Many men along the trail would discover that a man unafraid of death is the most dangerous man alive.”
–Bobby Underwood (The Wild Country)
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
–Romans 6:11 (NKJV)
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Over the past few years in my studies, I have come to notice the value of small words and phrases. For instance, look at all the times “in Christ” is mentioned and what it means. There is one term that comes immediately to my mind, that term is “all.” Just meditate a bit on this phrase from Psalm 33:4, “…all His work is done in faithfulness” (NASB) We normally would focus on the “faithfulness,” and rightly so, but notice the “all.” God is always faithful, and “all” His work, His keeping His promises, His caring for His children, His blessings–all comes from His faithfulness.
I want to point your attention to the Book of Philippians, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.” (1:12, NKJV) This term, “furtherance,” is actually a military term. It indicates the pioneer or first advance, and refers to the army engineers who go before the troops to open the way into new territory. They are to cut the path, to clear barriers that would hinder progress. Paul’s imprisonment opened up the way into new territory for the Gospel; barriers are being cut away.
Here, Paul is in prison and he declares the Gospel is being furthered. See, he was practicing what he wrote in 2 Timothy 2:9, “for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains, but the word of God is not chained.” (NKJV) What we see is that Paul actually found a new avenue of ministry. He says that his “chains are in Christ.” Ironically, it appeared Paul was the captive, but he, in Christ, turned it around for it was the guards who were chained to him who were his captives. Imagine spending six hours a day chained to a fanatic of Jesus. I wonder how many of the guards went away humming the tune that Paul would be singing throughout the day? As David Guzik writes, “He didn’t need everything to be easy and set in order to be fruitful.” Can you not hear Paul, sitting with his guard, tapping his foot, singing, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, down in my heart…”?
Nothing comes our way that God is not aware of and in which the hand of God is not involved. It is the way of God to work by contraries, to turn the greatest evil into the greatest good (Burroughs). There are many examples in the Bible of this concept. Joseph and Samson come to mind, but also there are these: He brings life out of death, He brings joy out of sorrow, and makes use of sin to work grace. Jeremiah Burroughs said, “It is not to overcome the evil, but to make the evil work toward the good.”
As we move into the Easter season, think of the cross and the death of Jesus. Satan thought he had won. Evil looked to be the victor and I imagine the emissaries of evil were doing a victory dance. Then the earth shook, the stone moved…and they began to tremble. The Savior rose, holding the keys to hell, death, and the grave. Jesus did not try to do away with evil, He used evil to bring forth victory over the grave; to bring salvation to anyone who would accept His sacrifice. Because of the use of evil, we now can be “in Christ” and walk “in Him” throughout the journey of life.