3 Men I Wish Were Dead
Last week I drafted a hit list. I sat down with a pen and pad, listing out three men I wished were dead. I prepared a plan to begin working to end each of these men and vowed to God, my wife, and my community to work everyday at killing them.
If I may, I would like to share this list with you?
The Adulterer
Deceptively, the adulterer in me is widely praised and affirmed in culture. When I listen to the voices of culture, they rarely understand why I hate the adulterer that lurks in the corners of my heart. They tell me half-truths like, “For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil…” forgetting that, “in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.”
I hear the voice of Christ saying, “you have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Mt. 5:27-28)
2. The Thief
The thief seeks to steal some thing more precious than all the diamonds in the world. The thief in me seeks to steal glory. He knows that there is only one who deserves glory and he thinks that by means of pride, anger, control, and power he can capture this glory. The thief knows God is the only one who deserves glory but “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Rom. 1:22-23)
3. The Liar
From the beginning the liar has doubted the truthfulness and goodness of God’s word. The liar in me lurks around to my affections and whispers, “Did God actually say?” (Gen. 3:1)
The liar views himself as the measure of what is true, good, and beautiful. He breathes out that which is treacherous and rebellious attempting to silence the “breath of God” that is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16)
““Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to Go through Jesus Christ our Lord!””
Scripture is clear that these three men deserve to die. Their just reward is scattered dust in unmarked graves, but as I look at this list I realize that I can’t do the job. I am staring at a three-headed dragon and every time I lop one off, another grows in its place.
I find myself asking, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:24-25)
The reality: You have to die before you can start killing sin. I have to die, before I can start killing these “men” in me.
Only when Christ has put the sin beneath these sins to death in Christ can I begin to seek to put these sins to death. Because Christ has won the war, I can seek these “men” out, fighting the grimy battles struggling with sin because victory has been secured by the work of Christ.