Walls? Who needs ’em?
What is the function of a wall?
Pretty easy question, right? The answer would be this: A wall is designed to keep something or someone IN or OUT of a certain area. Right? People want to protect themselves from enemies and such so they build a wall. People want to confine someone to a certain area and so they build a wall.
The Chinese wanted protection against the Mongols. What did they do? Build the Great Wall of China.
Germany wanted to keep people out and even their own people in their country. What did they do? The Berlin Wall was built.
Baseball players at Fenway Park kept hitting homeruns over the left-field fence. The Red Sox wanted to do something to slow down the homerun totals…so what did they do? Build the Green Monster, a huge 37 foot wall in left-field, which makes it almost impossible to hit a homerun.
A society gathers criminals and puts walls around them and a jail is created.
So yes…while the concept that walls are built to keep people IN or OUT may not be groundbreaking, it has a lot to do with Easter Sunday. For Easter is a time to reflect on Walls and the Work of Jesus.
He came to earth both fully God and yet, fully man as well. He left the riches of Heaven and was born in a barn to a teenage mother who was a virgin(Matthew 1:13). He lived in a rural, poor town. He worked carpentry alongside His adopted father till the age of thirty.
At 30, He began a ministry. He healed the sick (Matthew 9:20, among many others). Blind people could see when He touched their eyes (Matthew 9:27). He fed thousands of people with the equivalent of a value-meal (Matthew 14:13). He traveled in poverty, without a place to lay His head at night. He rebuked the “religious” leaders with violence and “Woe to you” statements that ended in exclamation points (Matthew 23).
He never sinned, though He was faced with fierce temptations (Matthew 4:1-11).
He showed mercy to a woman caught in her own sins when everyone else wanted her dead (John 8:1-12). He told scandalous stories about a father loving and welcoming a prodigal son back into his home (Luke 15:11-32).
He said that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life and the only way to the Father was through Him (John 14:6).
He was given a mockery of a trial under the cover of night. No fault could even be found in Him, yet those religious leaders wanted Him gone(John 18:28-38).
He endured unspeakable beatings and lashings. He carried a wooden cross up a hill and was then nailed to it with thick, long nails(John 19).
He took upon Himself every……single…….sin…….in…….the…..history…..of…the….WORLD!
He was beaten further, mocked, and made to suffer the worst death imaginable. He laid down His life as a blood sacrifice for the sins of every person.
He laid down His life.
And
He picked it back up again (John 10:17).
He rose from the dead. He conquered Death.
He showed up all around town. He had a barbeque on the beach with those who had abandoned Him(John 21). He restored those who had denied Him. He fulfilled every single prophecy and He became Hope. Then, He ascended back to Heaven, and promised to one day come back.
So, this Jesus was poor His whole life, never gained extensive material possessions, never wrote any books, never traveled the globe (actually rarely traveling more than a few miles), never commanded a military, never invaded another country, never held political office, never was on TV, never created a clothing line, never had a famous band, never had a Myspace account.
Yet……….
The world stands divided over Him. More books have been written about Him than anyone else, more wars fought over Him, more disagreements, etc. Even the timeline of history is dictated by His life (B.C. and A.D.). He stands alone as the single biggest figure in the history of earth.
So, who do you say that He is? It’s a question that can define your life, your purpose, and the walls in your life. It is a question you have to answer. What do you do with Jesus?Because if you have confessed your sin and yourself as a sinner to Him and have asked Him to forgive you….if you have professed Him as your Savior and your Lord….if you have made Him the Treasure of your heart and the pursuit of your life…..the walls you faced are no more.
There are no walls holding you back from Him and the life He has offered.
Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death.” Meaning, for all of us, if we commit just one sin, there is a wall between us and life. It is a wall that WE built. We laid the bricks and stacked up the partition between ourselves and God. If we commit a sin, we earn death. There is no getting around that wall……..or is there?
The second half of the verse says, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
He broke down that wall and offered us life and life more abundantly. If we confess to Him, believe in Him, make Him Lord in our lives and the Treasure of our hearts…those walls come down. AMEN!
So essentially, we built a wall. We stack it up high with our pride, hate, lust, anger, envy, and idolatry. We stack brick upon brick upon brick. And the wall we built keeps us in prison. The prison we build locks us in, with “death” being the sentence that is handed down. And it is altogether tragic….
But He, and He alone, has the power to break it down. He alone can bust down those walls and get us free. If we take Him as Lord of our life, He grants us life and offers it more abundantly. He offers us a life beyond the walls.
Mark 10:45
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a Ransom for many.”
His Ransom gets us out of the prison we created. AMEN!
The old hymn says this:
“Jesus paid it all!
All to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.”
Some people have that question, though. “Can He forgive ALL that I’ve done, because I’ve done some really awful stuff?”
Isaiah 1: 18 says this:
“ ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’ “
There isn’t a wall that we can build that He cannot break down.
His blood is enough to crush my walls down to nothingness.
His blood is enough to erase your walls like they were never even there.
His blood is enough for Any Wall.
His blood is enough.
His redemption knows no restriction. His love knows no limits. His rescue knows no restraints. His beauty knows no barricade. His hope knows no hedge. His faithfulness knows no fence.
There is no wall He cannot destroy with His Amazing Grace. That is part of why He is so Glorious. That is why we celebrate this week.
For it was during this week, many, many years ago…..He stretched out His arms on a wooden beam, and gasping for one final breath, He said, “It is finished.”
Yes.
Yes, the days of walls holding us back are finished.
Yes, the days of walls keeping us apart from Him are finished.
Phil Wickham is an artist I listen to and on his latest album, he wrote a song that really captures what Easter truly stands for. The song is called “True Love.” Take in the words to this song about the death and resurrection of Jesus. See what it says about Walls and the Work of Jesus. Enjoy!
Come close, listen to the story
About a love more faithful than the morning.
The Father gave His only Son just to save us…..
The Earth was shaking in the dark,
All creation felt the Father’s broken heart.
Tears were filling Heaven’s eyes
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died.
When Blood and Water hit the ground,
Walls we couldn’t move came crashing down
We were freed and made alive
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died.
Search your heart, you know you can’t deny it.
C’mon, lose your heart, just so you can find it.
The Father gave His only Son just save us…..
The Earth was shaking in the dark,
All creation felt the Father’s broken heart.
Tears were filling Heaven’s eyes
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died.
When Blood and Water hit the ground,
Walls we couldn’t move came crashing down
We were freed and made alive
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died.
Now Jesus is alive, Jesus is alive, Jesus is alive, Jesus is alive, Jesus is alive
Oh He is alive, He ROSE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
When Blood and Water hit the ground,
Walls we couldn’t move came CRASHING DOWN
We were freed and made alive
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died.
As always, thanks for reading. I appreciate your reaction.
Walking towards the Light from the cross of a King 
great post man! I love that song from Phil Wickham. I preached a message about falling “truly in love” with Jesus. I love your thoughts. Keep them coming.