Early in my Christian walk I discovered that the Christian life is fraught with dichotomies; seemingly irrational contradictions. The humble are exalted, the weak are strong, the rich are poor, the poor rich, and so on. One critical axiom is that in God’s process of building our lives, as in natural building projects, tearing down always precedes building up.
A friend of mine once hired me to do construction work straight out of college. I was so excited. I remember putting on my brand new tool belt and my carpenter pants. Man, I was ready to “go to town!” The foreman took one look at me with my fancy tool belt and told me, “You won’t be needing that,” as he handed me a very heavy old crowbar. He put me in a dilapidated bathroom and said, “Take it down to the studs.” You see, only the experienced carpenters were allowed to build. Us novices needed to first get our experience tearing down.
That “tearing down” process would reveal things to me that would be essential in building that room again. It showed me the stud positions so that the new sheetrock could be efficiently fastened. It showed how the electrical lines were actually running and whether or not they needed to be replaced or re-routed for the new design. We could clearly see if a stud needed to be replaced because of water or termite damage.
The tearing down process, the crucifixion of our flesh is an essential step in the building of our faith in Christ. It is the spiritual plow that prepares the soil of our soul for the precious seed of the Gospel. Paul said to the Galatian church, in Galatians 2.20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God." There is something in the crucifixion process; in suffering and death, that allows us to really live out a life of genuine faith in Christ. I’ve often heard it said that “there is no crown without the crucifixion,” alluding to our eternal reward, but it starts way before that. There is no faith without a crucifixion experience here and now, and without faith there is no life, no hope, and no entering into our Sabbath rest which can only be found in Christ Jesus.
Remember this as you enter this very important week. He told us to specifically remember his death for a reason. He made no such request of his resurrection. Let’s not loose the most important point of all. We first have to know what it is to be crucified with Christ if we are ever going to know what it is to ultimately live for Him.
Consider yourself God’s personal demolition project.
Luv u,
Pastor Mario
