Main Idea: Living a life fully alive is a life under God’s control.

The Gospel of Mark concludes with these words, "The next evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene and Salome and Mary the mother of James went out and purchased burial spices to put on Jesus' body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they came to the tomb. On the way they were discussing who would roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb. But when they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone—a very large one—had already been rolled aside. So they entered the tomb, and there on the right sat a young man clothed in a white robe. The women were startled, but the angel said, "Do not be so surprised. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body."…The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, saying nothing to anyone because they were too frightened to talk." (Mark 16:1-8)

The women came to the place of death searching for the dead body of Jesus who had been crucified only days before. They came not expecting to find an announcement of life but only the evidence of death. They saw where death had been but something had happened that transformed death into life. God had raised his Son from the dead! Shaking with fear they knew that for the rest of their life the very air they breathed was different. The very beating of their heart was different because Jesus Christ was alive! They would awaken every morning to a new day and a new life because he was alive! They knew inside that because he was alive then they could be, for the first time ever, fully alive. Dietrich Bonhoffer said, "Living daily in light of the resurrection- this is what Easter means!"

Do you know what it is to be fully alive? I thought of several times when I have felt fully alive: the day I saw Kathy for the very first time, the day I married Kathy, the day our kids were born, the day Jen got married, the day I went white water canoeing for the first time and the day I asked Jesus Christ to be my Savior. I wonder sometimes if the reason we struggle to answer that question is because we are so constantly surrounded by things that diminish and restrict our being able to fully live life. Do we know what it is to be really alive?

I believe in every one of us is a longing, a desire, that we would know what it is to be fully alive. Erwin McManus writes, " I am convinced in all of us there is a voice crying out, a confession waiting to be declared without shame, ‘I want to live’…Yet deeper than our instinct to live is our longing to be alive. Aliveness is different from existence. The latter is a struggle to survive; the former, a thirst for life". (Uprising, p. 5, 9-10)

What is holding you back from living a life fully alive? What’s holding you back is that you and I don’t know how to live daily in light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I don’t mean that you are not a Christian. You are a person who has allowed your life to be invaded by the very person of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and yet you spend each day existing not living! To have within us the very resurrected life of the Lord Jesus Christ and live such struggling futile lives is not God’s purpose for any of us. Paul explains in our text for this morning that a life fully alive is a life under control by the Spirit of the Resurrected Christ within us. What I want us to see today is that living a life fully alive is a life under God’s control.

What is the one thing I need to be sure I that I am living a life that is fully alive? Tim McGraw sings about that feeling in his song "Live like you were dying". It’s about a person who has discovered that life for them is going to end because of a terminal illness. He asked a person who has been where he is how they made it and they say, "I went sky divin’, Rocky Mountain climblin’ and went 3.2 seconds on a bull named Fu Manchu,…" Is that what is necessary? There’s nothing wrong with those things but is my ability to risk the only proof that I am living a life that is fully alive? It is none of those things!

Paul has one distinction that separates those who know what it is to be fully alive from those who don’t. The one great thing you need to be sure you are living a life that is fully alive is whether or not you have the Spirit of the Resurrected Christ living in you. In Romans 8:9 Paul says, "Those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all." The only way for God’s Spirit to live in you is by your yielding the control of your life to the person and power of the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ! If you have done that then you have the source of life that will empower you to fully live life. If you have not done that then you will not. It is that simple. It is a choice between those who have God’s Spirit and those who don’t!

Let’s look first at what Paul says about those who are not fully alive. What are the marks of those kinds of people? A person without God’s Spirit in their life is controlled and influenced by their sinful nature. (v.5) He describes them as, "Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things…" (v.5) Paul says they are "dominated by the sinful nature". What is our "sinful nature"? It is that part of us that knows the right thing to do but will do the wrong thing. Each of us has that within us. Paul says that this nature "dominates" us. What does that mean? It means the whole action of our mind, our thinking, our desires, our will, our reason, everything involved in our thought process moves in one direction and that is on the things that will fulfill the desires of my own nature knowing all the while what is right and choosing the wrong thing.

I have a weakness for white donuts. I know that eating a whole bag full of white donuts is bad for me so I think I can just eat one. But I can’t eat just one so I eat two, then three and soon it’s gone! While I know I shouldn’t have eaten the whole bag I do it anyway! Why? It’s my nature! So I don’t eat white donuts! The problem is that in our lives we don’t stop with white donuts. We know what is right in many other areas of life but we don’t do it! Why? It is the nature we are born with unless God changes us. It is that nature that will enslave us and dominate us unless Someone else gains control of our life!

The next mark of a person who isn’t fully alive is that they are unable to fully experience life they way God intended it. The result of living a life that is dominated by my own self-interest is clear in verse 6. "If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death." In other words it is as the Message says, "a dead end." Paul is describing the state of mind of people who have allowed themselves to be controlled by their own sinful nature. The reason they do it is because they are dead spiritually. A person without the Holy Spirit living in them is dead spiritually. They can be attracted to spiritual things, enjoy spiritual things but ultimately the truth of God eludes them. Why? Because they are spiritually dead. They are in a living death, merely existing. They are shut off from the life of God and if they die in that condition, they will continue for all eternity to be shut out from the life of God. This is spiritual death!

Why does this happen? The answer is because that person lives continually in opposition to God. That’s another mark or quality. Paul answer is in verse 7, "For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will." This means that you and I apart from Christ are rebellious toward God. It does not mean that you have taken up some hate God campaign but that you and God are not at peace. You reject Him, reject His love, reject His Son and reject His word. You are hostile toward God. Why is this? It is because on your own you and I are not capable of doing all the things that God would want us to do. It is just not in our nature to do it.

What is the final result of all this? One tragic thing: we will live out our days never doing the one thing we were intended to do and that is to please God. Paul says, "That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God."(v.8) This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love me or care for me. It means that as long as my own desires are controlling me I will never know what it is to hear God say, "Great job!" Why? Because, I am not interested in pleasing God. The only life that pleases me is mine!

When Jennifer got married last summer I gave her my car to take to live in New Orleans. That left Kathy driving the 1992 Corolla and me driving Jen’s 1994 Camry. We were able to get Kathy newer car last fall that has a VERY powerful engine in it. Late one night a few weeks ago we were coming back from Little Rock and on a lonely stretch of road I sort of took advantage of the loneliness of the road and the power of the engine. I knew better but it just felt so good.

I soon discovered that the road was not so lonely when one of our fine Arkansas State Police cars passed me going the opposite direction. I suppose he was lonely too because he decided that I needed some company and used his very bright blue lights to indicate that he would like to chat with me. I pulled off into a parking lot and knew I had no excuse. I had my license and insurance card ready to hand him. When he stepped up to the car, I rolled the window down and was about to make my confession when he said, "Hi, there Brother Bruce!" We exchanged greetings and how we knew each other and he said-without giving me a ticket-"Think you could slow it down the rest of the way home?" I was quick to assure him I was completely capable of doing what he asked! Kathy asked why I was going so fast and I told her, "The car just asked for it!" Why? It’s the nature of the car! The car responds to the influence of the driver in the same way that my desires respond to the influence of who has control of my life. As long as my desires control me and God does not then I am prevented from fully living the life God intended for me.

What, though, is someone like who does have God’s Spirit living within them? What are the marks or qualities of their life? What you notice is that they are controlled and influenced by God’s Spirit. (v. 5) Paul says, "those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit." It carries the same thought as the phrase "dominated by the sinful nature". It means that the Spirit habitually dominates this person’s whole life. Our life is characterized by the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. It’s under His charge and control.

They also "think about things that please the Spirit." (v. 5) It means they are influenced by what God’s Spirit thinks. It means the whole action of our mind, will and reason is guided by the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God! Our interests, desires, and pursuits have the mark of the Holy Spirit upon them. What are the "things that please the Spirit"? It’s not talking about church, being interested in religion or theology. It is someone who has truly been awakened to spiritual things. It’s being alive to things that aren’t material. It’s being alive to our relationship to God. It’s being alive to our own sinfulness before God. It is being alive to the presence of Christ being seen through me. It is being alive to the worship of God. It is being alive to the pursuit of God!

They also are directed by different passions. Why do they pursue being alive to these things so passionately? (8:6b) Notice what Paul says, "But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace." They have life and want more life! They have life. This is the unique distinction of a Christian. They know deep down that there is a life in them that just doesn’t belong to them, that there is something in their heartbeat that is an echo of a heartbeat from life beyond this life. A Christian is a person who has been given the life-giving presence of God’s Holy Spirit within them. They are alive! Not only do they have life they also have peace. Why of all the great things Paul could have said that a person under God’s control has, why peace? Because this is the exact opposite of a person not under God’s control. Just as life is in contrast to death so peace is in contrast to hostility and turmoil. A person under God’s control has peace with God and peace within themselves. Their restlessness, dissatisfaction and frustration are over. They have a deep inner tranquility and harmony.

There is though one final thing that those who have God’s Spirit within them have that others do not and it is that they have the assurance of a life fully alive forever. It also means that you have the guarantee of eternal life (8:10) He says, "Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God." It means you have life now. Yes, you will die but you will live on but also this body of mine will live on. We have the guarantee of a resurrected body. (8:11) Paul says, "The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as he raised Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal body by this same Spirit living within you." When Jesus comes again your body will be restored and resurrected to unite with your spirit and this completes God’s plan.

The conference I attended this week was at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where my daughter works and my son-in-law is a student. The conference focused on the resurrection of Jesus. The first speaker was Dr. Gary Habermas, who, during a chapel service told how the reality of the resurrection became real for him. It happened in 1995 when his wife, Debbie, was suddenly diagnosed with stomach cancer and died in four months at age 43 and leaving behind four children. Dr. Habermas said that while didn’t doubt God he did ask him, "Why Debbie?" He said that while he at the time was the author of more than thirteen books on the resurrection none of that seemed to matter. He said he sensed God asking him one question, " Did I raise my son from the dead?" That question began to heal him within and he said this one powerful statement, " We live in a world in which God raised his son from the dead and that changes everything!"

As I look back over the words and thoughts that I shared with you today I ask myself, "Do we really get that?" Do we really understand that I live in a world in which God has raised his son from the dead and that that one has come to reside in me? Do we understand that in us is the very presence of the risen Lord Jesus Christ? Do I really understand what it means to be fully alive? The day I wrote this sermon was the day before Kathy and I were leaving to go to New Orleans. I had been pushing it pretty hard trying to get this message finished before we left. I had worked very late Monday night and returned very early on Tuesday to get started. My wife volunteers at our counseling ministry on Tuesday and before she left I stopped by for a little TLC time. She told me she had been praying for me to do one simple thing. She said, "You know how you grip the steering wheel so tight that I have to tell you to let go?" I said, "Yes" (which is something I have done for years). She said, "I’ve been praying for you to just let go and give God control." I thought about that as I concluded this message and know that she was right. There are just some things that aren’t up to me.

That is what I want you to do today. I want you to let go of your control and yield to God’s control. The harder you grip the more off course you are going to be. The longer you are off course the more your life is a dead end. If you want to live fully alive then it starts by letting go!

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas 72401

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org