don’t remember the exact quote, but someone once defined meekness as being pleased when you’re insulted, because the truth is really much worse. Did you get that? It’s like someone calling you a loser, and you thinking to yourself – “You don’t know the half-of-it buddy.”
You see, being offended pries the door to our souls open so that we can see in there. We don’t like what we see, so we begin either justifying or excusing it. But come on, get the chair out from under the handle and let the door come right off the hinges! The sooner we find out about ourselves, the better. God designs life that way. But so often we learn to disguise ourselves with the camouflage of self-righteousness. Filthy rags, the Bible says. I went to buy a pair of jeans and all I could find were “new” pairs with stains and rips already in them. That seems to really reveal our condition, doesn’t it? We can’t even be genuine about spilling stuff on ourselves. We’re good liars.
We lie to ourselves. There is a famous TV star with a quote you may have heard: “It’s not a lie, if you believe it.” It’s easy for us to start believing our own tall tales. “I’m a good person” you think to yourself, forgetting about earlier this morning when you… Insert that thing here that you don’t want anyone to know about. No one is good. Good deeds don’t make good people. Does talking make a parrot a person? Does using a computer make a chimp a man? All the good works in the world will not change the fact that we are sinners by birth and by choice. All our lying won’t change it either. We might as well agree with God that we are in trouble, and that only he can do something about it. That’s no lie.
Once again, the cross is offensive. Why? First of all, it shows us our sin. Can there be a worse sin than crucifying the Son of God? I don’t think so. But we did that. We killed the Prince of Life. The next time a little kid asks you what the worst thing you’ve ever done is (as my kids have asked me), tell them that you condemned an innocent man to death. That should get their attention. You didn’t swing the hammer, but you wanted him dead. Jesus said that’s the same thing, remember? (Hatred equals murder) You didn’t want your sin taken from you. It was your “precious” as Smeagol would say. You would do anything to hold on to it. The cross reveals that. It’s insulting.
It’s also insulting because not only are you responsible for it, but it is your only hope. It’s both ironic and paradoxical that the very thing we needed done for us, we inadvertently had a hand in. That doesn’t mean that we saved ourselves in any way, but the very thing that epitomized our distance from God, brought us close to Him. God used our weapon against him, to be a blessing for us. It’s a mind-bender, for sure. But we needed it. He died for us. That’s unsettling. Once again, we’d like to think that we can contribute, and give God a hand. He won’t accept it. The cross is God’s way of saying, I don’t need you. That hurts us.
But it’s a good kind of hurt. I’m glad God doesn’t need me. That would force his hand wouldn’t it? If he needed me, than he wouldn’t really love me. But he does love. Would you rather him need you, or want you? The degree to which he wants you was revealed in the death of His Son. He wants you that badly. God would treat Christ like a sinner, for you, just to have you back. Let your dignity be affronted. Let your merit be injured. He doesn’t need you – He wants you. Don’t you want to be wanted?
When the offense of the cross is active, we find places in ourselves that we have not yet resigned to the condemnation of our sin. That’s a mouthful, but let me say that another way. Uh… You’ve got some mustard on the corner of your mouth. No, the other side. Almost got it – just a second, I’ll get a wet-nap. Ok, there we go. Umm, there’s ketchup on your sleeve too. And on it goes. There’s lunch all over us. We sat in chocolate pudding and spilled our drinks in our laps. The cross is our Mom telling us all this stuff. Unless we agree with God that we had to be born-again, from above this time, we will be dragging around our old dead selves, propping them up against the wall, trying to just act normal. It’s insulting when someone finds us out.
There is more to us than just our sin. That’s where we are headed with this. If you are a Christian – a believer in Jesus who died for you – than you are a new man – or woman, respectively. You see, before, you sinned because you were a sinner. But now, you are a sinner because you sin. It gets reversed. Sin was not really an option before. It was on the surface, but underneath, it ruled you before you came to know Christ. Now, sin is only an option. It does not rule you. It feels like it does sometimes, but that’s a lie from the devil. As Christians, we choose it every time we sin. Sin was your old nature, but you are dead to that, in Christ. You are now alive to God, and that means there is a new principle working in your life. It’s called “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.”
We’ve been to Romans Six, and Seven – and now were on to chapter Eight. That’s were we find this new law present in us. The whole verse goes this way, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.” Freedom! See what a little insulting can lead to? Offend me! Let me see what my sin really is so that I can place no stock in it. Let me put all my eggs in this new basket. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and behold all things have become new.” We died and rose again with Christ. We are new creations, growing up and out of the old. The old is still around, but the new will outlast it. Even if it barely peeks it’s head out of us during our lifetime here, it will be everything in the next. It’s all about this new law in us: TLOTSOLICJ. Quite an acronym. I don’t think it will catch on.
We get too familiar with our old sin nature still. We need fresh reminders that the cross severed ties with it. It offends us initially, but after, we wouldn’t have traded that experience for anything. Learn to recognize old Adam. When someone crosses you and you feel your blood begin to boil – Adam. When you are denied something that you thought you were entitled to and you start to sulk – Adam. Whenever you choose to put yourself first, whenever you go out of your way to promote yourself (verbally handing out your resumé), whenever you are disappointed with your lot in life (that God has dropped in your lap, don’t forget) – it’s all Adam. Adam and Adam again. Christ died to be the “Last Adam”, Scripture says. His death was Adam’s. His death was yours. It’s done. Hasn’t your Mom ever told you not to play with dead things?
I heard this quote once that I didn’t like, and I still don’t like it. But I’m going to share it with you anyway: “You know how far along you are to becoming a servant, by how you react when you are treated like one.” Ouch. Are you pleased to have your toes stepped on? Are you ecstatic when you get the opportunity to serve others – even when it’s inflicted upon you? Nothing shows spiritual maturity more than actually living out James 1:2 “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials”. There’s nothing like it. The world can’t touch that. That’s the life of Jesus coming out in you. Remember in Acts 5 when the apostles were beaten for preaching Jesus? It says that they went away “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” It sounds crazy, but that kind of joy is available in Christ. He had it, so you get it too.
Where’s the joy? You won’t find it in your circumstances. Life will go your way sometimes, but our real unshakable joy is found in Jesus who had it even while they were crucifying him. “Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.” (Hebrews 12:2) Offenses will come. Insults are just around the corner. Let them come. Be found out. Let them go deep and reveal to you the difference between the old man and the new man. It takes time to figure it out, but start now. Let life be your waiter, and hear him say to you, “Would you care for some insult with your injury?” Say, yes please, and then go for a second helping.