Easter - You Gotta Die - You Gotta Die, Part 1

When life comes apart, when a dream dies, when relationships are broken, how do you put it back together? Simply stated, you have to die. Let me say that again. If you want real life, hope that never fades, and a deep abiding peace, you gotta die.

Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Well stay with me for the next 20 minutes. You'll discover God's amazing, counterintuitive plan of life. Thanks for joining us for this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip's our Bible teacher on this international discipleship program, helping Christians live like Christians. I'm Dave Druey, and as we head into this Easter weekend, Chip shares a talk that's sure to spark some thoughtful consideration, and maybe even cause you to question what you've always believed about God, Jesus, and the significance of Easter.

The point's not to leave you hanging, but to help you find answers. So Chip will be with us here in studio elaborating on the teaching you're about to hear. I hope you'll stay with us for that.

If you can't though, you'll find it online at livingontheedge.org or on the Chip Ingram app anytime. Okay, let's join Chip now for his message, You Gotta Die, The Counterintuitive Path to Life, Hope, and Peace. Well as most of you know, Easter is kind of the high day, the pinnacle of Christianity. It's a message that you've heard, you've sung, it's about life, it's about hope, and it's about peace. And if there's ever a time, I don't know about in your personal life, but in the world that we need life and hope and peace, I would say it's about now. I mean, it's easy to kind of get focused in on your world and my world and my email and my little kind of relationships, but the world is a messed up place right now. I mean, we're living in pretty historic days. I mean, did you ever, ever dream that there would be a group of people, a small group, a minority who would think that they get an A from the God that they worship by killing people they've never met? That's the world that we're currently living in. And we've got to get our heads out of the sand to realize if there is a message that's real about life and hope and peace, the world needs it now, but it can't just be some religious little experience. It's got to make sense.

The flip side of that is sometimes you don't even have to watch CNN or Fox or the network news to see what's happening in the world. All you have to do is kind of look in your own home. I don't know a lot of you very well, but if you and I could go get a cup of coffee somewhere and say, you know, tell me how you're really doing. And I promise not to tell anyone. Just what's really, what are the biggest hurts in your life in the last nine to 12 months?

I will guarantee you I would hear about the divorce or separation you recently went through, the baby that you lost, or someone who found out that your wife or husband is having an affair. I wonder how many people here you'd say, well, honestly, I haven't told anybody, but I have an addiction. And whether it's prescription drugs or whether it's porn or cocaine, I mean, I can just tell you, oh, no, that's not it. It's my aging parents.

No, no, no, no, no. It's my, I lost my job. They foreclosed on my home.

Our business went under. I mean, that's the world that we're living in. And here's what I wanted to do in our time together, because it's really important. I grew up in an experience where people had what I called God talk and talk about hope and life and peace. I was like spiritual, religious mumbo jumbo over here, and then I would go back into the real world, and I never saw the correlation, and it didn't seem to make sense in their life. And so I want to talk today about how do you really find life and hope and peace in a world that's really messed up. There was a man many years ago named Frank, and Frank had everything that we would think would bring life and hope and peace. He lived a carefree life. He inherited a great amount of wealth. His house would be nestled up into the hills. He would have a couple luxury cars. His kids had high SAT scores.

I mean, his life would just be amazingly wonderful by all our standards. And he lived that high life, but he found there was an emptiness about what really brings life and what really gives purpose. And so he did something crazy. He heard the words and the teachings of an itinerant preacher that had lived roughly 1200 years before he was born, a man named Jesus. And as he read the words, he thought, this is so radical, but I've got money.

I've got wealth. I've got it all, and I'm empty inside, so I'm going to take this person, and he follows these words of Christ in a very literal way and left everything. And he found a small little band of people who would say, will you leave everything with me?

Why don't we try this out as an experiment? Let's radically love people. Let's not worry about material stuff.

Let's just go after it, and they did. That was almost a thousand years ago, and his little group is still going on. And they live by a motto. It's a prayer that he wrote.

I think his name was Frank when he started off, but later when he got to be more famous, people started calling him Francis. And his prayer and his motto of how to live for life and hope and peace was, Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. And where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.

And where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much, listen to the counter-intuitive, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive.

That's counter-intuitive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. The Franciscans almost a thousand years later are doing what? Helping the poor, living out his prayer.

You may not agree with all they're doing, but I will tell you what, they have experienced a life that's impacted millions upon millions upon millions of people in the things that money can't buy. And as I read that, I thought to myself, where did he get those crazy ideas? Now I know he got them from Jesus, but how does it really work? Secular scholars say that the Apostle Paul was probably the greatest mind of the first century. He was from Tarsus.

It was a nice town. He was a Roman citizen, which was a big deal. He had wealth, and his life wasn't making sense. And he tried so hard, so hard, so hard, so hard to be good. And then he encountered the living Christ. And he realized that he had to die. He needed to stop trying, stop working, stop attempting, stop trying to prove, pose. And he met the living Christ.

And in the midst of a world, and here's what you gotta understand, sometimes we think it's really, really bad now. You oughta study church history. I majored in history in college. You oughta study what Rome was like, and what it was like to grow up there.

You oughta study and look at the culture of what the Greeks taught, and there was gods on every corner. And there was an immorality that makes our triple X porn look mild. They had unbelievable injustice. Greed and power ruled. People got crushed.

Women had nothing. And in the midst of all that, this brilliant intellect said, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ lives inside of me. And now this life that I live, day by day in this physical body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who gave himself for me. And what he was saying was, listen to that word, I am crucified with Christ. He said, I had to die. I had to die to my agenda, my selfishness, my greed, my demands.

I had to die. And Francis picked that up, and he put it in that prayer that he prayed, and that prayer that he lived. The gateway to the deepest relationships, peace that won't go away, and hope that you can have when you find out someone you love has cancer, or when you find out someone you love has hooked up with someone else, begins with a death.

Because when there's no death, there can't be resurrection. In one sentence, the Apostle Paul, it's out of his letter to the Galatians, chapter two, verse 20, says this is how it works. Now here's what I want to do. I want to step back and ask, how does that really play out? And so we're going to ask four very basic questions. Question number one, well how did we get here? How did the world get this messed up?

There's chaos out there, and there's chaos in here. And what I want to tell you is, the world, this world that we live in now, is not the world God created. The world that God created, the eternal creator of all that it is, who spoke the world into existence, created an absolutely perfect world. And he created human beings that he placed in a perfect world.

The ecosystem was perfect, the weather was perfect. No hurricanes, no tsunamis, there was no death, there was no pain, there was no sorrow, there was no conflict, there was no wars. There was God and the human beings that he made in perfect fellowship. But God, in this perfect world that he made, wanted to have a very real relationship with us, and there's a price for freedom. See, you can make robots and have them bow down to you or say words to you, but robots don't have the freedom to say yes or no, they're programmed. God wanted people that would have a real, authentic relationship with him, because they had to be able to do what free moral agents can.

They can say yes to him or say no to him. And so what we find is the great price of freedom was that we mankind said, God, I don't want you. I'm going to do my own thing.

I think I know what's best for me. The world that God created revolved around him and his son. There was this coup, this rebellion, and each one of us tried to get the world to revolve around us.

It's me, and it's mine, and more, and gotta have. And there was devastating consequences. The theologians call it the fall, or when sin entered the world. And the impact was it separated us from God, it separates us from each other, and it separates us even from ourselves.

You cannot imagine how many people deeply, deeply do not like themselves, because they see who they are, and who they pose and pretend to be. And the scripture says that even the globe, the actual earth, the fall impacted. It groans. It's like the coup happened, and then the entire planet got this cancer, this deteriorating disease. And so there's earthquakes, and there's tsunamis, and nothing will be made right until the savior who came once will come back as a judge and make everything right. But that's how we got here. And so there was a need.

There's a tremendous need. If God cares, what are you going to do about this? See, if God made the world the way as it is, he's not a very good God, he's not a good God, he's not a kind God, he's a cruel God. The world that you live in is messed up. God didn't mess it up, we did.

But he cares. And so the question number two is where is God in the chaos? Not just in the suffering that's happening in places around the world, but where is God in your chaos?

In the relationship that isn't going well, and the anger and the bitterness, and the people that have talked about you, and all the junk. Where is God in the chaos? Here's the message of Easter.

Get this down. Easter is about a divine intervention. Anybody here know what an intervention is? Anybody had a friend or a relative? I have. It's either a crack addict, a sex addict, an alcoholic, a prescription drugger, cocaine addict.

Well I have. I've been involved in an intervention when my mother did it with my dad, with us kids. You know what interventions are?

Interventions are people are living in destructive ways that are killing them and ruining everything and everyone around them. And we watch the devastation, we watch the pain, and then someone gets the courage to say I'm not playing in the system any longer. And you get all the friends, and you get all the family, and you usually find a pro who's done this before because you need to know what you're doing. And you all create this place and then usually have to trick them to get them there.

And he walks in and he goes oh what's going on? And they say we love you and you have a big problem. And whether it's your alcoholism, or whether it's your drug addiction, or whether it's your logging on habit, we care so much, we refuse to play the game, we're intervening now, and we want you to know there's hope and there's a path that you can take, but we won't support this any longer. And I'll never forget the day my mom did that with our family after my dad was an alcoholic for about 25 years. And she said you can have this bottle or you can have me and the kids, but you can't have both.

And you've got 24 hours to figure it out. That was before we had all the technical stuff that we have now and counseling. My dad is a marine.

He's a smart marine. 24 hours later, he said I choose you all. Now I wish he would have got some counseling and got some help, but I'll tell you what, radical change in his life. He came to Christ after that. But you know what Easter is? God looking down from heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of seeing all people of all time simultaneously in all of our needs and seeing the chaos and the destruction both personally and globally.

And the Son saying, I'll go. Let's do an intervention. Let's help them see that they are messed up and they are selfish and they need to die and receive life so they can be resurrected. And so Jesus came and he did the intervention to rescue us. His life mission, he said, was I came to seek and to save those which were lost. And so the first thing he offered was life because we're on death patterns. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever underlined the word believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Circle the word have.

Have, present tense, the moment you believe. And then the very next verse was probably as life changing for me as the first one. For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but he sent his Son to save us. God's not down on you. God's not down on me. He's not this angry God whose arms are crossed with a big club who has a lot of rules and just waiting for you to mess up the bang over your head or knock you on the knuckles. His invitation is not get religious, get more moral, try harder, pull up your bootstraps.

That's not it. It's an intervention where you say how you're living your life doesn't work. It's bringing death to you and death to others. I want to give you life. There's a gift. And what we're going to learn is he went to the cross and he died on the cross for you. He intervened and said what you can't do for yourself, I'm going to do. And he literally paid. That's what the word redemption means. He paid for your sin and paid for mine. And then he rose from the grave and says look, free gift. And he says not just life, I'm going to give you hope. The very last night he looked into his disciples eyes and he could see the fear in their eyes.

And they'd seen him feed the poor and raise people from the dead and they knew he was the Messiah but it was like how is this going to work because you keep talking about you're checking out. And he said do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many dwelling places and if it were not so I would not have told you. And then listen carefully, for I go and prepare a place for you.

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will receive you to myself that where I am, you may be also. Do you get it? It's about relationship. It's not about morality.

When the relationship is right the morality always changes. But he says you need hope. You need hope when your marriage is falling apart. You need hope when you find out someone you love has cancer. You need hope when your parents are totally messed up. You need hope when your biggest dreams were to get into that school and you didn't get in. You need hope when you've based all your life on that athletic career and then boom it's ACL and nobody wants you. You need hope when life doesn't work but guess what? There's gonna come a day and the research is in, 100% of the population at some point in time dies.

It's true. So you know when you need hope? You need hope that there's someone who's personal and real and who's the God of the universe who made you, who is preparing a place and wants you with him.

Wants you with him because he loves you. And then knowing that in a fallen world you need peace. I mean you get anxious when you don't have enough money. You get anxious when you know what?

You used to have a house and you don't have a house. You get anxious when you don't have a job. You get anxious and you know what he says? Don't let your heart be troubled. And then he goes on to say look I want to give you peace. In the world you will have tribulation but be courageous. I want you to know I've overcome the world and the peace that I have. I'm in control. Hey it's awful at times.

It's difficult at times. I'm in control of the big tsunamis and the little tsunamis. I'm sovereignly in control of all that there is and I will take even all the evil and all the people and all the bad stuff. And for those who would turn from their sin and say I want a relationship with you. I will do an intervention and we'll do life together.

And I want to love you. That's the message of Easter. You've been listening to part one of Chip's talk, You Gotta Die, the counterintuitive path to life, hope and peace. He's going to be back in a minute with a great application.

Quickly though, if you know someone who'd be encouraged by the message you just heard, the Chip Ingram app is a great way to share your favorite talks. You know the significance of Easter is oftentimes lost in the commercial obscurity of new clothes, baskets and bunnies and special treats. But the reality of Jesus' resurrection confounds those distractions. If he really did rise from the dead, we have sobering reasons to grapple with the implications for us personally and for those we love. To hear this message again, just go to LivingOnTheEdge.org. Listen online or download the MP3, which is always free. For additional help or more information, just give us a call at 888-333-6003.

That's 888-333-6003. Chip, we have a brand new resource designed to help people get into Scripture and process the kinds of things you shared in your teaching. It's a journal, but I think the idea of journaling means different things to different people. So what's your approach to journaling? Dave, it's interesting that you would say that because I think this is something we need to clear up about journaling or not journaling. My wife uses her journal completely different than me. And so her journal is primarily writing down specific prayer requests. It's very brief and it's very focused.

Mine is there's lots of words. This is what I'm thinking. This is what I'm feeling. Here's five concerns that have come to my mind that I'm distracted by. And I write each of those down and turn it to a prayer list.

My point is this. Journals are a tool. It doesn't make you spiritual to write in a journal. They need to be a unique tool to help you connect with God.

So it's used in a way by way of our personality and what God is doing in our life. But what I do know, whether you write a little or a lot, whether it's more of just a prayer journal or whether it's a life journal, is there's something to be said for using a tool that is tracking your journey with Christ. And I believe that that is really the role of a journal. And so if even for those who've never kept a journal, I would encourage you give it a try. And don't feel like you have to write every single day.

But begin a rhythm or a track record. Maybe it's two or three times a week or you do it when you're compelled or it becomes your prayer journal. But we're just encouraging people. We want you to be connected to God.

And you just can't say a little prayer and read a little something fast and expect to have a deep, powerful, abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. Our heart's desire is to help you to be connected deeply with the living God. And we believe this journal could be one small part of that journey for you. Really helpful.

Thanks, Chip. Well, it's easy to be excited about our new prayer journal. Chip's given you a few of his journaling tips inside the cover. And while there are a few scriptures and quotes here and there, there's plenty of room for you to write out passages or prayers or just whatever's on your heart between you and God.

They come in a couple of different colors with embossed gold or silver trimmings, and the whole thing is beautifully finished and bound. For a limited time, these new prayer journals are discounted, so I hope you'll check them out today. You'll find all the details at livingontheedge.org. App listeners just tap special offers. For more information, give us a call at 888-333-6003.

That's 888-333-6003. As we wrap up today, first, I want to invite you to join me for the rest of this message in our next program. I mean, this is really, really important. We're in the middle of this message, and there's so much hope that God has for you, and I don't want you to miss it. But just for today, I want to ask you that question I ask in the teaching. Where is God in your chaos? He's closer to you than you could ever imagine, but he's a prayer away. He's a leaning in away.

He is a, I really need your help, Lord, away. God wants to help you. This is that time of year where it's so easy, depending on your background, that, oh, it's Easter, and we kind of go through the motions. You know, you go to a service here or there, and, oh yeah, Jesus hung on the cross, he died, he rose the third day, and there's five or six songs you like, and that's not what it's about. That's the story, but it's about hope. It's about hope for you. It's about hope in the things that you struggle with. Hope for your fears, your family, your singleness, your divorce that you're going through, your heartache, your lack of work because of all that's happened, your financial pressure.

The hope that you need to have because some people that you love died in the last year. This is a message where Jesus wants you to know it's not Lily's, it's not dressing up, it's me. It's what he said to Martha.

Martha, do you believe I'm the resurrection and the life? He who believes in me, though he dies, he will live. There's hope for today and there's hope forever, and he wants you to know I want to give you peace. He doesn't promise he's going to wave a little wand and all your problems go away and everything's going to be wonderful, but what he promises is that I'll be with you.

What he promised was I've prepared a place for you. What he promised is that my spirit will dwell inside of you if you will turn from your sin, ask me to forgive you and I will come into your life and I will take you out of the kingdom of darkness and I will place you in the kingdom of light and you will become born from above or born again a child of God. If you are already a child of God, then just in your heart of hearts say, Lord, I need you, and then get into his word. And if you're not a child of God or don't know for sure how, at this day, on this moment, cry out, Lord, I need you.

I fall short. I know I've done things wrong, but I believe today you died in my place on that cross. I believe today you rose from the dead to prove it's true and you promised if I believe in my heart and I confess with my mouth that you would save me, deliver me. Share that with your Heavenly Father at this moment and he will forgive you and he will give you a spiritual birth right now in your life and his promise is eternal life beginning now forever and ever. And if you have just prayed that with me, make sure to contact us at Living on the Edge. We have a resource that's helpful and is free and make sure you call or text the greatest Christian you know and say, hey, I don't have it all figured out, but I prayed to receive Christ and I need help. And I know God will meet you.

Great to be with you today. If you prayed with Chip, I hope you'll take a minute and call us at 888-333-6003. We'd love to hear your story and get a free resource in your hands that will help you understand the significance of your decision and then give you a couple of next steps on your journey. That same resource is available if you tap special offers on the app or go to the New Believers tab on our website, LivingOnTheEdge.org. We just want to help you get started and say welcome to the family. We'll be sure to join us again next time when Chip brings us part two of his message, You Gotta Die. Until then, for everyone here, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.