Resurrection Reconsidered - Pt. 3 Redefined

Today on April 4, 2021 is a day we celebrate as Easter. It is for those of us a day to remember Christ's sacrifice and his Resurrection. It is for so many out there an event that change human history. For me, it is an event that Redefined my life!

On this Easter day, I am going to finish our 3-part series entitled, Resurrection Reconsidered. Before doing so I want to do a quick recap on what we've looked at first. In Part 1 we discussed how the Resurrection of Jesus is directly connected to Passover, how when the people of Israel placed the lambs blood across their door frames, which wrote out the Hebrew word Chet חֵטְא, stands for the word Sin. We discussed how God provided His lamb to be sacrificed in order that the blood be placed on the door frames of our lives.

In Part 2 we looked at how there is a next-step in this Resurrection. That this applying of the lambs blood to sin was only the first step and that the next step was for us to go forth, to move forward with a purpose so that our lives could be then Redirected. That next-step was for us to Go, Worship The Lord. And that in order for us to go and Worship Him we must decide to leave our place, our lives of enslavement. The imagery I used for this was based on the Exodus story of leaving Egypt and leaving the rule of Pharaoh. Today, I wish to look at our final-step. It is in this step that our lives will be Redefined.

Staying with the Passover story of Israel placing the lambs blood on the door posts, leaving Egypt and Pharaoh, we will look again in the Book of Exodus to see our final-step. When the people of Israel decide to be led by Moses and God out from the Egypt, the were instructed to do some things. I recommend you read all of Exodus 13:1-16. It is in verse 17 we will begin to see this final-step. I encourage you to go to Exodus 13:17-18. Here we see something happening, "When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea."

The first part of this final-step is realizing and accepting that God is not going to lead you in the direction you think your life should go in. Because God knows you better than you know yourself. Growing up in a Christian home where both of my parents where pastors, everyone expected that I would become the next pastor and run the Church. Boy was I so wrong about that.

You see, as I mentioned before in part 2, my main Pharaoh was that of insecurity. And when you are someone like me who had no faith in himself, it is very difficult to have faith in God. Let alone faith in making decisions for myself, which of course greatly affected me listening to God in directing me toward the right decisions. I took the path through what I will call in today's lesson, Philistine Country, that was shorter. For me, Philistine Country was where I allowed others to make choses for my life.

Now you may not consider yourself as one of these people, but I'll bet there have been or may even be still to this day people who have influenced you greatly in making decisions. Whether they be in how to live your life, what to believe, how you are suppose to act or how to interact with others. We all have these influencers in our lives. For many of us they've been our parents or guardians. They have been our peers, maybe a teacher, pastor, priest, or leader. For so many of us in today's world it may be the media, social-media, Youtube videos, bloggers, or whatever form in which we get our information and insight from.

This my friend is the shorter path. This is taking the path through Philistine Country, and what happens when we take this is path is that if we do, what happens is exactly what God said would happen to the people of Israel. They will face war, and their minds changed and they would return to Egypt. There is an interesting teaching by Paul that I believe is directly connected to this statement in Exodus 13. Paul writes a letter to the Roman Church, and says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." [Romans 12:2]

Amazing how Paul is teaching to them the importance of renewing their minds. This idea Paul talks about being able to test and approved God's will is not about us purposefully going through the path of Philistine Country. Too many have this idea that God will purposefully place us into a path where a war over our lives can happen. According to what He does with Israel leading them away from that Country shows me He has his own path laid out for us. Not one that purposefully tests us or His Word.

The real test is not to be placed in a life of hardship by outside sources. For God and His Word, that's no test, that's a walk in the park. The real test Paul is speaking of is one that is a lot more personal. The real test we all face is also not about sinning or not sinning when it comes to poor behavior. Remember, behavior is the result of our feelings that drive those certain behaviors. And what it is that creates those feels that drive our behaviors? It is in our minds! Look again at Paul's focus in what he says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. "

Whether or not we are conformed to this world or to that of the world God wishes to see Redefined, begins within ourselves. The real test is that of renewing our minds. This renewal of ones mind begins with us taking that final-step. Whether or not we will take the shorter path, or the path God will lead us on. And believe me, it is not short. It is a life-long path. It is in fact the same path Christ took. But before I show you what I mean, first go back to the book of Exodus. Still looking at Chapter 13.

Read verse 18, "So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle." [Exodus 13:18] This imagery of the desert road is also translated into the word wilderness. God led the people of Israel into the wilderness. Now, do you see the connection here with Israel and Jesus? In Matthew 4:1, we see that "Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."

Now I'm not going to get into the whole discussion on the devil tempting Jesus cause that is a losing fight. I will say this though that the etymology for this word devil begins with Latin which is the word diabolus, which is from Ecclesiastical Greek word diabolos. The Greek word originally comes from the Hebrew word Ha, Satan שָׂטָן that is transliterated as The Satan. Here is where it gets interesting and maybe even confrontational for some. Ha' Satan meaning is not that of a name for someone or something. It is in fact a descriptive term for an adversarial or accusative behavior. Now why bring this all up?

Because when you look at the temptations Jesus goes through while in the wilderness. They are all personal, ones that are attacking him mentally which in turn are attempting to attack him spiritually. Mentally and Spiritually are one-in-the-same. This is where it becomes really important, because Jesus is also being led by God, not through the Philistine Country path, but through the one He chose. It is a path where we are tested internally, within ourselves. It is a battle not from the outside, but from within. And the very first temptation Christ deals with, so connects with me personally.

In Matthew 4:3 it says, "The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." The real temptation here is not him being hungry. As a Jew, fasting was not uncommon. He had been raised all of his life with doing various fasts. That is not the temptation, that is the behavior that will happen if he listens to the real temptation. The real temptation is the first few words in Matthew 4:3, IF you are the Son of God...It is a temptation of doubt within Himself of who He truly is. Remember when I said earlier that mine Pharaoh was that of insecurity, of doubting myself, of not having faith in who I am in the eyes of God! My friend, this is a Pharaoh, a temptation that we ALL deal with.

Too many of us have gone though the Philistine Country being told who we are, how we are to believe, how we are supposed to act, to talk, and even what our lives should become. Please listen carefully, this final-step is you realizing who you are in Gods eyes! It is you confronting your inner-self, you inner-doubts, that despair and lack of faith you have in yourself. Just as Israel was led into the wilderness, so too was Christ. My friend, the long path God wishes to take you towards is a path into the wilderness. It is a path where your greatest temptations come from. You and me deciding as to whether or not we are going to believe the words and ways of the created or the words and ways of the Creator!

No one, I mean no one but the artists can truly tell you what their work of art represents. What its meaning or purpose is for why the artist created it. No one else but God, the artist of your life, your Creator can truly tell you who you are, what direction your life should take, and how you should live your life. But in order to discover this, you must take the long path into the wilderness and not the short path through Philistine Country. This path into the wilderness is a path of renewing your mind.

It is in this path that your life will begin to be transformed. Where you life will be Redefined! I want to end with something for you to think about on this Easter day. Why would God come down from heaven to be born and live as a human. To allow Himself to suffer and be sacrificed on the cross, If He did not BELIVE IN YOU?

God believes you were and are worthy of that sacrifice. He see's you for not only who you are, but more importantly, in whom you can become. One whose mind is renewed, one whose life can be transformed, in order that you can then mentor others into knowing what it means to live a life ruled and reigned over by God. A life Empowered by God Himself.

On this Easter day in 2021, I want you to say to yourself that God has Faith in You!

Happy Easter My Friend!

- Cole Crouse