Lesson 120: “DEAD RINGER”
In the 16th Century I am told that people drank ale or whiskey from lead cups. Evidently the combination of the “spirits” and the “elements” could knock a hardy drinker out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road might mistake an unconscious drunk for dead and so prepare him for burial. They would lay the “body” on the kitchen table for a few days for the family to gather around, eat, drink and wait expectantly for the person to “wake”. Ergo, the term “WAKE”! People finally caught onto the fact that not all that “slept” were “dead”. Now we “dig” further into the story and find that the “plot” thickens literally with so many bodies in the small landscape that room was scarce. The old graves were dug up and the remains (being of less volume now) were stored in a smaller space and the graves and coffins were re-used. Upon opening the occupied coffins, scratch marks were discovered on the inside of some. Drawing the eerie conclusion that one or more had been buried alive a new and improved burial plan was devised. A string was tied to a body part of the “deceased”, pulled up and tied to a bell on a post before the dirt was tossed in to cover the coffin. A volunteer would sit in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. From this we get our sayings; graveyard shift, saved by the bell and dead ringer.
Jesus is on the graveyard shift! He waits by our up-right tents (2 Cor. 5:1) listening for our bell to ring; “Save me! Save me! Save me!” The gospel is about life yet not all who hear it will putt on the string connected to Our Lord and Savior. Many will be found on the side of the road to hell and will be counted among the dead, missing the chance to ring out.
We are related to God through death. Jesus Christ died on the Cross for our sins and according to Scripture we died to sin when we accepted Him as hour Savior. The Greek “aorist” (past tense) for died, suggests a specific point when the actions occurred, as salvation. Death, whether physical or spiritual, means separation NOT extinction. Death to sin is separation from sin’s power, NOT the extinction of sin. Being dead to sin means being set free from sin (Rom. 6:2-10). We were baptized into Christ Jesus, buried with Him and just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. We are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Those, who by faith, receive Jesus Christ and are identified with Him have died with Christ. Because this is true, we believe (present tense---we keep on believing) that we will also live with Him. The sharing of the Resurrection life of Jesus Christ begins at the moment of regeneration, but will continue as a believer shares eternity with the Lord. What is true in reality and experience with Jesus, believers who are identified with Him by faith are commanded to regard as true for themselves (Rom. 6:8-11). Now we are related to Christ through the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead that is living in us. Christ is in you with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. In other words, God gives spiritual resurrection life now and physical resurrection in the future (Rom. 8:9-11, 1 Cor. 6:14, 2 Cor. 4:14).
Now we are a new creature; the old has gone and the new has come. No one was more able to reflect on this transformation that Paul who turned from a persecutor of Christ to a proclaimer of Christ (Acts 9:5, 20:22). He was in Christ (a phrase Paul used repeatedly to speak of a believer’s spiritual relationship to Christ) because he believed the message of the gospel and was identified by faith with Christ (2 Cor. 5:4-17, Rom. 6:3-4, Gal. 2:20). This new creation is brought about by the Holy Spirit; the agent of regeneration (Titus 3:5) and the giver of divine birth (John 3:3, 6-8). Death is the destiny of every man (Ecc. 7:2) and it is appointed to each man to die once (Heb. 9:7) but this is only our physical death. Our souls belong to God and whosoever believes in Jesus Christ will never die (John 11:26). The resurrection of the “new life age” is present right now because Jesus is Lord of life (John 1:4). Jesus’ words about life and death are seemingly paradoxical. A believer’s death issues in new life and the believer will never die spiritually (John 3:16, 5:24, 10:28, 2 Cor. 5:6,8, Phil 1:23).
Isaiah prophesied that “He will swallow up death forever” (Isa. 25:8) and what was written came true when death was swallowed up in the victory of the Cross (1 Cor. 15:54-57). For those who belong to Christ, death’s power will be removed (1 Cor. 15:53-54). Death came through men, Adam, when sin was brought into and received in the Garden of Eden. We were created to live forever but as the Scripture states, “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). The wages (Greek word ‘opsonia’, originally meant a soldier’s pay) is eternal death; eternal separation from God in hell (Luke 16:24-25). This is the wages an unbeliever has earned and deserves because of their sin (Rom. 5:12, 7:13). By contrast, the gift of life (charisma---grace gift) of God is eternal life (John 3:16, 36). Paul is saying that you earn death through sin but the gift of life cannot be earned (Eph. 2:8-9, Titus 3:5).
In the Garden, the devil got his hooks into man and held us for ransom. Our Lord and Savior paid the price when He died as a ransom to set us free from sin (Heb. 9:15). He tasted death for everyone by the grace of God (Heb. 2:9). God’s love is not limited to a few or to one group of people but His gift is to the whole world. The statement of tasting death is best understood as the purpose of the Lord’s being made lower than the angels in His Incarnation. The focus on the statement, despite its reference to Jesus’ present glory, is on the fact that He became a man in order to die. He laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16), died for our sins once and for all to bring us to God (1 Pet. 3:18) and now holds the keys to death and Hades (Rev. 1:18). That is He has the sole authority over death and the place of the eternal dead (John 5:21-26, 1 Cor. 15:54-57, Heb. 2:14, Rev. 20:12-14).
“Behold! I stand at the door and knock” (Rev. 3:20). This is the door to your spiritual grave that holds death eternally if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior. Pull the string! Ring the bell! Let Him snatch you from the flames (Jude 23). “Yes, I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20-21).