The Ultimate End Of Self

I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. [Psalm 121]

Wow, what a declaration! It would seem the person whose help comes from the LORD should fear nothing. But is that the case among "believers" today? I think the answer is sadly, "no."

Once fear is normalized in a society, there is little effort needed to keep it that way. From money to weapons to medicine to insurance, civilized culture today lives in normalized fear. 

How do we escape fear? How do we say what the Psalmist said in Psalm 121 and mean it? How do we get to the point that the mention of death is absolutely of no consequence to us?

Let me answer the last question above with a fact: a dead man is unaffected by death (you can't kill a dead man).

Jesus clued in His followers early on in His ministry:

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. [Luke 9.23-26]

The "cross" Jesus mentioned is not a place of spiritual growth. In fact, it is not a place of intense fellowship with God. The cross is not a place of corporate strength. It is not a place where glorious worship abounds. The cross Jesus talked about is a place of death. I say "is" because many of us have come to believe that the cross Jesus mentioned is a thing of the past and so we prefer to say, "the cross was..." The cross Jesus spoke of though is very much with us today because death is still with us today (although few are willing to discuss it at length).

Everything God intended for Jesus to accomplish on earth was accomplished on the Cross. Every miracle He performed and every word Jesus spoke ultimately led to His crucifixion on the Cross. Miracles were not why Jesus came, but they got Him to the Cross. Teaching was not why Jesus came, but it got Him to the Cross. Let's look at a passage some might think refutes this...

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” [Luke 4.18-19]

Jesus was "sent" to proclaim... to heal... But, Jesus was "anointed" to bring Good News. What a person is "sent" to do is just something they "do." But what a person is "anointed" to do is what they are. Jesus was "anointed" to bring Good News which was "forgiveness of sins for all who repent" (Luke 24.47). And where did that task of forgiveness culminate? On the Cross where Jesus said, "Father, forgive them..."

Don't stop thinking yet...

Our purpose on earth is our own cross. What greater thing on our cross can be accomplished than to forgive as Christ Jesus forgave? There is no greater thing, because there is no greater love than to forgive. But if we fear death, our lives can never attain to that Christ-likeness -  the only Christ-likeness that matters.

So how does this reconcile with Psalm 121? It actually reconciles very well because as long as we understand what we are anointed to do (like Jesus) we understand that our lives exist only to serve His purpose. Nothing will stop that purpose as long as we are dead to ourselves and alive unto His purpose. We can have every confidence that God is the preserver of our lives as our lives are in Christ. Like Jesus, the purpose of our lives is to get to our cross because when we ultimately forgive is when we are ultimately forgiven. Our help to do this comes from the LORD.

I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth! He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The LORD himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. [Psalm 121]

Bottom line: God is the One Who watches over us. Why then would we fear anything - and especially death? The litmus test that determines "where our help comes from" is our attitude toward death. Death is the ultimate end of "self."

Father, help us to live "Christ" on earth - dead to ourselves. May we see that "forgiveness of sin" is the goal - the goal to give that we might receive. Help us to see that in so doing, You are the One Who watches over us and we have nothing to fear - nothing can harm us.