| Pastor Tim Lee: Dead Weight |
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5:14For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 5:15 And [that] he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we [him] no more. 5:17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 5:18 And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. The dead weight that the Apostle Paul is speaking of is the old fleshly man that was put to death, when you became a new creature in Christ Jesus. Paul starts out by saying that the love of Christ constraint us. We should not know any man or woman after the flesh that has been born again, Paul in dealing with the churches knew human nature. Lots of people's dead weight comes in the form of not forgetting those things that are in their past. We really need to focus in on what Paul saying in "2 Corinthians 5:17", old things are pasted away and all things become new. I want to go out on a limb here and state most of the dead weight, we allow ourselves to carry is, because we refuse to give it up. God has saved many a lost brother or sister that goes for years trying to atone for sins of the past, that's long ago forgotten in the mind of God. David says, the Lord forgives as far as the east is from the west. The devil loves to remind you of your past and put the dead weight that Christ removed, back on you. Do you have conversations with the accuser of the brethren? It's important for you to know that as long as you listen, Satan will condemn you about your past. The call to reconciliation was given to those new creations in Christ Jesus to bring others out of the struggles of carrying dead weight. Far too many have resurrected that old man, "yes beloved" if you don't feed this new man in Christ, he will revert back to the old man. Paul touches on something really important when he says that you shouldn't live for yourself after you've became this new creation. See it's not about you anymore, now it's about being an ambassador for Christ. We no longer represent what's in our best interest, but what's in the best interest of reaching others for Christ. The flesh has always been and will be self centered ( dead weight ). There's something wrong with an experience that claims to know Christ that's all wrapped up in self. There's a lot of dead weight in trying ".to have it your way" experience with Christ. Serving Christ is not like going to 'burger king" where they say, you can have it your way. " Look at another scripture that Paul speaks about dead weights.
12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Paul talks about laying aside every weight that does so easily, sets you back. That means, you can't be an effective witness to others that are struggling, when in fact your struggling as hard if not harder with the sin, than theirs are.Have you ever noticed that those that run the long distance race don't run with lot of extra apparel stuff the slow them down. Same applies to running for God, you can't be effective with the weight of the world weighting you down. Sin is a weight, totally and completely dead weight. Sin is a separator between God and man, sin won't be allowed entrance into a place that's called heaven. To win a physical race one has to be in some type of shape, to win a spiritual race, one needs to be in shape spiritually. I'm reminded of the ole saying of Billy Sunday, "if a man was as weak physically as most are spiritually, that man would not be able to walk or stand up . Are you dealing with some dead weights that's holding you back from what you need to be in Christ? There is a hope for you, in that Jesus has already died in your stead and that you might have life and have it more abundantly. |
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