DEATH BY SUICIDE

The title of this blog, for some people, brings back very painful memories. Fortunately for me, and many who are reading this, we have never dealt with what to me would be unimaginable grief of losing a loved one in this manner. In light of the weight of this subject, I will try to address the seriousness of this topic with the respect it deserves.

“Suicide is the act of intentionally ending one’s own life. Organizations like the National Institute of Mental Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define it as death caused by self-inflicted injurious behavior with the intent to die as a result of that behavior.

Key components of the definition include:

·       Self-inflicted harm: The person must be the agent of their own death.

·       Intent to die: The act is taken specifically with the goal of ending one’s own life.

·       Fatal outcome: A suicide is distinguished from a suicide attempt by the resulting death.

Although this is a very delicate subject it can be used to bring greater clarity to a spiritual truth. I had just watched a message on YouTube by one of my favorite preachers and while giving the altar call he felt strongly that he needed to say, “don’t take your life.”

The thought that immediately came to my mind was there are many in the church today who do need to commit a form of suicide - spiritual suicide. They need to take the action which is taken specifically with the goal in mind of ending one’s “self - life.” In actuality, we all as Christians, or Christ followers, must become the agent of our own death.

There are some things that we experience in life that are so shocking that they leave a lasting imprint on our psyche. I hope what I write next will be so jarring mentally that it will change your life for eternity. I know that’s a grandiose statement, but for those who take this truth to heart daily, if they haven’t already, it can be the difference between life and death, heaven and hell.

JESUS BECAME THE AGENT OF HIS OWN DEATH!

I’m not in any way suggesting that Jesus took His own life, that He committed suicide. Jesus, in speaking of His upcoming death on the cross, said, “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily…For this is what my Father commanded” (John 10:18, NASB). In John 6:38 (NLT), Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.” (emphasis added) That’s the spiritual truth that we not only need to learn, but to apply. In order to do the will of the Father Jesus had to die. If Jesus had to die in order to do the will of the Father can we expected to do any less?

Earlier, in John 10:9-10 (NIV) Jesus said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved…I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

God has given us many wonderful promises in His Word and this is one them. And yet there are many Christians who struggle with this, and other promises as well, because their life experiences belie that statement. If you were to ask them they would say that their lives are anything but blessed. Rather than living a lives of fullness they are living lives of paucity. Many of God’s promises are conditional and Jesus’ promise that we can live a life to the full is one of them.

The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:31 that he died daily. Paul was only doing what Jesus said was necessary: “If anyone would come after me, let him take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23, ESV). In other words, Jesus is saying if you are going to follow Him then you must embrace death daily. Many people wear the cross as a piece of jewelry reminding them of Jesus’ death. A better purpose for wearing the cross should be as a daily reminder  that we are to called to die

We’ve all heard the old saying that cats have nine lives. The saying is likely based on cats’ impressive agility and ability to survive falls from great heights due to their “righting reflex,” which allows them to twist their bodies and land on their feet.

The old “self-life” within us has more lives than a cat. It reminds me of the movie Ground Hog Day. It’s the same battle every day. Just hit replay. Or, like a computer that returns to default settings every night at midnight. That’s why Paul said that he died daily. And so must we.

So just like the three key components of suicide we must be the agent of our own death to self; the actions we take are done specifically with the goal of ending our self-life; and the end result must be fatal.

The number one reason people commit suicide is the feeling of complete hopelessness, that there’s no possibility of their circumstances ever changing. They may have an incurable disease and are dealing with never ending debilitating pain. Or maybe they are being abused and see no way of escape. There are so many issues that can cause people to lose all hope. For these people they believe the only way out is to end it all.

For others, they attempt suicide but it is more of a cry for help. They still have faint glimmers of hope but they are fading fast. They are desperate for help but no one seems to notice or care. So they take extreme measures to get the attention of those who could possibly help them.

The problem with many Christians is they attempt self-life suicide but they fail to succeed. They still have hope that they can gain victory over  the “god of self.” It’s more a cry for help rather than the despair of hopelessness.

The only person that can help us to live the life that God calls us to live is Jesus Christ. And the only way He can help us is when we come to the end of ourselves. It will require us to reach that state of utter hopelessness to accomplish in our own strength what can only be done in the strength of Christ. We must become the agent of the death of our self-life.

WHAT WE NEED IS RESURRECTION POWER

The only way we can experience resurrection power is to die. You can never be resurrected if you’re not dead.

Living your life through someone else is often called living vicariously, which means experiencing life through another person’s actions and achievements instead of your own. This can happen in various ways, such as a parent pushing a child to achieve their own failed dreams, or living vicariously through characters in books, movies, or TV shows.

I enjoy playing golf. I was tempted to say I love playing golf but there have been many times that I’ve played so badly that I have said, “I need to take two weeks off – and then quit.” It’s the most frustrating sport that I have ever endeavored to play.

Now I can honestly say that I love watching the pros play golf. I’ve often thought how great it would be to be good enough to play golf for a living. To be able to play the best golf courses in the world and get paid millions to do it.

Knowing how difficult the game of golf is makes it very easy for me to admire and desire to have the skills of someone like Scottie Scheffler. How awesome would it be to have him as a close friend and have him help me with my game?

I would like to use that analogy and apply it spiritually. How great would it be to have a friend like Jesus to help me live a life like He did? WHOAH!! Hold on a  second – I do! HALLELUJAH!!! Proverbs 18:24 (NASB 1995): “…there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” His name is Jesus. And Paul, writing to the Galatians said, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20, NLT, emphasis added).

The secret is out if you haven’t heard it until now. If you are going to have life, and that more abundantly, you must die – die to self.