“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. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.”

-Paul, to The Church in Rome

Suicide.

That is the full title of this blog post. “The Beautiful Suicide”. But I am certain that the algorithms of The Web would have a great deal of an issue with that. Evidently, “suicide” is a trigger. A red flag that can get one silenced. I understand. It is a sensitive subject that many do not understand or want to discuss. Believe me. I was once there in my youth.

How can Suicide be beautiful? It is an oxymoron. Devastation takes hold of the heart that happens upon a lifeless body. Leaving a hollow void in the lives of the left behind. Many ask if there were signs. If they missed the clues. If it is their fault for not paying attention when the evidence was right before their eyes. It is an exit from this world by a broken soul that can no longer handle The Storm. Depression. Hopelessness. Despair. All whisper the sweet nothings into the ears of the distraught. “Do it!” they say. “Because you are worthless. It will never be better. Do yourself and the others a favor and sleep forever! Only then will you be free.” 

No. But I speak of a different Suicide. Not the physical death that we have become accustomed to. Not the death that brings shame into the shadow cast by The Darkness. I speak of the self inflicted spiritual death of Christianity. The shedding of The Old Man to birth The New. The choice of The Christian to let go of his old ways, of Sin and Darkness, and to pursue Holiness and Righteousness. To be The Light. To glorify God by showing The World that this death was given at The Cross, and Salvation was granted at The Resurrection of Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb that atoned for our sins. The Love of God on display under the veil of Grace and Mercy. Is this not beautiful?

We have heard many times from The Unregenerate and The Unredeemed, from The Heathen, The Pagan, The Atheist, and The Agnostic (they are all the same) that Christianity is one of many religions. And if there is a God, then those religions should collectively lead to Him. We have heard them say that these religions are for the uninspired and uneducated. For the paranoid and superstitious that are devoid of reality and science. That Man created them as a crutch for a reality that he cannot cope with. That these religions were created by The Elites in the dark shadows thousands of years ago in order to manipulate Man with Fear. To steer his destiny into the path that they see fit for their own gain. Could they be correct? Or is there more?

We have also heard from The Christian that Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship. It is a change that begins from within, as opposed to trying to fit the pieces together from the outside. Could they be correct? Or is there more?

“…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

-Paul, to The Church in Galatia

What sets Christianity apart from the other religions is something that the human mind cannot comprehend or even create. The religions of the world follow a list of rules. Of “dos” and “don’ts”. To dress this certain way. To not dress that way. To eat this certain food. To not eat that food. To pray this way. To pray at this time of day. To pray in this direction. To obey or else. Because it is human nature in all aspects of life that if you follow the rules, then you will do well. Whether it would be the laws of the streets, or in the place of employment. Because the view of the world religions, in their view of their interpretation of God is that He is merciless and vengeful. That He sits upon His throne, ready to spear Man with a lightning bolt for his disobedience. Serious is the offense. So much so that some have been known to disown their own families for straying, as well as coming to The Cross. Some have been known to violently punish their own flesh and blood for veering, or for offending their god with the Name of Jesus. Because Fear is the guide to those that live under such a god. Obedience will be the shelter that keeps judgment from raining down upon the head. Christianity, however, is rooted in the sacrificial system of The Old Testament and the nation of Israel. That, in order to be made right with God, an animal must die in our stead. And we have the faith that its death did atone for our sins. Christianity exists because Christ died in our stead. The only work that we have to “do” is to understand that our sinful nature cannot be justified by our own works, and acknowledge that Christ’s death atoned for Sin. That He was and is the final sacrifice. And we acknowledge that His resurrection proves that He is not just God who has power over Death, but that it is symbolic of our new life as Salvation casts our old sinful selves away from us as far as the east is from the west.

Imagine that! All religions acknowledge the corruption of Man. But many say that you must bend yourself to be good by conforming to Laws and Prophets. Then, only by crossing every t and dotting every i, you will be accepted into Heaven. Christianity knows that the corruption of Man is far greater than his own nature can perfect, and therefore his acceptance into Heaven is simply to fall before and rely upon Jesus Christ. Yet, Christianity goes beyond Heaven. In many religions Man’s relationship is with his book of rules. However, our relationship is with Christ. We come to Him as a friend and brother. To God not as a subordinate, but as a child. Only in Christianity is there a Holy Spirit given to us upon our Salvation. The Spirit that opens our eyes to Christ and Who He Is, what He said, and how we should live in accordance to keep Him from destroying us. No! In accordance with us glorifying Him that we may give a testimony to His Saving Grace. That we may spread The Gospel. One path the goal is appeasement. The other it is glorification.

“… who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”

-The Apostle Peter

The others use their book of rules to control others. Their own flesh and blood. To instill a constant state of Fear. “Let us not invoke the wrath of our earthly father!” they say. “Let us not cross the law of our religion and our land, lest we be punished or die!” they cry out. It is so easy to conform to righteousness when you strive to survive the book of rules under the shadows of a merciless and ungracious god, is it not? It is so easy to create a religion based on something that is so tangible as a list of what to do and not to do, is it not? Unless human nature is stronger than they. And The Unregenerate mocks the religious that fall upon their man made crutches that help them survive Life, all the while they get high and drink away their sorrows. I guess we all have a man made god within, do we not?

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

-Paul, to The Church in Ephesus

This is what sets Christianity apart from other religions and proves that it is the only Way to God. It is only natural for Man to create a book of rules that he may follow to prove that he is worthy. That he can end his day under the setting sun knowing, after he has checked all the boxes, that he is good. Because it is tangible. It is proof before his eyes that salvation is his. And his works are his savior. In other words, he saves himself. In Christianity, a Man chose to die that all we need to do to be saved is to believe. To have Faith that Jesus Saves. That this Jesus himself had said that He is The Way. The only Way. It would not make sense if all of the other religions only required you to follow rules for salvation, for the sake of being righteous and to enter into rest before the Throne of God, yet Christianity required Christ to choose to hang on Calvary’s tree and give His last breath. Why would Christianity ask The Son of Man to take upon His mantle the Sins of The World, to be crushed and die a criminals death, to be the ultimate sacrifice, that believers may find Salvation, all the while all of the other religions say that the same salvation shall be yours if you do good and follow your “dos”, and stay away from the “dont’s”? Either the only one that does not agree with the rest does not agree because it is set apart as the only true Way, or God is sadistic and has no idea what He is doing.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

-Jesus 

Yet, this is The Beautiful Suicide. That our Christ left His throne to come here with us. To be the reflection of both God and Man. To then choose to humble himself and take on the brunt of Sin’s punishment until he said “It is finished”. To be the final sacrifice. That whosoever believes may be taken by Salvation. And he who chooses to believe, will choose to die to himself in spirit. To stand before his own headstone, reading the words “Here Lies… I”. That he will choose to daily see to it that the old him stays under the dirt, by the power of the promised “Helper”, The Holy Spirit. A continuous dying of the self. All around it is a cycle of choosing to die.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

-Paul, to The Church in Galatia

Let us, Christian, abide in Christ. To walk behind Him. To walk beside Him. To be carried by Him. As we walk through the Valley of The Shadow of Death, may The Shepherd’s rod and staff comfort us. May he be The Foundation when the waves of the tempest beat upon us. These are the only things that exist with true Salvation. These things that can only exist with a relationship with Our Savior. A relationship where we can say “Father… help me!”, as opposed to “Father, do not kill me for what I have done!”. A relationship where we can be a new person, as opposed to the old person that struggles for a false sense of salvation. A relationship where we can look back with pity upon our old corpse as we grow in His Love and Grace.

“…not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit…”

-Paul, from his letter to Titus

There is a difference in hearing “Do not go near the water child or you will drown and die. It will be your own fault”, and hearing “Child, if you sink into the sea I will lend you my hand and pull you up!”. Words spoken by He who walked upon the sea.

Let us move forward then as we walk past the others that strive so hard for salvation by the sweat of their brow. Unlike them, let us die to live. Let us live to die.

Is this not such a beautiful suicide?