Have you ever seen a set of hideous sideburns? I have. I've been a fan of the "king", Elvis, but with the older (and larger) he got, the more ridiculous I thought those sideburns looked. If anyone made them cool it was James Dean, Arthur Fonzarelli, or to today's generation the comic book character "Wolverine". But one thing we know for sure is that the name sake for the term 'sideburns', Civil War General Ambrose Burnsides, made a mockery of the male human face with the fuzzy architecture he carried about with him connecting his mustache with his hairline. Call them what you like, but those things could have been home to six breeding pairs of English Sparrows!
Not that it is any consolation, but Burnside's leadership was at times equally as poor as his choice of facial hair in the eyes of most historians. Starting off his military career with victorious campaigns in North Carolina and East Tennessee, he ended his career with disastrous defeats in Fredericksburg and the Battle of Crater. Later on Burnside better served his country in numerous elected offices, perhaps most notably as a Senator representing the good people of the State Rhode Island. But before he moved on to public service, he retired from military service best known for his actions in a portion of the famous battle of Antietam, at a place now and forever more known as "Burnside's Bridge".
In war, the question posed in the title of this devotional is a question that must be answered daily. As a former infantry soldier myself, I know that from time to time this price must be paid in human blood. Sacrifices must be made in order to gain or retain many God given freedoms. Some will argue this point of view and today's look into this topic (as you shall see shortly) is not meant to delve into that arena and so we will not spent much time there. I recently heard a 1996 sermon by none other than Jon Courson where he so aptly repeated, "Sacrifice releases much reward. Great sacrifice releases GREAT reward", and how true that is. But the bottom line is that sometimes loss of life is required in order that some be saved. This is as necessary to secure a human future free of the entrapments of physical slavery, as it is to secure a spiritual future free from the bondage to sin.
In our church yesterday, we started going through the book of Exodus. As an introduction it was easy to draw parallels between the Hebrews and their plight to escape the slavery of man, and the God designed picture of the same troubles man has in needing to escape the snare of a slavery to sin. I used other parallels in the life of David, the nation of Israel as a whole, and others to help focus the point. While the nation of the Hebrews, there referred to as the 'sons of Abraham' were no doubt enslaved by the Egyptian King who did not know Joseph. But God's point was that their slavery was far deeper than just the physical.
Paul put it best in Romans chapter 6: "4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin."
By Paul's point in human history the comparison, the 'picture' if you will was not no longer needed. In Moses time as God raised him up to be their deliverer from the bondage of slavery, the symbolism of the true coming Savior was needed. The Hebrews needed the symbolism of the death of the innocent lamb. They needed the symbolism of the doorframe and lintels baptized in the blood of that lamb. They needed the symbolism of the eating of the bitter herbs. They needed the symbolism of leaving their old home, and to leave for their new home with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and what they could carry in their arms. But now we no longer need the symbolism, as we now have the example in Christ.
Having given our lives over to Jesus to be our Lord and savior, bringing His gift of the Holy Spirit into our own hearts to lead us, it is easy to see that we need a Savior. It is time that we let Jesus be our Lord. The old man is dead and buried, and we must leave him there. It we are with Jesus in the death of our sin, we are with Jesus in the life of our spirit, and therefore this life needs to reflect the source. Dying to one's self is important. Dying to one's self so that Christ might live in me is the justifiable loss of life required so that we might live. The loss of our life is not only justifiable, it is necessary that the new man, renewed in Christ might live. Letting the old man die, is the just price to be paid for life eternal.
No one said this would be easy. Jesus prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane proved that. Even for Jesus, He had to commit to sacrificial and costly prayer sapping the energy out of him, and draining Him physically and spiritually to align His will with that of the Father in Heaven. We must be willing to do the same. Dying to self, and making sure that the old man stays dead sometimes requires hard work, and dancing on the grave of things of the past in the joy of our future. When it seems too hard, we must remember the sacrifice paid. Romans 5:6 tells us, "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." A sacrifice was made for us, it is high time we sacrifice for Him. The only sacrifice we can give to God that will have any affect is to make ourselves a living sacrifice; Holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service.
This type of sacrifice may not be the same as those paid men under command of Generals like Burnside. But if we, through patriotism, honor and duty are willing to do so for our nation created by God, why not for God Himself?
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