Our Eternal Identity
Download MP3If you would, open your bibles to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. And I feel like I need to say something. We're actually skipping over a passage here. And after last week, me making a big deal about expositional preaching, and we're skipping over a, passage about divorce and remarriage.
Joel Brooks:Just want you to know that we are coming back to that. I'm going to give an entire Sunday on that after Easter. And so but I want us to, I want us to get to Palm Sunday and Luke on Palm Sunday, and I want us to be able to spend more time on divorce and remarriage. So we are we're gonna move that to them and hear the words from the from Luke concerning the rich man and Lazarus. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
Joel Brooks:And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
Joel Brooks:And he called out, father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus in like manner bad things. But now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. And besides all this between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who had passed from here to you may not be able and none may cross from there to us. And he said, Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have 5 brothers, so that he may warn them, unless they also come into this place of torment.
Joel Brooks:But Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And he said, no, father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He said to them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.
Joel Brooks:Pray with me. Spirit of God, I ask that you would pierce our hearts. Open us up to you. May your word go forward, forward like a hammer shattering a rock. May you smash open the hardest of hearts.
Joel Brooks:Crack open closed minds, may it overcome our will. I pray that my word would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
Joel Brooks:Many years ago, I flew over to Northern Ireland to talk to a young man named Colin. It was a short trip. I could only be there for a couple of nights. And, I went there to share with him the gospel. And on my my second night there, my last night, we were walking on the road, and I am sharing with him the gospel as passionately as I know how.
Joel Brooks:It's probably about 2 in the morning. And, we're walking by a pastor, and pretty much all of Ireland is a pastor. And we're walking by there and I, I reached down and I picked up a blade of grass and I said, Colin, do you see this blade of grass? This is your life here on earth. Now look at this field.
Joel Brooks:This field represents eternity. And this field was just endless. I said, but what you do here determines all of this. And a gust of wind came and I let go of it. And the, the blade of grass just went off into that field and you could tell Collin was moved.
Joel Brooks:He was shaken. The book of Ecclesiastes says that we have eternity on our hearts, which means that as humans we have embedded in us in the very fabric of our being. This notion that we are meant to last forever. The, the notion of the internal, it's, it's intrinsic in our nature that we, we have some kind of understanding of this, but we usually, we suppress this. Actually, usually things like laundry, playing with kids, fixing meals, going to work, just daily life kind of suppresses that out of our mind.
Joel Brooks:Until something brings it back to the forefront. Maybe it's the death of a friend or maybe it's if the doctor tells you you have cancer or maybe it's some tragedy you see in the news and all of a sudden it hits you. Once again, your mortality hits you and you begin thinking about eternal things. Frederick Buettner in his book Open Heart, he describes the death of Antonio Parr's twin sister. And this is what he says at the funeral.
Joel Brooks:Some stirring of the air or quick movement or squirrel or bur brought me back to myself. And just at that instant, I knew that the self I had been brought back to was some fine day going to be as dead as Miriam. Through grace alone, I banged right into it. Not a lesson this time, a collision. This is a collision that all of us need to have.
Joel Brooks:We need the word of God to collide with us and open up things in our hearts to think about things we would not normally think about to think about the eternal. And there have been few passages in scripture that have awakened that in me like this one has. Jesus here, he paints a picture of 2 very different men. You've got the rich CEO goes to, you know, Saks Fifth Avenue and picks out the nicest suits. He goes to Highlands bar and grill and he, he dines out at night, drives a nice car.
Joel Brooks:By by all accounts, you will look at this man and you think he is blessed. Then you have Lazarus. He's poor. He hangs out by the end of this man's driveway and, and this rich man passes by him every day without noticing him. In your Bibles where it says that he was he was laid down there.
Joel Brooks:It could be better translated. He was flung. He was discarded there. People did not want anything to do with him. It implies he couldn't stand.
Joel Brooks:Either he was, he was crippled or he was too weak from hunger to even stand. He had sores all over him and dogs would come and lick his sores And he longs for just the crumbs that the the rich man would just kind of wipe off his table. And so you can't have 2 more different people than this. 2 more different lives. And yet the most drastic difference here, there's nothing to do with status, has nothing to do with wealth, is that one of them has a name and one of them doesn't.
Joel Brooks:One was named Lazarus, and the other was just a rich man. And if you think this doesn't have much to do or just a nice little detail in the story, just keep this in mind that in all of Jesus's stories, he never once gives names. Parable of the sower, and the seeds, the shrewd servant, the prodigal son and father, the man giving a feast. All of these stories, he never once gives a name, but here he names this person. This person that everybody else has forgotten, he has not forgotten.
Joel Brooks:This is Lazarus whose name means God is my help. God is my help. Lazarus has a name and all of God's children have a name that will last. That's the point of this story. But the rich man, he doesn't have a name.
Joel Brooks:He's just a rich man. That's his identity. I mean, at the core of who he is, he's nothing more than a wealthy man. He spent his life pursuing riches. When he got the riches, the riches consumed him.
Joel Brooks:When people thought of this man, the first thing they thought of was nice house, nice car, very wealthy guy. That's all there was to him. He probably worked his whole life trying to make a name for himself, but he was denied a name. Now, when I was in seminary, and I've shared this story several times before, but it had such an impact on me. I had a professor who was old as dirt.
Joel Brooks:He was actually friends with CS Lewis. And after class, one time, he looked at me and he just casually said, Joel, who are you? I was like, well, I kind of described what I was doing, how I came to Birmingham, and all of this stuff. Because I didn't ask you what you did. I asked who you were, and you just stared at me.
Joel Brooks:I didn't know how to respond. Who, who am I? Who am I? That's what Jesus is asking here. He's asking, who are you?
Joel Brooks:What's your identity? Do you have a name? Are you nothing more than a rich man? Nothing more than the funny guy? Nothing more than the smart guy?
Joel Brooks:Nothing more than the person who who helps the poor? Do you actually have an identity on Christ? What in your life determines your worth? For Lazarus, it was being in need of God. God is my help.
Joel Brooks:His life was built on grace. Do you have a name? And this is huge because you take your identity with you after death. You don't all of a sudden get a new identity, you take it with you. Both Lazarus and the rich man die and they both bring their identity with them.
Joel Brooks:The rich man still sees himself as a superior rich man, even though he's in hell. Just look at how he treats Lazarus. Get Lazarus to get me some water. Go send Lazarus on an errand to my brothers. He's still this proud, arrogant, rich man.
Joel Brooks:He thinks Lazarus is beneath him. Now as Christians, we have been given the Spirit of God, And I would say, more than anything else, the Spirit of God has been given to us to give us our identity, that we might cry, Abba, Father. More than anything else, More than being a husband, more than being a father, or a pastor, I am a child of God. That is who I am. Now in order to help us understand our our name and to understand our worth even more, we're gonna have to take a closer look at what this passage passage teaches about hell and heaven.
Joel Brooks:What it teaches about the, what awaits this person without a name. What are the characteristics about hell? Is it just full of people who realize the truth too late and they're saying, let me out, let me out. And guys are going, no. Down you go.
Joel Brooks:The doctrine of hell is one of the biggest stumbling blocks of the world. They point in their life, that's why I'm not a Christian. That's why I don't believe in your God, because I cannot believe in a angry God who just throws people into hell against their will. Let's look at what scripture says. Read with me in verse 23.
Joel Brooks:Says, and in Hades being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame. The rich man, he's in torment, but he can see Lazarus in the distance and Lazarus is being embraced by Abraham. And so he calls Abraham for help and notice that he calls Abraham father. He still considers himself a pretty religious man.
Joel Brooks:He still thinks of himself as entitled. He's a child of God. Father Abraham. He's deceived and his deception doesn't stop there. This man is being tortured in hell, yet he still thinks of himself as superior to Lazarus.
Joel Brooks:He still thinks he could boss Lazarus around. Bring me some water. Go warn my brothers. Notice, though he does call Lazarus by name, I can't help but think, you know, probably in their previous life, Lazarus was nothing more than landscape. Just kind of blended in.
Joel Brooks:But here, even the rich man knows his name. The tables are reversed. The rich man, he doesn't understand this though, and he doesn't think, certainly doesn't think he deserves the torture he is in. He thinks he's there unjustly. And we can see this in the following verses when he asked Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead, raise Lazarus from the dead so he can go to my brothers and warn them.
Joel Brooks:And Abraham says, well, they have Moses and the prophets, so they don't need somebody from the dead to go back to them. And then the rich man says, I hear you, but Abraham, you're wrong. They will listen. You're wrong. This is amazing.
Joel Brooks:The guy is in hell and he's correcting father Abraham. And what he's implying is, he's like, you're wrong, Abraham, because it wasn't enough to save me. I I mean, I had the scriptures. I read the Bibles. I went to church.
Joel Brooks:I heard the sermons, and it didn't save me. They need something more. I'm in here unjustly. And so he pleads to send back somebody from the dead. He's still making excuses.
Joel Brooks:He is still blaming others. He still doesn't believe it's his fault that he is in hell. This is what you would see in scriptures. The gnashing of teeth, that gnashing of teeth used to describe people in hell. It's this bitterness.
Joel Brooks:It's this blame that is always spewing out at others. It's not my fault. You're to blame. But of course, Abraham is right. I find it ironic that later in Jesus's life, He actually raises somebody from the dead named Lazarus.
Joel Brooks:And and and one of the most spectacular resurrections, Lazarus was dead for 4 days, and Jesus commands him to come out of the tomb and he comes out. And this is, this is a reaction in John chapter 12. It says, when the large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was there, They came not only on account of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priest made plans to put Lazarus to death as well. Because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and believing Jesus.
Joel Brooks:I mean, do you know how absurd that is? Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. He's walking around. If if anything, people should now be bowing. Everybody should be flocking to Jesus, bowing down, but the chief priests look at it and say, alright.
Joel Brooks:This is what we gotta do. We gotta kill Lazarus. Signs and wonders don't bring people to the Lord. Even somebody who's raised from the dead. This testifies to the power of scripture here because Jesus is saying a scripture is so powerful, so authoritative that it is even greater than the most miraculous sign.
Joel Brooks:And this is why what we are doing here is so important. Reading and expounding his word because this is where the power of God goes forth. This is where life transformation takes place. Now one of the most striking things about this passage to me is what the rich man does not say. He does not ask for forgiveness.
Joel Brooks:He does not ask to get out. He does not ask to be where Abraham and Lazarus are. Instead, he wants Lazarus to come to him. He doesn't even ask Abraham if he can go and warn his brothers. He doesn't want to leave.
Joel Brooks:Send Lazarus. Lazarus isn't doing anything of any worth. Send him. I want to stay here. I mean, he doesn't want to leave hell.
Joel Brooks:I mean, he's in pain. He's in terrible, horrendous pain. But what you're seeing here is the pain of an addict who just cannot give it up. You know, that he actually shows all the signs of addiction. He's living in denial.
Joel Brooks:He's refusing to change. He's blaming others for his condition. He's angry at everyone. He's living an isolated life. Perhaps you have known some addicts, maybe some alcoholics who, they hate what they're doing, but you say, Hey, stop drinking.
Joel Brooks:They're like, never. Is it bringing happiness? No. They hate themselves. They hate you.
Joel Brooks:They blame everybody else for being against them. They want relief. They want, maybe, for a little bit that pain to go away, but instead of leaving their alcohol, they just think relief will come in another bottle. This is the beginning of what I believe is a biblical understanding of hell. Just the beginning.
Joel Brooks:Romans chapter 1 says that when people exchange the glory of God for a lie, it says God gave them over to their lusts. He handed them over to their lusts. And this handing over was their punishment. The the basically, people, they're in their sin, and they told god, I don't care what you want. I want to follow the lust of my own heart.
Joel Brooks:And so god says, okay. You don't want me? You don't have to have me. Go to it. Go sin all you want.
Joel Brooks:And that's actually their punishment because they will begin spiraling down and down and down, reaping the consequences of their sin. And when this grows forever and ever, all for eternity, This becomes hell. For those of you object to a doctrine of hell, hear these words from CS Lewis. It's in his book, The Problem of Pain, and it's one of his most quoted paragraphs. He says, in the long run, objectors to this doctrine of hell must answer this question.
Joel Brooks:What are you asking god to do? To wipe out their past sins and at all costs, give them a fresh start, offering every miraculous help. But he has done so on the life and death of Jesus. To forgive them, they will not be forgiven. To leave them alone, alas, that is exactly what he does.
Joel Brooks:All who are in hell choose to be there. In another book called The Great Divorce, CS Lewis says there are only 2 kinds of people in the end. Those who say to God, thy will be done, and those to whom God says, thy will be done. All that are in hell, choose it. God does not force anyone there.
Joel Brooks:If He did, it would not be hell. We actually saw a little bit of this last year when we went through Exodus. Pharaoh reminds me of this rich man here. You know, pharaoh had a chance to repent. He had a chance to invite God's presence into his life, but he refused.
Joel Brooks:So plagues came, punishment, wrath came, and in many ways you can see the wrath of God being nothing more than the removal of His presence. The removal of His, His presence that was holding everything together, keeping order, and now it was nothing but chaos. Now it was nothing but darkness. And it was horrible. Pharaoh wanted out.
Joel Brooks:Actually, he wanted it that he wanted everything to end, but he still didn't want God. He would never repent. He was in denial. He still treated Moses as if Moses was a servant. He was an ever increasing agony and yet he never ever, ever sought the change.
Joel Brooks:It was Moses and God's fault for what was happening, not his. We see that here in this rich man who has chosen hell. Now, he is in terrible agony. Agony or, it's basically it's in there 4 times or torment. He doesn't wish to get out, though.
Joel Brooks:His condition's only going to get worse and worse for all of eternity. He thinks he's thirsty now. That is nothing compared to a 100 years from now. Nothing compared to a 1000. Nothing compared to a millennium or 2 millennium or 3 millennium from now.
Joel Brooks:He's going to forever disintegrate. He will forever lash out at others. He will forever blame others. He will keep isolating himself. He's going to spew blame and venom in everybody, and he will remove this life giving presence from God, the life giving presence of God from his life.
Joel Brooks:And this is hell. You need to you need to see, and let me be crystal clear here, that more than anything, hell is eternal separation from God more than anything. I've been asked a lot over the years about my view of Hell. Do I believe in, you know, literal flames, a real fiery hell? I usually respond that, I believe the same as John Calvin or many of the church fathers in that it's a physical metaphor, the fire.
Joel Brooks:And usually people are like, whew, like what? It's a metaphor for something that's actually a lot worse, much worse. The metaphor can barely do it. Justice cannot do it justice. Being removed from the presence of God is worse than any flame.
Joel Brooks:And for me, fire is no more necessary that for my view of hell than streets of gold are necessary for my view of heaven. Both are defined by whether god is there or god is not there. Don't give me a a a heaven in which I can have mansions. I can have I can walk on streets of gold and I can see, you know, a glassy sea and I could I could have all of that without God. That is not heaven.
Joel Brooks:That's hell. And it's important that you understand this because if you, you got to understand this, understand the cross. If you focus so much on just the, the, the physical torment of Jesus on the cross. Like you would focus on, you know, maybe the physical aspects of hell, which there will be. But if that's your focus, you're going to think that Jesus died on a cross so I wouldn't have to die on a cross.
Joel Brooks:He paid a physical price, so I wouldn't have to pay a physical price, but that's not it. Jesus didn't die on the cross so you wouldn't have to die. He died on a cross so you wouldn't have to go to hell, meaning he experienced hell so you wouldn't have to experience hell. He experienced separation from his father. And I know we glanced at this a few weeks ago when we came to Luke 12, but we we gotta look back.
Joel Brooks:Go back again to Luke 12 verse 49. This is Jesus speaking. I came to cast fire on the earth. And wood that it was already kindled, I have a baptism to be baptized with. And how great is my distress until it is accomplished.
Joel Brooks:Jesus is referring to His death when He says that He came to cast fire down onto the earth. Verse 50 makes us crystal clear. Death is his baptism. And so you see, the cross is where he received the judgment fire of God. The cross is where he received this hell fire and notice it says he is distressed until it is accomplished.
Joel Brooks:We just sang about that. Do those words sound familiar to you? It is accomplished. It's what Jesus screamed from the cross after he endured, endured wave after wave of judgment fire coming. And finally, when it was finished, she said, it is finished.
Joel Brooks:It is accomplished. How distressed he is until that happens. So at the cross, Jesus is experiencing hell. So when we confess in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus descended into hell, we are not saying that after Jesus died, He then went into hell. That's not what we're saying.
Joel Brooks:We're saying that on the cross, he descended into hell. The church fathers understood this. We know he didn't die and then go to hell because he tells the thief next to him on the cross. He said, today you'll be me in paradise. Jesus died.
Joel Brooks:He's in paradise. Father, in your hands, I commit my spirit. He's in paradise. But on the cross, he is descending into a place he had never known. He is feeling the absence of his father's life giving presence.
Joel Brooks:He's experiencing this disintegration of his identity. His name is being ripped from him. He no longer feels that closeness of a father and a son. Instead he's saying, my God, why have you left me? All I feel is absence.
Joel Brooks:He even cries out, I thirst. Just like the rich man. I thirst. Now, this doctrine of hell, and I'll close here, this doctrine is actually good news for us. Should be good news for us.
Joel Brooks:1, it should give us an incredible appreciation for what we are about to partake in. We should look at the cross in a different light when we realize the agony of Jesus. But it's good news to us because it gives us our identity. It gives us that name because Jesus went through hell to have us. That's our worth.
Joel Brooks:He went through separation so that we might have closeness. He was thrown out so that we might be embraced. So I hope you see how much you are worth to Jesus. I hope you begin to realize the price that Jesus paid on the cross in order to give you a name that will last for all of eternity. And let me tell you, when that hits you, that is a rock on which you can stand, in which no matter what the world throws your way, your identity is fixed in light of such love.
Joel Brooks:Pray with me. Our Lord Jesus, you endured hell for us. You didn't just suffer pain. It wasn't just nails through your hands or your feet that didn't lead you to cry, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? You felt separate, separated from your father, from life giving joy and presence that you had only known for all of eternity.
Joel Brooks:We cannot begin to understand the horror that was there when that left. But through the power of your spirit, help us. Help us to understand. As we partake in this meal, help us to understand. As we see the body represented in this bread, broken, help us to understand.
Joel Brooks:And we as we see the wine being poured out in a cup representing your blood, help us to understand. May the cross always be central to our lives. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
