Living Life Alive // Ty Gibson

hey storyline whoever you are wherever you are around the world the other day i was out on a walk just passed somebody who was going the other way and they turned around shouted my direction and said hey i'm a storyliner so whoever you are literally wherever you are in the world welcome to this online version of storyline i'm excited about our subject today because we're going to be exploring something that is extremely relevant to the fact that we are celebrating the resurrection of christ an event that occurred 2 000 years ago and is still reverberating down through the corridors of time to this very present moment now i want to crack into this subject by suggesting to you that there is a way of living that resembles death and there's a way of dying that resembles life you'll see what i mean in just a moment but i want to introduce you to my absolute favorite living poet his name is wendell berry he's an 86 year old farmer in kentucky and wendell berry man he is firing on all cylinders his mind is just moving in patterns that are absolutely incredible over and over again his poetry speaks to my heart on a level that is extraordinary i want to encourage you to explore wendell berry and specifically take a look at a poem by him called the mad farmer liberation front i mean just the title of this poem is astounding the implications are pretty amazing if you stop to think about it now in this poem the mad farmer liberation front wendell berry the kentucky farmer poet he says a number of amazing things and i'm not going to read the whole poem but he says things like this every day do something that won't compute every day do something that won't compute such as love the lord love the world work for nothing in other words everything doesn't have to have a bottom line in the form of consumerism there are certain things that have value in and of themselves but don't have any financial advantage do something that won't compute on the economic level do something that is not in the form of transactional living to get something because of what you do because of what you give then barry says take all that you have and be poor look at all your possessive possessions assess your material goods but be poor adopt a a mentality a perspective that negates the value of mere material items as having any kind of transcendent significance any kind of ongoing meaning your car your house your boat well those things mean approximately nothing in the larger scheme of the value system that wendell berry is pointing us to so take all that you have and be poor check this out love someone who doesn't deserve it and this is the ultimate act of non-transactional living in which you do something because it has value in itself and not because you've calculated and schemed that you're going to get something out of it yourself but then the whole reason i'm bringing you this poem by wendell berry is because when he comes to the final line he employs language in fact it's just two words two words and he opens a world of meaning they are a strange combination of two words and they're simply these the last line of wendell berry's poem practice resurrection what the resurrection is a historic act that occurred 2 000 years ago is there some way mr berry that you're suggesting that we can practice resurrection i mean what a strange idea how do you practice resurrection well first let's just break down the words words are the abiding place of meaning the word practice according to the dictionary means something like the habitual application or use of an idea of an idea in the form of action what does it mean to practice something well if you practice the violin for example you're just doing the same thing over and over and over and over again until you master it if you practice your gulf stroke you're just doing the same thing over and over and over again until you master that action practice means simply profoundly the habitual application or use of any idea any objective any goal you might have in the form of action form a habit do the same thing over and over again well what does resurrection mean resurrection means this is a incredible word you guys it simply means coming alive from the dead windleberry says practice resurrection what practice resurrection habitually bring dead things to life by your actions live your life in such a way that resurrection is occurring inside of you and all around you by the way you interact with yourself with god with people practice resurrection form a habitual pattern of existence that has the seeds of life in it so i want to explore with you happy resurrection day by the way i want to explore with you on this resurrection celebration period of time of the year i want to explore with you death and life when we speak of death when scripture speaks of death it's a much broader concept than merely a cessation of breath and the end of biological life it is that of course the word death does apply in that direction but the word death means something more in scripture please notice in hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 i'm reading this particular text from the new international version it's just really clear here it says this is an insight regarding death you guys since the children that is human beings in general have flesh and blood he too that's speaking of jesus the messiah he too shared in the same in their same humanity we have flesh and blood jesus took our flesh and blood upon himself he shared in the same humanity now watch this the grammar says so that in order that so he performed the voluntary act of descending from his divine state into our humanity we call this the incarnation he took up residence in our flesh so that in order that cause effect he did this to an end for a purpose it's going somewhere so that by his death by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death that is the devil this is very fascinating because from a biblical perspective the devil presides over death we can say it this way death is the realm or the reality over which satan has dominion the word power in the text is an equivalent to our modern english word authority the devil has authority over death and jesus came in our flesh and he died in order that he might break the authority the power the dominion of the devil over death what does this mean this is absolutely astounding well i'm going to suggest to you that scripture very overtly and clearly teaches that satan's principles dictate death death is not god's realm god is a god of life god is the life giver god is the creator and satan's principles are all listen anti-creational the devil's principles tend toward disorder and death anti-creational principles god is creator the devil presides over a realm of principles a collection of ideas if you will that dictate death now let's take this a step further because in james chapter 1 verse 15 verses 14 and 15 notice this language very carefully this is the way the the biblical writers think about death notice he says each one each human being is tempted when he is drawn away by his own note the word desires and entice well these are illicit desires there are good desires of course but he's specifically talking about temptation to engage in wrong desires to indulge in illicit desires this person when he is tempted is drawn away by his own desires and entice but here's the part i want you to catch then well then what james what happens next tempted enticed yielding to illicit desires then when desire has conceived it brings forth what does it do it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown brings forth death another bible version says sin when it is finished brings forth death sin does what sin does and the trajectory is recklessly careening toward death sin is the death dealing principle but what is sin what is sin is sin merely the breaking of religious taboos did somebody in a religious conclave come up with a group of arbitrary principles and said hey these are the religious rules that you need to follow if you're going to be a part of the church well there are a lot of arbitrary rules that religious people have concocted and manufactured that have no grounding in reality but be sure of this when the bible uses the word sin it's not talking about arbitrarily imposed rules sin is the anti-creation anti-creational principle sin is the principle of selfishness in a myriad of different forms as it manifests itself another word sin is essentially everything contrary to love sin is anti-love non-love it is love in reverse with an inward focus and according to james sin possesses the makings of death in its own dna sin when it is full grown brings forth death and check this out what james is essentially saying to us here is that we have a basic train of thought that illicit desires when yielded to are what james and all of scripture calls sin and sin produces death it's not as though the god of scripture is coming to you and me and saying if you sin i'll kill you god is saying if you sin ultimately you'll die in other words it's a cause and effect relationship it's not an arbitrary imposition of death from the outside god is warning us away from sin not because god is a super picky control freak but because god knows himself being the designer of all creation and the universe and our minds and our hearts and our biology god knows that sin in itself intrinsically by nature sin is the principle of disorder and death it's anti-creational so check this out in proverbs chapter 8 verses 35 and 36 whoever finds me pause right there me in this immediate context is wisdom with a capital w whoever finds wisdom now wisdom is a principle that understands how reality operates and then complies with the principles of reality it's discernment of the thing the way things work and then to harmonize with the way things work that's what wisdom is and wisdom according to the larger context here wisdom has its source in the mind and heart of god in the character of god so literally whoever finds me wisdom whoever finds me god whoever finds me finds life notice that in finding the principles of wisdom i.e finding the creator god who made things the way they are who designed the universe as its architect to operate the way it operates whoever finds me finds life life inheres in the principles of god and obtains favor from the lord but notice this then proverbs chapter 8 goes on and says but he who sins that is he who engages in self-serving patterns of action he who sins against me that is against god against wisdom against reality itself as god created reality to operate he who sins against me notice this you guys wrongs his own soul and all those who hate me love death so there's our two words in a single passage life and death life is inherent in the principles of wisdom which derive from the heart of god but sin sin is a way of living that is in fact a way of dying a way of negating the principle of life that is intrinsic to god's principles of wisdom when we sin according to this scripture we're not just breaking some external rules that god outside of reality outside of creation outside of our own being we're not just sinning against some ethereal distant god's arbitrary rules when we sin the scripture says we are in in the process of violating our own souls our own being sin reacts upon us with adverse and negative effects and all those who love me all those who hate me love death to hate god is i mean on a subconscious level at least maybe you're not maybe i'm not at any given moment consciously thinking through some kind of pursuit of death but sin itself has the seeds that is the principles of death and anyone who hates god in his principles of wisdom loves death that is i'm pursuing death even though i don't know it by engaging in anti-creational behaviors that wind down the principles of goodness and generosity and love so you could say according to this scripture this is this is called exegesis we're interpreting the text well according to proverbs 8 every sin possesses a suicidal element now hold on to that thought because whether i know it or not whether i'm conscious of it or not in any given moment to live for myself at the expense of others has within it the principles that ultimately lead to death so all sin of every sort and kind and shape all sin possesses a kind of pursuit of death a kind of suicidal element now jump to the new testament to expand these principles even more in first john chapter 3 verse 14 john says we know that we have passed from death to life now check this out you guys because we love the brethren well we love human beings in general that's the brethren our fellow human beings we know that we've passed from death to life because we love love is the reality that gives life its energy its power love is life manifested he goes on and says but he who does not love his brother abides in death the word abide here is from the word abode like home it is where you live he literally says he who does not love his brother lives in death i mean you sense the tension the the the paradox i mean how do you live in death isn't life the opposite of death isn't death the opposite of life but listen according to scripture i can live my life in a dying kind of way in a death kind of way because there are certain principles that operate within the realm of death and there are certain principles that operate within the realm of life and according to scripture here it is very clear that we have an equation before us actually two equations john is saying that love equals life where there is love life is occurring the principle of life that is in god himself god is love and that love that god is is what defines god's character and existence god is love and love according to john is life but he says that the opposite is true as well that non-love we might say anti-love we might say sin is death what we have before us here is a profound understanding of the fact that life and death are occurring simultaneously right now on planet earth while people are living out their daily lives i can live my life in a death kind of way or i can live my life in a life kind of way well then in verse 15 john says this whoever hates his brother is a murderer well wait a minute are you saying john that what's going on in my mind hatred and emotion a frame of reference toward a fellow human being i mean there's no knife in my hand there's no gun in my hand i'm not throwing blows i'm not strangling anybody and yet john says that hatred hatred has kinship with murder whoever hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has check this out eternal life abiding in him so i can live my life in such a way right now not sometime way in the future after the second coming of jesus i can live my life right now in such a way that i have eternal life abiding in me by the way i think and feel and the way i relate to others so john is essentially telling us on the negative end of the spectrum in this text that every sin possesses a murderous element proverbs tells us that every sin possesses a suicidal element sinning against god is wronging my own soul and john is telling us that every sin possesses a murderous element sin of whatever kind at its root structure is a principle of death either suicidal or murderous all relational violation contains the seeds of death that's the point whatever i do that violates the integrity of someone else the space of someone else the liberty of someone else whatever i do to violate a relationship with a fellow human being well that action is a death kind of action not in merely the biological sense of taking somebody's physical life but in the in the mental emotional sense in the spiritual sense in the relational sense relationships are characterized by either life or death so notice this as john comes to his his conclusion or at least the conclusion for our purposes here with verse 16. john says by this we know love okay john he's about to give us a definition how do we know love well he's just told us in the previous passage that life is inherent in love and now he's going to tell us what love is he says by this we know love because he that's jesus laid down his life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren do you hear what john is saying here there is a kind of living that is death and there is a kind of there is a kind of dying a kind of death that is living jesus laid down his life for us and in laying down his life for us he was in fact living out the principles of life his dying was a manifestation of living his sacrifice of himself was a revelation of what real true authentic life looks like when you're faced with a decision between yourself or the other whoever the other may be clearly jesus is the definition of what love looks like what life looks like precisely because he died so when we come to acts and peter is preaching his gospel sermon he says something absolutely astounding that loops back to the passage we read in hebrews and helps us to understand what this life death thing is all about notice how peter preached the resurrection of christ he says fellow israelites listen to this jesus of nazareth was a man accredited by god approved by god by you by by you excuse me accredited to god accredited by god to you by miracles wonders and signs which god did among you through him now watch this as you yourselves know this man jesus was handed over to you human beings in the local historical context to israelites and to the roman empire this man was handed over to you by god's deliberate plan and foreknowledge and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross jesus died on the cross peter says but watch this but god raised him from the dead freeing him from the agony of death because because why peter well because it was not possible for death to keep its hold on him it was not possible for death to keep its hold on him it was impossible for jesus to be kept in the tomb god did not resurrect jesus by an arbitrary act it wasn't an act of fiat it wasn't merely god violating the laws of the universe which he himself had set in motion to resurrect jesus by an arbitrary act no jesus by voluntarily dying and god voluntarily in love giving jesus over to the actions of wicked human beings jesus when he died he died with love intact if at any point in the process jesus had yielded to the impulse of self-preservation if at any point in the process of wicked human beings torturing him nailing him to the cross if at any point along the way jesus had yielded to the selfishness principle well what would have happened jesus would have been defeated by sin and death would have had a rightful claim over him which is to say according to hebrews chapter 2 as we've already read that if jesus had sinned if jesus had engaged in any anti-love action to preserve himself at the expense of others well then the one who presides with authority and power and dominion over death would have had jesus in his clutches and he could not jesus could not have been resurrected but it was impossible that death should hold him why because jesus by virtue of the fact that jesus laid down his life voluntarily with love while the powers of darkness the powers of darkness had no legal claim over him jesus died triumphant over the powers of darkness so what we're realizing here as we celebrate the resurrection of christ as we acknowledge the fact that god raised christ from the dead what we're realizing is that the resurrection of jesus isn't just a historical event the resurrection of jesus is the triumph of the principle of love over selfishness jesus conquered death by conquering sin which is to say by continuing to love us at any cost to himself so that wendell berry's statement his admonition to you and me to practice resurrection to habitually live our lives in such a way that our lives reflect the awesome wonder of that historical event in which god raised jesus from the dead to practice resurrection is to live our lives in such a way that we manifest the principles that raised jesus from the dead because the resurrection you guys according to the new testament the resurrection of jesus well it's made of something it has a composition it has characteristics and features and attributes the resurrection of jesus the life that raised him from the dead well it's made of love it's made of other centeredness it's made of relational integrity the resurrection life of jesus is the love of god triumphant over death and we practice resurrection by loving like jesus loved listen as simple as it may sound smiling at someone is an act of resurrection life as simple as it may sound generosity financially to someone who's down and out and struggling and needs a helping hand is an act of resurrection life kissing your daughter gently on her forehead and telling her that she's precious to you is an act of resurrection life having a tickle fest with your little boy before bedtime is an act of resurrection life advocating for the abused and the oppressed speaking up for the violated is an act of resurrection life and especially according to the gospel forgiveness is a resurrection action to forgive someone who has violated you to forgive someone who has violated me well that's what jesus did hanging on the cross between heaven and earth a complete outcast spat upon torn to pieces his flesh lacerated bleeding out his hands and his feet pierced jesus hanging between heaven and earth whispered the words of prayer to the father forgive them father because they don't know what they're doing and that forgiveness that forgiveness was the note upon which jesus died so death could not hold him the devil's kingdom of selfishness was conquered and jesus was resurrected with the love of god fully intact in his heart for you and me happy resurrection day everybody let's practice the resurrection in all our relationships let's live our lives as though we were really alive in christ father in heaven you are amazing and we thank you we thank you for loving us so much that you would lay down your very life for us and in so doing show us what it really means to live in jesus name amen

Channel: Storyline Church

Views: 6,312

Rating: 4.9740262 out of 5

Keywords: storyline church, ty gibson

Id: 7SVxqlIi1CY

Length: 36min 44sec (2204 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 03 2021