WEBVTT 00:00:11.470 --> 00:00:14.169 Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. 00:00:14.250 --> 00:00:16.750 When we look around and see all the dysfunction 00:00:16.750 --> 00:00:19.570 and chaos, it's overwhelming. But when we look 00:00:19.570 --> 00:00:22.170 closer to home and see the dysfunction and the 00:00:22.170 --> 00:00:25.510 chaos in our own lives, it sometimes can paralyze 00:00:25.510 --> 00:00:28.210 us and make us feel like there's no hope. I want 00:00:28.210 --> 00:00:30.850 you to know that God is shouting from the rooftops, 00:00:30.910 --> 00:00:33.929 there's hope. I sent you hope. Where's God's 00:00:33.929 --> 00:00:36.130 hope? How do you get it? That's what we're going 00:00:36.130 --> 00:00:38.329 to talk about in the next 20 minutes. Stay with 00:00:38.329 --> 00:00:42.520 me. What if the life you've been working so hard 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:45.539 to build is the very thing standing between you 00:00:45.539 --> 00:00:48.799 and the life God has for you? I'm Dave Drewy, 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:51.280 and today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:54.259 reveals how real change doesn't start with personal 00:00:54.259 --> 00:00:57.240 growth or trying harder. It starts with dying 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:00.799 to yourself. As Paul says in Galatians 2, verse 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:03.899 20, I have been crucified with Christ, and I 00:01:03.899 --> 00:01:07.560 no longer live, but Christ lives in me. To unpack 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:10.400 more of this revolutionary truth, here's Chip 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:14.260 with today's message titled, You Gotta Die. I 00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:16.480 want to talk today about how do you really find 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.980 life and hope and peace in a world that's really 00:01:19.980 --> 00:01:23.060 messed up. And so we're going to ask four very 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:26.579 basic questions. Question number one, how did 00:01:26.579 --> 00:01:29.459 we get here? How did the world get this messed 00:01:29.459 --> 00:01:31.700 up? There's chaos out there and there's chaos 00:01:31.700 --> 00:01:34.739 in here. And what I want to tell you is the world. 00:01:35.450 --> 00:01:38.450 This world that we live in now is not the world 00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:41.189 God created. The world that God created, the 00:01:41.189 --> 00:01:44.370 eternal creator of all that is, who spoke the 00:01:44.370 --> 00:01:46.989 world into existence, created an absolutely perfect 00:01:46.989 --> 00:01:50.930 world. The world that you live in is messed up. 00:01:51.489 --> 00:01:54.930 God didn't mess it up, we did. But he cares. 00:01:55.890 --> 00:01:58.930 And so the question number two is where is God 00:01:58.930 --> 00:02:01.750 in the chaos? Here's the message of Easter. Get 00:02:01.750 --> 00:02:05.480 this down. Easter is about a divine, Intervention. 00:02:06.519 --> 00:02:09.639 Anybody here know what an intervention is? Anybody 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:12.539 had a friend or a relative? I have. And you get 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:14.719 all the family and usually find a pro who's done 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:16.139 this before because you need to know what you're 00:02:16.139 --> 00:02:19.240 doing. And you all create this place and then 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:20.759 usually have to trick them to get them there. 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:24.439 And he walks in and he goes, oh, what's going 00:02:24.439 --> 00:02:28.400 on? And they say, we love you and you have a 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:33.550 big problem. You know what Easter is? God looking 00:02:33.550 --> 00:02:36.370 down from heaven, the Father, the Son, and the 00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:40.030 Holy Spirit. And the Son saying, let's do an 00:02:40.030 --> 00:02:42.629 intervention. Let's help them see that they are 00:02:42.629 --> 00:02:44.930 messed up and they are selfish and they need 00:02:44.930 --> 00:02:48.310 to die and receive life so they can be resurrected. 00:02:48.669 --> 00:02:50.810 And so Jesus came and he did the intervention 00:02:50.810 --> 00:02:53.750 to rescue us. His life mission, he said, was 00:02:53.750 --> 00:02:56.949 I came to seek and to save those which were lost. 00:02:57.530 --> 00:03:00.610 And so the first thing he offered was life because 00:03:00.610 --> 00:03:03.550 we're on death patterns. For God so loved the 00:03:03.550 --> 00:03:06.129 world that he gave his only begotten son that 00:03:06.129 --> 00:03:09.490 whoever, underline the word, believe in him should 00:03:09.490 --> 00:03:12.210 not perish but have everlasting life. Circle 00:03:12.210 --> 00:03:15.330 the word have. Have, present tense, the moment 00:03:15.330 --> 00:03:20.069 you believe. And then the very next verse was 00:03:20.069 --> 00:03:22.770 probably as life -changing for me as the first 00:03:22.770 --> 00:03:25.930 one. For God did not send his son into the world 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:29.490 to judge the world, but he sent his son to save 00:03:29.490 --> 00:03:32.900 us. God's not down on you. God's not down on 00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:35.400 me. He's not this angry God whose arms are crossed 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:37.620 with a big club who has a lot of rules and just 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:39.379 waiting for you to mess up, to bang over your 00:03:39.379 --> 00:03:43.139 head or knock you on the knuckles. His invitation 00:03:43.139 --> 00:03:47.180 is not get religious, get more moral, try harder, 00:03:47.319 --> 00:03:50.560 pull up your bootstraps. That's not it. It's 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:53.620 an intervention where you say how you're living 00:03:53.620 --> 00:03:56.699 your life doesn't work. It's bringing death to 00:03:56.699 --> 00:03:59.430 you and death to others. I want to give you life. 00:03:59.870 --> 00:04:02.770 There's a gift. And what we're going to learn 00:04:02.770 --> 00:04:06.110 is he went to the cross and he died on the cross 00:04:06.110 --> 00:04:09.189 for you. He intervened and said, what you can't 00:04:09.189 --> 00:04:12.050 do for yourself, I'm going to do. And he literally 00:04:12.050 --> 00:04:14.050 paid. That's what the word redemption means. 00:04:14.210 --> 00:04:17.029 He paid for your sin and paid for mine. And then 00:04:17.029 --> 00:04:20.329 he rose from the grave and says, look, free gift. 00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:25.149 That's the message of Easter. And the question 00:04:25.149 --> 00:04:26.930 you ought to be asking is if that's the message 00:04:26.930 --> 00:04:30.250 of Easter, what gives this Jesus the right to 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:33.930 make that outlandish offer? Don't other religions 00:04:33.930 --> 00:04:37.209 have offers about peace and life and hope? I 00:04:37.209 --> 00:04:40.069 mean, what makes you think this one's real? Right? 00:04:41.089 --> 00:04:45.790 That was my question. Jesus makes this offer 00:04:45.790 --> 00:04:49.790 based on four things. First, his life. Sinless, 00:04:49.790 --> 00:04:54.050 revealing God's character. If we... could have 00:04:54.050 --> 00:04:57.290 found, if his enemies could have found one sin, 00:04:57.449 --> 00:05:00.029 the message of Jesus and all of his claims go 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:02.649 out the window. But instead, Jesus said, look, 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:04.689 here's the deal. I've come to do an intervention, 00:05:04.850 --> 00:05:08.189 and you have death, life. You want to see what 00:05:08.189 --> 00:05:10.569 life looks like? See the poor? I feed them. See 00:05:10.569 --> 00:05:13.529 the hungry? I feed them. See the people that 00:05:13.529 --> 00:05:15.730 have lost close? I raise them from the dead. 00:05:16.189 --> 00:05:18.269 If you have seen me, you've seen the Father. 00:05:18.370 --> 00:05:20.930 You want to know what God is like? You see this 00:05:20.930 --> 00:05:23.420 prostitute? And the messed up life she's had 00:05:23.420 --> 00:05:27.259 and the four partners, go and sin no more. You 00:05:27.259 --> 00:05:29.399 see this lady whose heart's broken and this guy 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:31.540 that's just lost his daughter? I raise her from 00:05:31.540 --> 00:05:34.240 the dead. You see people don't have purpose and 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:36.560 these religious people and all their pious stuff? 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:39.560 I shoot it straight with them and say, quit pretending. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:45.019 Quit posturing. Quit being a hypocrite. His life. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:49.379 I mean, it marks A .D., B .C. All of life is 00:05:49.379 --> 00:05:52.500 around the single solitary life that's changed 00:05:52.500 --> 00:05:55.160 the world. And second, his death. Colossians 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:58.839 chapter 2 makes it clear that when he died, he 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:01.800 didn't just physically die because he was fully 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:06.620 God and fully man. Being man, he could die. Being 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:09.879 God, it could be a perfect sacrifice. And he... 00:06:10.529 --> 00:06:15.810 sin. He broke the penalty of sin. He conquered 00:06:15.810 --> 00:06:18.870 death and destroyed the works of the evil one. 00:06:20.389 --> 00:06:23.310 His life, his death, and finally he proved it 00:06:23.310 --> 00:06:26.069 all with his resurrection. Read the book of Acts 00:06:26.069 --> 00:06:30.089 chapters 1 and 2. This isn't some weird religious 00:06:30.089 --> 00:06:33.610 philosopher that had dreams and told people there's 00:06:33.610 --> 00:06:36.970 a new way to God. This was someone who was outrageous. 00:06:37.269 --> 00:06:40.350 He said, I'm the savior of the world. I'm truth 00:06:40.350 --> 00:06:43.769 incarnate. There's no other way but me. He's 00:06:43.769 --> 00:06:47.889 either right, wrong, or a lunatic. But you can't 00:06:47.889 --> 00:06:51.569 even admire Jesus as a teacher. What kind of 00:06:51.569 --> 00:06:56.389 teacher would lie to you? The resurrection proves 00:06:56.389 --> 00:07:01.089 that what he said was true. God visited the planet. 00:07:01.290 --> 00:07:03.589 You talk about an intervention, he visited the 00:07:03.589 --> 00:07:05.769 planet and suffered and lived the perfect life 00:07:05.769 --> 00:07:14.829 for you. For you personally, for me. 500 eyewitnesses 00:07:14.829 --> 00:07:17.990 for over 40 days that could touch his hands. 00:07:18.089 --> 00:07:21.850 They had meals with him. There's a reason we're 00:07:21.850 --> 00:07:24.540 sitting in this room. It's not because we're 00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:26.959 on the salad bar of the philosophical religious 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:29.279 views of our day. We're sitting in this room 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:32.360 because a real God visited a real planet and 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:34.699 died on a real cross and came back to life and 00:07:34.699 --> 00:07:37.180 walked around for 40 days with eyewitnesses and 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:38.839 their lives have been completely transformed. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.120 The tragedy is we've taken that and made it religion. 00:07:43.959 --> 00:07:47.959 Because the final point is it's our union with 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:51.240 him. What God has always wanted. The reason he 00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:53.040 did the intervention. I mean, you don't do an 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:55.040 intervention so that people end up in a treatment 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:58.220 center and their message is, hey, I go to treatment 00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:00.839 centers. I go on Mondays and Wednesdays and Fridays. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:03.459 I go through the 12 steps. It's a great treatment 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:05.160 center. Have you ever been to a treatment center? 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:06.899 I love treatment centers. Let's be treatment 00:08:06.899 --> 00:08:11.620 center people. What you want them to do is have 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:14.779 an intervention and get whole and come back and 00:08:14.779 --> 00:08:18.980 love you and be connected to you. The tragedy 00:08:18.980 --> 00:08:21.019 of our day and the reason that I opted out of 00:08:21.019 --> 00:08:23.839 Christianity as a young person, all they wanted 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:26.240 to do was talk about their religion and telling 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.639 me that I wasn't moral enough. I knew I wasn't 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:34.379 moral enough, okay? Give me a break. God's not 00:08:34.379 --> 00:08:37.080 trying to improve your morality. God is not trying 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.539 to get you to be more religious. He wants you 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:42.460 to be in union in relationship with him. And 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:45.759 when that happens, life, I am crucified. So you 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:48.759 gotta die. I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, 00:08:48.980 --> 00:08:52.399 Paul would say, I live. How? Christ lives inside 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:55.059 of me. Well, how does that work? I put the verse 00:08:55.059 --> 00:08:58.480 in it. 2 Corinthians 5, verses 14 and 15. The 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:02.080 apostle Paul, the same one who gave us the secret 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:07.779 counterintuitive means to life and hope and peace 00:09:07.779 --> 00:09:12.779 says this. The love of Christ controls us. Having 00:09:12.779 --> 00:09:17.669 concluded this, that one, for all, that one Jesus. 00:09:18.610 --> 00:09:23.789 Notice the result. Therefore, all died. Why? 00:09:24.009 --> 00:09:28.990 And he died for all so that those who live might 00:09:28.990 --> 00:09:32.769 live no longer for themselves. Do you feel the 00:09:32.769 --> 00:09:37.149 dying? It's not about you. Can you imagine living 00:09:37.149 --> 00:09:39.549 a life that it's not about you? It's not about 00:09:39.549 --> 00:09:41.169 your dreams and your goals and what you can get 00:09:41.169 --> 00:09:46.320 and who you can impress. One died, Jesus. Therefore, 00:09:46.440 --> 00:09:52.200 all died. And he died so that we can live no 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.919 longer for ourselves, but for him who died and 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:59.860 rose from the dead. Therefore, if any man or 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:02.500 any woman is in Christ, he's a new creation. 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:04.600 The old things pass away. Behold, everything 00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:11.340 becomes new. He wants the old you to die. And 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:14.440 he wants to allow his spirit to enter your life 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:17.000 and take up residence in you and make a brand 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:21.600 new you. That little word in Christ or in him 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:25.940 happens 200 times in the New Testament. The message 00:10:25.940 --> 00:10:28.139 of the gospel, the message of Easter isn't, this 00:10:28.139 --> 00:10:30.580 is what I grew up hearing. If your good deeds 00:10:30.580 --> 00:10:32.320 are more than your bad deeds, I guess you get 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:35.039 in. And since we're all in denial, no matter 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:37.500 what I did, I thought, well, it's getting kind 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:38.879 of close, but I think I'm doing pretty good. 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:43.990 Right? God says, let me give you, I am holy, 00:10:44.129 --> 00:10:48.570 I am pure, one single bad deed, one single thought 00:10:48.570 --> 00:10:51.090 because I'm absolute pure in my holiness. You 00:10:51.090 --> 00:10:53.929 can't have relationship with me. I don't want 00:10:53.929 --> 00:10:57.909 you trying to get better or to prove or to perform. 00:10:58.470 --> 00:11:01.789 I want you to be connected to me and I will do 00:11:01.789 --> 00:11:04.370 for you what you could never do for yourself. 00:11:05.870 --> 00:11:08.470 You're listening to Living on the Edge, and today's 00:11:08.470 --> 00:11:10.789 teaching from Chip Ingram continues in just a 00:11:10.789 --> 00:11:14.350 minute. His message is available anytime at livingontheedge 00:11:14.350 --> 00:11:17.389 .org. Listen again, share it with a friend, or 00:11:17.389 --> 00:11:19.690 explore hundreds of additional programs, all 00:11:19.690 --> 00:11:23.049 free, all online. You can even search for specific 00:11:23.049 --> 00:11:26.470 topics like parenting, personal growth, and unchangeable 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:29.269 truths. Plus, find small group resources and 00:11:29.269 --> 00:11:31.370 practical tools to help you live the Christian 00:11:31.370 --> 00:11:35.429 life every day. It's all waiting for you at livingontheedge 00:11:35.429 --> 00:11:38.740 .org. Well, now let's get back to today's message. 00:11:39.059 --> 00:11:41.480 Let me give you a picture. This has just helped 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:44.440 me so much. Imagine if you will, this is a bolt. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:49.220 Got that? Imagine this bolt is you or me. And 00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:51.139 there's certain properties, there's a nature 00:11:51.139 --> 00:11:53.899 to a bolt, correct? It's made out of metal. And 00:11:53.899 --> 00:11:56.409 let's imagine that this little... Fish tank, 00:11:56.549 --> 00:11:58.769 I think, is what we've got here. And this water 00:11:58.769 --> 00:12:01.230 is staying on top of the water is being a good 00:12:01.230 --> 00:12:02.990 person, a righteous person, a loving person, 00:12:03.110 --> 00:12:05.029 a person that cares about others, a person that's 00:12:05.029 --> 00:12:08.129 pleasing to God. Left to yourself and your power 00:12:08.129 --> 00:12:11.250 and your effort, when you try and do that, does 00:12:11.250 --> 00:12:12.730 anybody have any predictions about where this 00:12:12.730 --> 00:12:16.009 boat's going? Okay, let's check this out to make 00:12:16.009 --> 00:12:21.470 sure. Yep, it's down there. Well, hold on. Oh, 00:12:21.649 --> 00:12:24.019 no, no. Well, maybe we should paint it. Or maybe 00:12:24.019 --> 00:12:25.659 it could put a little cross on it, and maybe 00:12:25.659 --> 00:12:27.419 the bolt could go to church now and then. Or 00:12:27.419 --> 00:12:28.940 it could really try, maybe give away a little 00:12:28.940 --> 00:12:31.940 money. You can do all kind of little things with 00:12:31.940 --> 00:12:33.519 the bolt, but okay, let's pretend it's painted 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:35.379 and it's really pretty, and it's even religious. 00:12:37.059 --> 00:12:40.860 Oops, still got a problem. Because the nature 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:45.299 of the bolt in and of itself is powerless. Here's 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:48.340 the intervention. The intervention is the very 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:51.159 life of Jesus, fully man, fully God, who died 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:54.440 and says when he died, when a person by faith 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:57.340 trusts in him, you died with him, you're buried 00:12:57.340 --> 00:12:59.539 with him so you can be resurrected with him. 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:02.559 Now what's the nature of wood when I put it in 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:05.740 the water? Predictions. It's the fundamental 00:13:05.740 --> 00:13:09.980 property of the wood. It will always float. Now 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:14.879 get this. This is the gospel. This is the good 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:19.470 news. The good news is not that you can try hard, 00:13:19.529 --> 00:13:21.950 become religious, read the Bible, go on a missions 00:13:21.950 --> 00:13:24.190 trip, give some money, and try and earn your 00:13:24.190 --> 00:13:27.909 way to God. The gospel is none of that can ever 00:13:27.909 --> 00:13:31.230 work. But by faith, you can turn from your sin 00:13:31.230 --> 00:13:33.929 and you can be united with him. See this rubber 00:13:33.929 --> 00:13:37.970 band, this blue one here? It's faith. It's that 00:13:37.970 --> 00:13:41.669 moment in specific space -time history. When 00:13:41.669 --> 00:13:44.789 you hear and understand that God in the person 00:13:44.789 --> 00:13:48.070 of Jesus Christ died for your sin, rose from 00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:51.090 the dead, and offers you new life free of charge 00:13:51.090 --> 00:13:53.690 that you could never do. And you turn from your 00:13:53.690 --> 00:13:56.769 sin and you say, I can't live this life, but 00:13:56.769 --> 00:13:59.370 I want to be connected to you. And you said, 00:13:59.470 --> 00:14:02.269 whoever believes in you could be connected to 00:14:02.269 --> 00:14:07.350 you. I want to be in union with you. See, the 00:14:07.350 --> 00:14:10.629 scripture says very clearly. He that has the 00:14:10.629 --> 00:14:14.149 Son has life. He that does not have the Son of 00:14:14.149 --> 00:14:18.269 God does not have life. These things I've written 00:14:18.269 --> 00:14:20.470 to you, the Apostle John would say, that you 00:14:20.470 --> 00:14:23.850 might know that you have eternal life. And so 00:14:23.850 --> 00:14:27.750 when you have relationship with him, all the 00:14:27.750 --> 00:14:31.529 properties now and what's true of Christ becomes 00:14:31.529 --> 00:14:35.429 true of you. When you turn from your sin, ask 00:14:35.429 --> 00:14:37.669 Christ to come into your life, you're atoned 00:14:37.669 --> 00:14:40.870 or forgiven. The Spirit of God enters your life. 00:14:41.289 --> 00:14:43.610 He begins to form the life of Christ in you. 00:14:43.669 --> 00:14:46.129 He seals you with the Spirit. He takes you from 00:14:46.129 --> 00:14:48.190 the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. 00:14:48.629 --> 00:14:52.149 He breaks the power of sin. Death forever never 00:14:52.149 --> 00:14:54.769 can reign over you again. The moment you die, 00:14:54.809 --> 00:14:56.370 you will be ushered into the very presence of 00:14:56.370 --> 00:14:59.570 God forever and ever. But you are crucified with 00:14:59.570 --> 00:15:02.590 Christ. Nevertheless, look, you're living. But 00:15:02.590 --> 00:15:06.450 it's not you, it's Christ in you. That's the 00:15:06.450 --> 00:15:11.210 message and the offer. And so the question I 00:15:11.210 --> 00:15:16.590 have for you is do you have the son? Do you have 00:15:16.590 --> 00:15:20.850 the son of God living in you? If you do, you 00:15:20.850 --> 00:15:23.909 have eternal life. If you do not, you do not 00:15:23.909 --> 00:15:26.529 have life. Notice, I didn't say, do you go to 00:15:26.529 --> 00:15:28.929 church? I didn't say, are you moral? I didn't 00:15:28.929 --> 00:15:30.730 say, did you read the Bible? I didn't say, if 00:15:30.730 --> 00:15:32.950 you give to United Way. All those things may 00:15:32.950 --> 00:15:36.210 be very, very good. But none of them have the 00:15:36.210 --> 00:15:39.190 power to give you eternal life. And just like 00:15:39.190 --> 00:15:43.110 when you make a major union with another person, 00:15:43.169 --> 00:15:45.370 it's not just for a certain day or a point in 00:15:45.370 --> 00:15:47.710 time. It's for a new life. There's a new path. 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:50.940 It's not about coming to some service and realizing, 00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:54.100 oh, I need to be united with Christ. Oh, Father, 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:55.960 please forgive me, and then go off and live the 00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:59.840 same way. No, no, no. I died to my old way of 00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:03.059 life, and I said to a cute little blonde -haired 00:16:03.059 --> 00:16:06.500 girl, I would like to be united with you all 00:16:06.500 --> 00:16:08.879 the rest of my days and be on a new path with 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.049 you. I did not say, honey, I want you to know 00:16:12.049 --> 00:16:14.289 for this day that I'm giving up my old girlfriends 00:16:14.289 --> 00:16:16.710 and I want to be married to you and be united 00:16:16.710 --> 00:16:18.710 to you and thank you. I'm glad we're married 00:16:18.710 --> 00:16:21.909 and I think I'm going to go kind of do. She would 00:16:21.909 --> 00:16:24.570 have not been happy with that. Nor me, her doing 00:16:24.570 --> 00:16:28.289 that. What I committed to was a new life that 00:16:28.289 --> 00:16:31.950 gave me new power to be on a new path. And that's 00:16:31.950 --> 00:16:35.110 our final question. What's the path? What's the 00:16:35.110 --> 00:16:39.350 counterintuitive path? that brings life and hope 00:16:39.350 --> 00:16:41.789 and peace. And it's summarized in Romans chapter 00:16:41.789 --> 00:16:44.769 12, the first two verses. The same author, he 00:16:44.769 --> 00:16:48.169 says, I urge you therefore, my brethren or brothers 00:16:48.169 --> 00:16:50.850 and sisters is the idea. In light of God's mercy, 00:16:50.950 --> 00:16:52.350 in other words, in light of what he's done for 00:16:52.350 --> 00:16:55.529 you, here's the path that you're on so that you 00:16:55.529 --> 00:16:58.649 receive life. Offer your body or present your 00:16:58.649 --> 00:17:02.129 body as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable 00:17:02.129 --> 00:17:05.339 to God. Then get the last line. This is your 00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:07.440 spiritual service of worship. Translation, this 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:10.099 is what God really wants. Once you turn from 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:12.539 your sin and receive the gift on a certain day 00:17:12.539 --> 00:17:14.700 at a certain time, are you ready for this? You 00:17:14.700 --> 00:17:18.140 gotta die. The reason there's so many Christians 00:17:18.140 --> 00:17:20.099 who say I love God and they pray to prayer and 00:17:20.099 --> 00:17:22.119 done this and done that and they live their own 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:24.259 life and their lives don't resemble Christ, they 00:17:24.259 --> 00:17:28.180 never died. You gotta die. You've got to say, 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:31.319 God, not my will, but yours. Jesus died before 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:33.700 he could be resurrected. In nature, if it doesn't 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:35.319 die, it doesn't produce fruit. Unless a grain 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:37.599 of wheat fall into the earth and die, it remains 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:41.380 by itself alone. If it dies, it brings forth 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:46.839 much fruit. Are you ready to die? You know what? 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:48.539 God may be very gracious, but are you ready to 00:17:48.539 --> 00:17:52.099 die to some things that you think will make your 00:17:52.099 --> 00:17:55.880 life work? See, any person or anything that your 00:17:55.880 --> 00:17:59.019 life revolves around, You know what that's called? 00:17:59.980 --> 00:18:04.019 That you orbit around? That holds you up? That's 00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:07.440 what you worship. Some people, they worship their 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.640 job. Some people worship their mate. Some people 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:13.299 worship the fantasy of the success, the win -win 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:15.359 syndrome. When I get the big job, when I get 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:16.700 the house on the hill, when we get the kitchen 00:18:16.700 --> 00:18:18.220 remodeled, when we finally have children, when 00:18:18.220 --> 00:18:20.579 I finally get married, when I finally make a 00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:22.359 lot of money, you know, if I keep working out, 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:26.220 if I can look like this, then... And we spend 00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:28.380 our whole days answering emails and responding 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:30.299 to voicemails. Oh, that's busy, busy, busy, busy. 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:32.359 Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. For what? So 00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:38.380 I can own, control, pose, pretend, and try and 00:18:38.380 --> 00:18:41.319 in my own energy be good enough to get people 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:46.440 to love me. And all the while, the one who came 00:18:46.440 --> 00:18:49.220 to do the intervention is standing back, Jesus 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:52.900 saying, I've watched this movie a lot of times. 00:18:53.829 --> 00:18:56.970 there's not a happy ending coming. There's not 00:18:56.970 --> 00:18:59.869 a happy ending in this life and there's a tragic 00:18:59.869 --> 00:19:07.150 ending in the next. Will you allow me to forgive 00:19:07.150 --> 00:19:10.690 you and do for you what you can never do for 00:19:10.690 --> 00:19:14.849 yourself? And will you allow me to come into 00:19:14.849 --> 00:19:19.450 your life? And after I do, would you slide over 00:19:19.450 --> 00:19:24.029 and let me drive? And I will tell you this, If 00:19:24.029 --> 00:19:27.369 I loved you enough to die for you, where I'm 00:19:27.369 --> 00:19:30.069 gonna drive this car is better than you could 00:19:30.069 --> 00:19:32.910 ever dream. The roads will not always be smooth 00:19:32.910 --> 00:19:35.589 and they will not take the turns that you always 00:19:35.589 --> 00:19:38.269 like. But if you'll listen to what I have to 00:19:38.269 --> 00:19:42.269 say, you'll do some counterintuitive things like 00:19:42.269 --> 00:19:46.829 give and you'll receive. You'll love in your 00:19:46.829 --> 00:19:48.869 marriage and forgive even when it doesn't come 00:19:48.869 --> 00:19:51.670 back and this bizarre thing happens. You get 00:19:51.670 --> 00:19:54.339 love back. You'll live the kind of life that 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:57.859 your kids will say, wow, that's the kind of person, 00:19:57.940 --> 00:19:59.680 that's the kind of dad, that's the kind of mom 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.099 I want to be. Guess what? You can't do this. 00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:10.240 Christ in you is the hope of glory. Would you 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:13.819 like to have eternal life beginning today? If 00:20:13.819 --> 00:20:16.779 so, I'd like to lead you in a prayer. And for 00:20:16.779 --> 00:20:19.799 some, let me tell you, I know, you know. Today 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:21.799 is the day, the Bible says, of salvation. You 00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:24.539 may not be ready. You know what? But I don't 00:20:24.539 --> 00:20:29.140 know when your next window's coming. An intervention 00:20:29.140 --> 00:20:33.960 occurred. Option A, I will remain in denial. 00:20:34.059 --> 00:20:36.240 I'm doing okay. Everything's okay. I don't have 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:40.420 a problem. Option B, I'm sick and tired of living 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:43.740 the way I am. And I need life and I need hope 00:20:43.740 --> 00:20:46.019 and I need peace that I can't get for myself. 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:49.190 And I'm gonna die to my way. And I'm going to 00:20:49.190 --> 00:20:51.549 ask God to come into my life so I can follow 00:20:51.549 --> 00:20:57.529 him. Those are your options. This is Living on 00:20:57.529 --> 00:21:00.390 the Edge with Chip Ingram and a powerful Easter 00:21:00.390 --> 00:21:03.269 message. Chip gave us a lot to sit with today. 00:21:03.430 --> 00:21:05.750 The bolt that sinks no matter how many times 00:21:05.750 --> 00:21:08.029 you paint it. The wood that floats, not because 00:21:08.029 --> 00:21:10.430 of anything it does, but because of its nature. 00:21:10.769 --> 00:21:13.900 That's the gospel in a fish tank. And the invitation 00:21:13.900 --> 00:21:16.539 couldn't be more direct. Stop performing. Stop 00:21:16.539 --> 00:21:19.819 posturing. Stop trying to drive. Slide over. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.079 Let Christ take the wheel. If He loves you enough 00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:25.460 to die for you, where He's going to take you 00:21:25.460 --> 00:21:27.660 is better than anything you could map out on 00:21:27.660 --> 00:21:30.930 your own. For over 30 years, Living on the Edge 00:21:30.930 --> 00:21:33.190 has existed to bring that message to people who 00:21:33.190 --> 00:21:36.170 need it, in their cars, in their homes, in the 00:21:36.170 --> 00:21:38.390 quiet moments when they know something has to 00:21:38.390 --> 00:21:40.990 change. And it reaches them because partners 00:21:40.990 --> 00:21:44.190 like you believe this mission matters. Now, if 00:21:44.190 --> 00:21:46.809 you already give to support this ministry, thank 00:21:46.809 --> 00:21:49.630 you. Every program, every moment of teaching 00:21:49.630 --> 00:21:52.369 that lands at just the right time, it happens 00:21:52.369 --> 00:21:55.509 because you said yes. And if you've never given 00:21:55.509 --> 00:21:58.549 before, today is the perfect day to start. Join 00:21:58.549 --> 00:22:01.049 a community of believers investing in something 00:22:01.049 --> 00:22:04.250 that outlasts all of us, the transformation of 00:22:04.250 --> 00:22:08.069 lives through God's Word. To give, visit livingontheedge 00:22:08.069 --> 00:22:13.990 .org or call us at 888 -333 -6003. You can also 00:22:13.990 --> 00:22:16.910 mail your gift to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 00:22:16.910 --> 00:22:22.700 3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. And one more thing, 00:22:22.859 --> 00:22:25.079 make sure you've subscribed to the Living on 00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:27.640 the Edge podcast, where you can check out full 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:29.980 -length messages from Chip and take them with 00:22:29.980 --> 00:22:33.500 you wherever you go. Subscribe today. Well, now 00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:37.039 here's Chip. So let me ask you today, which road 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:41.720 will you take? Option A or Option B? You know, 00:22:41.740 --> 00:22:44.019 we all face these windows of spiritual decision. 00:22:44.779 --> 00:22:47.279 It's not an accident that you're hearing my voice 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:50.160 right now. The God of the universe made you. 00:22:50.509 --> 00:22:54.069 created you, loves you. He sent his son to die 00:22:54.069 --> 00:22:57.269 in your place for your sin. He rose from the 00:22:57.269 --> 00:23:00.430 dead. It's historical. It's factual. It's true. 00:23:01.210 --> 00:23:03.910 But all that has got to move from your head to 00:23:03.910 --> 00:23:06.230 your heart. And today is the day, is what the 00:23:06.230 --> 00:23:10.109 Bible says, of salvation. So what will you do? 00:23:10.390 --> 00:23:14.269 Will you receive his offer? And if so, do it 00:23:14.269 --> 00:23:18.190 right now with me. In our church, I prayed a 00:23:18.190 --> 00:23:21.140 prayer. with a number of people whose entire 00:23:21.140 --> 00:23:24.319 eternity changed because their trust shifted 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:28.140 from themselves to Christ. And that's what you 00:23:28.140 --> 00:23:30.440 need to do right now. You can pray if this is 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:33.660 the desire of your heart. Dear God, I admit today 00:23:33.660 --> 00:23:37.259 before you that I fall short, that I've sinned, 00:23:37.259 --> 00:23:40.920 that I'm not the man, the woman, the parent, 00:23:41.019 --> 00:23:43.880 the person that I know I need to be. I want to 00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:46.359 ask you right now to forgive me for all of my 00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:49.559 sins. I ask you to come into my life right now. 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:52.519 And I believe and trust that your son, the Lord 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:56.839 Jesus, died to pay for my sin. I believe he rose 00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:00.559 from the dead to give me eternal life. Please 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:04.839 make me your son. Make me your daughter. I trust 00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:09.400 you right now in Jesus' name. And Father, thank 00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:12.769 you for your forgiveness. Grant me power and 00:24:12.769 --> 00:24:15.710 strength to walk with you all the days of my 00:24:15.710 --> 00:24:18.589 life. If you just prayed that with me, you can 00:24:18.589 --> 00:24:21.869 go to our website and there's a portion there 00:24:21.869 --> 00:24:23.690 where you can click for new believers where we 00:24:23.690 --> 00:24:26.569 can give you some help. And secondly, tell someone 00:24:26.569 --> 00:24:29.150 today what you've done. The person you think 00:24:29.150 --> 00:24:31.009 is the greatest Christian that you know, tell 00:24:31.009 --> 00:24:34.190 them, I prayed to receive Christ today. And then 00:24:34.190 --> 00:24:37.390 this Easter weekend, find a good Bible teaching 00:24:37.390 --> 00:24:41.269 church and celebrate your new life. Just go to 00:24:41.269 --> 00:24:44.450 livingontheedge .org slash salvation to connect. 00:24:44.950 --> 00:24:47.569 I'm Dave Drury, and we'll see you next time for 00:24:47.569 --> 00:24:50.170 more practical Bible teaching here on Living 00:24:50.170 --> 00:24:55.809 on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Today's program 00:24:55.809 --> 00:24:58.650 is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.