This Sunday we are finishing our Intervention teaching series. Thank you for the great feedback. The content seems to have been helpful for many. The focus of this series has been on how we allow God to intervene in our lives in order to find freedom from our issues, hurts, hang-ups, repetitive sins, and addictions.
There’s an aspect to this that we were not able to speak about, but is so important to understand; to find freedom, we need God to intervene. And, he does intervene. Getting “unstuck” and changing sometimes happens quickly, even instantaneously. But most often, change is slow. And it’s that slow change that’s can feel like torture. We want to be free and we want it now!
This takes me to a profound passage in Hebrews 12:1-4: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Verse 4 is the kicker to me. Yes, we struggle against sin, but we have not had the intense struggle that Jesus faced on the cross. Jesus endured the slow, agonizing death on a cross! I think we forget that death on a cross was not just a form on capital punishment; the cross was also an instrument of torture. A person on a cross died slowly. Crucifixion was a combination of asphyxiation, loss of blood, intense pain, organ failure and more. A person could stay alive on a cross for as long as three days if allowed. The Roman soldiers broke the legs of the criminals next to Jesus so they could speed up their death and have it finished before the Sabbath.
The cross was a slow torture. So maybe that’s why Jesus used that image when he said; “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23)”. Following Jesus is a journey that means we do struggle, and it’s a struggle that doesn’t go away quickly or easily. Finding freedom and inviting God’s intervention in our lives is not without pain and struggle. To be free we also have to deny what we want, surrender to Jesus and the way of Jesus and endure hard aspects of real change.
The underlying message in both of these verses I’ve shared is the challenge to endure! Hang in there with Jesus as we struggle against sin. Don’t give up. Keep on keeping on. Run with perseverance.
Now, back to Hebrews 12; did you notice a small but significant statement in verse 2? How did Jesus endure the cross? It was the “joy set before him.” The struggle on the cross was excruciating. But the result? Pure joy! It lead to something so good for all humans. And our struggle against sin will also eventually lead us to freedom and joy… if we don’t give up.
