Eternal Earnings

Take an oath to Christ. Die to your old life so you can be raised to new life.

“Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you...be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” When Asa heard these words...He removed the detestable idols from the whole land...He repaired the altar of the LORD...he assembled all...they sacrificed to the LORD...They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation...All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.” ‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭15‬:‭2‬-15

Have you ever taken an oath? Made a lasting commitment? Ever gone all in on something with a heart devoted to not turning back? For many, marriage vows are the oath that would come to mind when considering these questions. Ask yourself whether you have taken an oath with Jesus Christ. Have you made a binding commitment? Many have professed that He is Lord and Savior, but has that statement led to a life of wholehearted obedience because of the unbreakable oath?

Asa and the people hear the voice of the Spirit of the Lord. They receive the invitation to commit their lives to God. God promises to be with them and give them a reward for the work they do. He invites them to live with Him, for Him. Asa and the people say yes to the proposal and respond with devotion. What was your response to the gift of new life that Jesus Christ gave you? Were you on fire for a while only to fall back into old patterns? Or have you been made new and are living in a way that reflects God with you and in you?

Asa responded with clear action steps. After receiving God's loving invitation, he removed idols, repaired the altar, assembled with others, responded with generosity, and made his commitment known as far as his voice could call out. The text says the people rejoiced because they responded wholeheartedly and eagerly. Again, think of how you felt when you first fell in love. Everything else was secondary to being with and demonstrating your affection for your beloved. This is what life with Jesus is meant to be like.

Consider today your oath. Your commitment. Your vow. The enemy wants oaths to feel oppressive, but the exact opposite is true. Commitment to perfect love produces the fruit of the best that life offers. More joy. More peace. More hope. More connection. We do not do what we do in serving God and others because we have to fulfill some burdensome task. We rejoice in the life of righteousness that leads to holiness and experiencing heaven on earth.

Many questions come up and connect the texts today, but the primary question is whether you are all in with the All in All. Have you made the eternal oath of obedience to the new covenant in Christ? Is it shaping everything you do and how you live? Are you living for God? Working for God? Wholeheartedly His?

“Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.” Psalms‬ ‭82‬:‭3‬-‭7

Think of what it means to be a Christian. In the Greek text, the word Christian is used three times in the New Testament. It means anointed one or one who belongs to Christ. Another way to think of it is becoming sons and daughters or brides of Christ. People who are so committed and transformed by His love that everyone they encounter sees Jesus when they see them. Are you a Christian?

David said you are gods, although you will die like mortals. Is this not the reality of who we are? We are flesh and spirit. We experience the weight of what it means to be flesh. We experience sin, temptation, lust, hunger, and desire, but one day your body will die, and when it does, so does the hold the flesh has on your spirit. Jesus came so that we might not wait until judgment day to become Jesus to other people. He died so that we would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and become people who live for the Spirit. This line of thinking can seem very ethereal, but it is actually quite practical.

How so? David tells us. The person who has died to their flesh now lives for God. What does God care about? Every son and daughter. Every person. Every story. Everyone who has breath. David knew the heart of the Father, so he said that those who live by the Spirit will live for God, and they will do what God does. They will help the weak. They will feed the hungry. They will give to the poor and defend those who cannot defend themselves. The Spirit forces us to see beyond our own needs so we can love like God loves. So ask yourself again, are you a Christian? If so, who will you help today?

“Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel; Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence, and do not claim a place among his great men; Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master. Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given. Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone. If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink...the LORD will reward you. Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” Proverbs‬ ‭25‬:‭4‬-25

Paul says in the New Testament that you are a vessel of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever gotten a new car or new treasure that you had wanted for a long time? Think of how well you care for it. You do not want any dirt or anything to damage the beauty of the new possession. In the same way, we are to be caretakers of the vessels of our bodies. We are to purify and cleanse ourselves like silver so the Spiritual Silversmith can produce a vessel worthy of our calling.

Solomon made a remarkable statement centuries before Jesus lived that reflects the Spirit of the Lord within him. He said to love your enemies. Feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty. Bring good news to weary souls. The idea of loving your enemies is a transformational, revolutionary way to treat people. It is one thing to love your neighbor as yourself, but to love people who are not like you is a new worldview. Do you love your enemies? Is there anyone you would not feed or give a drink? Why?

We all like rewards. Our culture and flesh tend to want rewards right now. The Spirit tells us to work for heavenly rewards. Jesus said to store up treasure in heaven. What reward do you desire most? Do you want the new car or what most pleases Christ? Do you want the bigger house or a life of holiness? Do you want the overflowing bank account or a reputation for obedience?

“The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain. And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and unclean animals and all the idols of Israel. He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.” Ezekiel‬ ‭8‬:‭3‬-‭12

Imagine being Ezekiel for a moment. He encounters God and has eyes to see everything that is happening. Like Superman, he has x-ray vision. Unfortunately, what he sees is not good. He sees sin everywhere. He sees behind closed doors, and the very people who had committed to loving God were worshiping other idols. The enemy wants you to believe the lie that God does not see. He wants you to hide and satisfy fleshly desires that violate your kingdom covenant.

The more important part of this passage is not that people sin. They do. We do. I do. The key point is that the Spirit lifts us up. It can take us out of the lifestyle that serves and satisfies sin. Jesus said life led by the Spirit is better for us. It is a gift. Often, we can leave that gift unwrapped and go about our days serving our fleshly desires. We live in a world that is not centered on satisfying the Spirit. You will find whatever you look for. Asa sought the Lord and found Him. Ezekiel sees people turning their backs on God and seeking to satisfy the flesh. Which will you seek today?

“By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭2‬-23

Jesus sat face to face with Nicodemus and told him that he must be born again. What does that mean to us? Like Nicodemus, it can leave us with more questions than answers, but Paul helps clarify the words of Christ. There is a death that must occur in our lives. We are to die to sin. We are to crucify our old lives with Christ. There has to be a funeral for your flesh.

The problem we saw in Ezekiel and that we see in the lives of many people in our world today is that they are not willing to die to their flesh. They look like different people in church than they do the rest of the week. They want God's salvation, but not His lordship. They want their cake but not the cross, and then they wonder why they are not experiencing the eternal life that Paul describes. Truth tells us that they never died. Paul says you cannot have it both ways. No one goes to an altar on a wedding day and marries two bridegrooms. There is an oath and a commitment like what Asa made that requires your whole heart.

Solomon said good news is refreshing to the soul. There is good news in Jesus Christ. He has made a way for you to receive a righteous reward. He echoes the same words that were said to Asa: be strong and know there is a sure reward as an anointed one led by the Spirit. Dying to your old self opens the door to the best part of your story. It is the beginning of a new, eternal, empowered life where you do not have to be afraid but can boldly approach each day with expectation. Paul said the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead resurrects you. Think about the implications of that statement. Yours is the kingdom and kingdom power.

You have been brought from death to life. You have been set free from sin and made alive to God in Christ Jesus. You do not have to return to your old ways or fall back into familiar patterns. The person you used to be is gone. The Spirit of God lives within you, strengthening you to become more like Jesus and empowering you to love, serve, give, and bring good news with joy in your heart like Asa. Redeeming, empowering, and resurrecting people is what God does.

The invitation today is to respond and renew your oath. Wholeheartedly seek Him and eagerly obey His voice. Offer every part of yourself to God and become an instrument that does His will. Do not let the enemy have any part of you. Remove the dross from the vessel and live like someone who belongs to Christ.

Let people see Jesus in you by the way you love your neighbors and your enemies. You have died with Christ, but more importantly, you are presently raised with Him by the Spirit. Live for God alone. As you do, righteousness will lead to freedom, freedom to holiness, and holiness to eternal life and everyday joy.