SUPERSEDING THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH

My friend Dave works as a commercial pilot for one of the big airlines. As a customer and frequent flyer on commercial flights, I must confess that I am so much more interested in what keeps the plane in the air rather than what pulls it downward. Can you relate to that?

Flying involves basic laws: the law of gravity and the law of flight. The law of flight is really a combination of lift and thrust, overpowering weight and drag. If you’re any student of science, you’ll recognize Newton’s laws and how these four forces interact. For the simplicity of this life talk, we’ll just sum it up as the law of flight.

Dave told me that in his younger days as a pilot he worked for a company that chartered private jets to the foremost businesspeople and premier entertainers. He went on to say something very interesting. The law of flight works the same for people like Oprah Winfrey, Frank Sinatra, and Eric Clapton, as it does for you and me. Very interesting. In fact, when Dave was flying Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, or Celine Dion, Ricky Martin, Pavarotti, Scottie Pippen, Greg Norman, Tom Watson, and a host of others, the plane had to overcome the same downward pull on them as it would on you. Isn’t that strange? These laws show no favoritism.

The only reason you might think it weird is if you bought into the popular lie that famous or successful people live under a different set of universal laws and principles. They don’t. Sure, our culture may treat them differently and put them in a different context as their personal brand gains momentum, but they still are subject to the forces and laws God has put in place.

There are two laws I want to point out to you that matter more than all the rest. One is the law of sin and death, and the other is the law of life in Christ Jesus. To simplify the picture let’s compare them to the natural laws of gravity and flight. Consider the law of sin and death as the gravitational pull downward that we are all born under. The law of flight is the law of life in Christ Jesus, superseding the law of sin and death.

Everyone, whether they believe it or not, is completely subject to these principles. Well, I don’t believe in those laws. You may not believe in the law of gravity, but I can guarantee your disbelief won’t suspend you in space if you jump out of the window on the 10th floor. Probably not a lot of people were mindful of the law of flight and its power in the 1400s, but it didn’t change the fact that it existed. After all, birds worked the principles of lift and thrust with excellence before even Noah walked the earth.

You, not believing something, only means you won’t benefit from that knowledge. Oprah may or may not know how to fly a plane, but the important thing to her is that she realizes she needs help to supersede the law of gravity.

You and I need help to supersede the law of sin and death. Please don’t tell me you don’t believe in the law of sin and death. Take a look around you! Crazy is everywhere. People hurting people. Family members hurting family. Mothers killing their children, fathers killing their sons, couples cheating on each other, kids hating their parents, their home, and their country. We are proof positive that the law of sin and death is in full operation. Humanity looks like we’ve jumped out of the plane without a parachute and we’re screaming as we plummet to sudden impact.

There is another law, thank God! The law of life in Christ Jesus - the law of flight in Christ Jesus. When sin increases Romans 5:20 says that the force of grace increases all the more. You may be in a free fall at this very second, but everything can change if you’ll just exercise the law of faith and belief. Get in Christ Jesus. If you were at 40,000 feet wouldn’t you rather be in the 747 than outside the plane? God’s grace, that lifting force of life in Christ Jesus, is ours to access through faith. Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith ... it is the gift of God.”

Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” You are under a gravitational pull that no person, pop star, athletic superstar, no famous person of any standing can save themself from. We all need a Savior and His Name is Jesus. Only He has reversed the curse by being made a curse for us. So, you can either scream as you fall into a lost eternity, or you can pray asking Jesus for His law of life. Only His victory at the cross gives us wings to fly.

PRAY THE WORD:

Dear Jesus, come into my heart. I am lost without You. I need a Savior or I’m lost forever in my sin and doomed to eternal death. You died on the cross for me and went into the grave for me. You defeated death and hell. God the Father raised You up on the third day, triumphantly to the throne of Heaven. You reign forever Jesus, and You have provided me the right and privilege to be a child of God along with You. The Word of God says I am seated in Heavenly places in You. I believe I am born again and able to soar above the dark places of sin and death in You. Thank You Jesus for Your saving, lifting, and restoring power. To the glory of God ... Amen!

P.S. You prayed that prayer with me and I know that you want to tell somebody. Jesus prayed for a man something like you just did and he came into his right mind. Afterward, Jesus told him to go tell all his family and friends what God had done for him. You do the same. Tell your family what God has done for you. Tell them how the law of flight in Christ Jesus will lift them out of the darkness. God loves you. We love you, and we’re praying for you.