Sticks & Stones 8 – The Sticks & Stones that Change Our World
We have been talking about sticks and stones for the last weeks. We tried to figure out in our lives if our problem is a stick or a stone. How do we change our view of the stones and build something good out of the sticks. It has been a journey of discovery and trying to find our way to a better life. We have talked about money, family, religion and all of life. We have seen that some things are just rocks and we have to change the way we think about them. Some are sticks and we can change them with our choices.
Today, I wanted to talk to you about a stone that is a part of each of our lives. This rock will always be with us and you cannot fix it by changing the way you think about it. The Bible teaches we are born with this stone tucked back in the further reaches of our souls. It is not a dominate part of our lives until later in our lives. This stone is sin. Man is it a heavy, heavy load. We have all found ourselves thinking if we could just do better life would be good. The problem is that we always slip back into old patterns.
So, if we are doomed to carry this stone into eternity then we better talk about what Jesus did with some sticks and a stone to save us from our sins. The Bible teaches that we all carry the stone of sin. “God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same: All have sinned and are not good enough for God’s glory,
and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. Romans 3:22-24 (NCV)
Those verses give us diagnoses of who we are and then hope that there is a hope that comes in the sticks and stone that Jesus had in his life. So let’s take a look at what Easter truly means.
Jesus picked up some sticks to save us from our stone
We see crosses almost everywhere. Those sticks that Jesus chose to carry that day for us. 1 Peter 3:18 says it this way: “Christ himself suffered for sins once. He was not guilty, but he suffered for those who are guilty to bring you to God. His body was killed, but he was made alive in the spirit.” Jesus suffered for our stone of sin. He picked up sticks because He knew we could not carry this stone for ourselves. It would lead to pain in our lives and eventually our death. Jesus did not die on the cross for his sin, He had none, but He died for our sins. The cross is the sticks that changed our lives. Jesus willingly carried those sticks to take that stone from us.
Christ’s suffering led to our healing
We all know the toll that sin can play on each of our lives. We have worked hard to try to overcome our sins. We think we are going to do better and overcome the suffering that sin brings. Problem is that we find ourselves repeating old patterns that bring us more pain. “Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right. And you are healed because of his wounds. 1 Peter 2:24 For us to receive healing from this stone of sin we need to trust in the sacrifice of Jesus. He took up those sticks so that we could change our destiny and lives. He will take that stone of our heart and turn it into a living and beating heart that is healed from the suffering of sin.
The stone that Jesus rolled away
Imagine if you watched your friend and leader die on a cross and you helped bury him in a tomb. You go a couple of days later to visit that tomb and the stone is rolled away from the entrance and you find the tomb empty. That is what happened with Jesus after his death when his friends came to visit him. This stone that kept him in the tomb was moved. I don’t think Jesus rolled that stone out of the way so that he could walk out. I think he rolled it so we could walk in. If it was only the sticks that Jesus carried then we would have a martyr. Because he rolled that stone and came back to life we have a savior. He took a symbol of what cannot be changed and changed the world with it. Because he lives we can face tomorrow and make our lives more like God’s desire for us as we follow the steps of Jesus.
Jesus becomes a living hope for all of us
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God’s great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3 These verses talk about a living hope. We need to remember that Jesus is not just an idea that people worship. He lived, died and rose again to deliver us from the stone of sin. He gives us a hope that will see us through the times we are not sure we can go forward. He will be there every step of the way to guide us and lead us to a life where stones do not stop us.