{"id":1233,"date":"2010-12-27T13:07:57","date_gmt":"2010-12-27T19:07:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/?p=1233"},"modified":"2013-12-07T11:52:23","modified_gmt":"2013-12-07T17:52:23","slug":"twirl-021-122710","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomfrommedom.com\/member\/lessons\/twirl-021-122710","title":{"rendered":"TWIRL 021: Fool or Free? Dead or Alive?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Week In Recovery Lesson<\/span><\/h2>\n

Fool or Free? Dead or Alive?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.\u00a0In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!\u00a0And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.<\/span><\/strong> 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 (NLT)<\/span><\/p>\n

For one to reject the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, rather than embrace it, would be utterly foolish. To embrace Christ\u2019s sacrifice of obedience unto death on a cross, is to sacrifice ourselves unto a life of surrender, committed to doing the will of God just as Jesus did (Romans 12:1-2). There is the one who believes in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God resurrected, as the vehicle to power and authority in this life. There is also the one who will agree with the historical evidence that Jesus lived as a prophet who died, but that\u2019s it; the belief is that he is still in the grave. That one denies the history of the empty tomb as evidence of Christ’s resurrection. One is right and one is wrong. There is no middle ground, here. There is belief and there is disbelief. Because there is so much at stake; either the believer or the unbeliever is a fool.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s at stake? Imagine that your life is a house and you, of course, are inside the house since it is your life. The self-centered thinking, intentions and behavior that drives your life is a blazing fire. The house that is your life is on fire. The house is burning down and you are trapped inside with no way out as flames rage all around you. You are suffocating from smoke inhalation and it is so hot your skin is already beginning to burn. Fire is everywhere! The smoke is so thick. You are blind and lost and doomed to perish.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suddenly, a fireman approaches you from the flames. He hears you crying out for help. He is fully equipped to rescue you. Do you refuse to go with him? Jesus Christ is the fireman that can and will rescue you if you go with him. If you were really trapped inside of a burning building in a panic knowing you will die unless someone seeks you out and finds you, would you ask the fireman if he could wait for a while longer for you to get your things? Of course, not. There wouldn\u2019t even be a thought. The fireman grabs you and you are going wherever he leads until you\u2019re free. In that moment, it\u2019s all that makes sense.<\/span><\/p>\n