Running Toward the Lions! (Resting in Jesus)!
The Romans were somewhat befuddled when they gathered to watch the show in the Colosseum. The Hungry Lions were ready, sharp teeth and claws ready for lunch, ready to tear those aggravating Christians limb from limb. It should have been quite a show. Hilarious. But someone forgot to send the Christians a copy of the memo. Instead of screaming and cowering in fear or running uselessly in circles trying to get away from the Lions, they actually seemed happy about the situation. The shouts that were heard were shouts of joy and anticipation. One would think that the Romans had done them a favor instead of consigning them to a gruesome death.
“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love”.1 John 4:18 (NLT)
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. Philippians 1:21 (NIV)
On February 21, 2015, a video was released about 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were paraded down a beach in Libyan beach and beheaded by ISIS soldiers. They story is told (I cannot remember where) that in truth there was only 20 Coptic Christians that the 21st was not so much a Christian as a poor co-worker of the Egyptians who found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time. When asked if he was indeed a Christian he answered that he was what the others were. Apparently, their testimony and their peace had somehow reached his heart.
How does one reach a point where this is possible? It would seem unnatural seeing that self-preservation is one of the most basic of human instincts. But there is something in the very deepest part of the human psyche that recognizes that there is something, higher and better than ourselves. Like a Mother’s love for her child, or the lovers for their beloved, or the Soldier’s love for his comrades and his country.
People have been making sacrifices for higher ideals since time immemorial. We are made in God’s imagine and perhaps this is evidence of the tiny spark of the divine that is in us all. But in order to die so willingly for something one must be absolutely sure of its validity and worth. One should not simply throw one’s life away willy-nilly over nothing. These Christians faced Martyrdom with actual joy and anticipation. How does one reach the point where that is even possible?
First what was all the ballyhoo about anyway? The Romans believed in God, in fact they had a whole Parthenon full of them. They were surprisingly understanding about the Deities worshiped in the Nations they conquered but they didn’t quiet know what to do with the Nazarene. The strange God-man who demanded so little, and yet required so much.
Isaiah 53:3-7 ‘He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth”.
The Romans were somewhat befuddled when they gathered to watch the show in the Colosseum. The Hungry Lions were ready, sharp teeth and claws ready for lunch, ready to tear those aggravating Christians limb from limb. It should have been quite a show. Hilarious. But someone forgot to send the Christians a copy of the memo. Instead of screaming and cowering in fear or running uselessly in circles trying to get away from the Lions, they actually seemed happy about the situation. The shouts that were heard were shouts of joy and anticipation. One would think that the Romans had done them a favor instead of consigning them to a gruesome death.
“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love”.1 John 4:18 (NLT)
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. Philippians 1:21 (NIV)
On February 21, 2015, a video was released about 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were paraded down a beach in Libyan beach and beheaded by ISIS soldiers. They story is told (I cannot remember where) that in truth there was only 20 Coptic Christians that the 21st was not so much a Christian as a poor co-worker of the Egyptians who found himself at the wrong place at the wrong time. When asked if he was indeed a Christian he answered that he was what the others were. Apparently, their testimony and their peace had somehow reached his heart.
How does one reach a point where this is possible? It would seem unnatural seeing that self-preservation is one of the most basic of human instincts. But there is something in the very deepest part of the human psyche that recognizes that there is something, higher and better than ourselves. Like a Mother’s love for her child, or the lovers for their beloved, or the Soldier’s love for his comrades and his country.
People have been making sacrifices for higher ideals since time immemorial. We are made in God’s imagine and perhaps this is evidence of the tiny spark of the divine that is in us all. But in order to die so willingly for something one must be absolutely sure of its validity and worth. One should not simply throw one’s life away willy-nilly over nothing. These Christians faced Martyrdom with actual joy and anticipation. How does one reach the point where that is even possible?
First what was all the ballyhoo about anyway? The Romans believed in God, in fact they had a whole Parthenon full of them. They were surprisingly understanding about the Deities worshiped in the Nations they conquered but they didn’t quiet know what to do with the Nazarene. The strange God-man who demanded so little, and yet required so much.
Isaiah 53:3-7 ‘He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth”.
What about this seemingly weak individual would motivate such devotion? Christianity has been called a Blood-cult and in a way that is a little bit true. Matthew 26:28 "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins".
1 John 1:7-9 tells us "if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness".
In Ephesians 2:13 we see "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
Titus 2:14 (KJV) reminds us that Christ " Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works".
It is the by the Blood of Jesus that the church was redeemed. (Acts 20:28).
It is the source of our reconciliation with our Creator (Col. 1:20).
We love Him because "He first loved us". 1 John 4:19-21 (NKJV)
Christians believe that Jesus was God manifested as a man who came to earth for the express purpose of giving his life in excruciating pain so that those who embraced His sacrifice might be put once again on right footing with God.
Hebrews 12:2 puts it in a nutshell “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”.
Christ is our only hope of Salvation we see in Acts 4:12 that He is our only viable option “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.
I faced death once myself once, not from some pagan's knife but on the torture rack of disease. It was strange as I lay there, many months in the Hospital pondering so many things yet I never once was afraid of death or considered him my enemy.
This is what those early Christians believed, perfectly, completely and they were willing to give blood for blood in adoration for his sacrifice. If someone large and powerful loves you enough to die for you, you should be willing to take his hand in faith in the fellowship of his suffering.
"That I might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings; being made conformable to his death" (Philippians 3:10).:” These people followed Christ literally into the jaws of death. He was their Master, but more than that they approached him in perfect trust as you would a friend.
There is a deep Magic here, beyond our human understanding. C.S. Lewis told the story in allegory form in his wonderful book “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.” To quote "It means that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."
―Aslan describing the Deeper Magic (Chapter 15).[src
1 John 1:7-9 tells us "if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness".
In Ephesians 2:13 we see "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
Titus 2:14 (KJV) reminds us that Christ " Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works".
It is the by the Blood of Jesus that the church was redeemed. (Acts 20:28).
It is the source of our reconciliation with our Creator (Col. 1:20).
We love Him because "He first loved us". 1 John 4:19-21 (NKJV)
Christians believe that Jesus was God manifested as a man who came to earth for the express purpose of giving his life in excruciating pain so that those who embraced His sacrifice might be put once again on right footing with God.
Hebrews 12:2 puts it in a nutshell “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”.
Christ is our only hope of Salvation we see in Acts 4:12 that He is our only viable option “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.
I faced death once myself once, not from some pagan's knife but on the torture rack of disease. It was strange as I lay there, many months in the Hospital pondering so many things yet I never once was afraid of death or considered him my enemy.
This is what those early Christians believed, perfectly, completely and they were willing to give blood for blood in adoration for his sacrifice. If someone large and powerful loves you enough to die for you, you should be willing to take his hand in faith in the fellowship of his suffering.
"That I might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings; being made conformable to his death" (Philippians 3:10).:” These people followed Christ literally into the jaws of death. He was their Master, but more than that they approached him in perfect trust as you would a friend.
There is a deep Magic here, beyond our human understanding. C.S. Lewis told the story in allegory form in his wonderful book “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.” To quote "It means that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."
―Aslan describing the Deeper Magic (Chapter 15).[src
Christ, the “willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead" (Me and You) but he rose again, and Bible tells us in Romans 8:11 (KJV) "that if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you”. Through Him we have hope, though we may die we will live again. This is the secret, this the reason thousands of Christians have been able to face death with such peace for the last two thousand years. “Death itself will work backwards” and we too shall live”. None of us know what will happen in the future or exactly what our end may be but Christ is our hope and our example and having perfect trust in our risen Savior we can with all assurance run to meet the Lions and trust the final outcome to Him.
1 Corinthians 15:55 55"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
John 15:13 (KJV) “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”--Jireh's Girl