The Slaughtered Lamb

One of the key elements of any good story is a conflict. Without a conflict it usually lacks intrigue, which would probably mean that you’re not interested in whatever drama you’re reading, watching, or participating in. People are drawn to conflict.

A good writer has to define the conflict well enough where the reader can either sympathize, empathize, or at least recognize that there is a conflict. Conflict is simply a disagreement Or a clash of two forces or ideas.

Although we probably hope our life isn’t filled with conflict, we do tend to remember the times of conflict better than the times of nothingness. There are many people, and you may be one of them, that talk about the hard days of yesteryear when you were poor, or when you were in a war, or stuck in a bad lifestyle. Most of us have some odd attraction to our conflicts in our past. Some don’t look at them favorably and are unable to talk about them much because of the pain that the conflict caused. However, even by avoiding talking about the conflicts would seem to be an indicator of their impacts on life.

There is one conflict that all of us have to come to realize, the conflict of sin. Paul said in Romans 7:18- 20, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” That’s the conflict: my lusts or God’s will.

It’s within that conflict of our two natures where we begin to understand the power in the cross. Jesus willing sacrifice opened up the solution to our conflict of sin. Jesus said to the apostles, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Or as Paul says in Romans 8:5-8, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

There is a scene mentioned in Revelations 5:2-10 of a serious conflict in the heavenly courts where an important book couldn’t be opened. “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” the elders around the throne asked. Now, I’m not sure how much of this scene John really understood, but when he realized that no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth could open this locked up, spirit-filled book, he began to weep greatly. But one of the elders sitting around the throne understood where the solution was found. He said, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

The problem was that whatever was in that book would be sealed up forever unless it was opened. Jesus took the book out of their hand and had the power to open its seals. Why was that so important? Jesus eludes to why that was important in John 12:45-48, “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day…”

Every word Jesus spoke testified about God, His plan, His love, or the Judgment to come. The more we understand His words, the better we’ll see how the conflict of sin is solved. For this reason we should recognize how important God’s word is to salvation. 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Sometimes I read a book that I don’t like how it ends. To some, Jesus didn’t seem to be the solution to their conflicts, and they said in John 6:60, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” Many abandoned Him that day. But Jesus then went on to reveal the power in God’s words (John 6:63), “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

Thankfully, the story of life that the Bread of Life revealed to us made the solution to the conflict clear to those who wanted to hear it. Just as the apostles responded to Jesus when asked if they were going to abandon Him too, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.”

Do you see God’s words as the solution to your conflicts? Please consider the words of God as more than a book. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The Bible is no small book that you hold in your hands. The heavens declare the power in the word of God; they recognize the value of those spiritual words that shape our lives and give us insight for the decisions ahead. Ephesians 5:15-18, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”