The Tree of Death - When Love Became Flesh, Why Did We Kill It?

• When Love became flesh, why did we kill It?

  • John 1:9-11

  • Matthew 21:33-46

• The Depths of Union: The Depths of the Problem

  • Union isn’t just “holding hands”—it is more like an ingestion of food or drink.

  • If sin is “union with Death,” then the problem of sin is way worse than we typically appreciate.

    • We are so consumed by darkness that if light came toward us, we would try to kill it.

    • Why? Because “darkness fears the light.”

• Darkness Fears the Light

  • As kids, I was afraid of the dark—not the light.

  • Yet as I got older, an inversion occurred—where light became a threat.

  • I call this “wake-up call theology” (i.e., someone flipping on the lights to wake you up).

• Conclusion

  • Why did we kill love when it became flesh? Because in Eden, we became one flesh with death.

  • So, we speak the grammar of Death, fear what Death fears, think how Death thinks, fight how Death fights—we live, move, and have our being infused with Death.

  • Why is all of this so important?

    • If we understand how bad the problem is then we may begin to appreciate how

beautiful the solution must be.

Discussion Questions for Video 3:

• What is John purpose in starting his Gospel by emphasizing that creation doesn’t recognize or receive the Lord?

• How do we live in the light if we are unified with darkness?

• What is the vocabulary of the language of Death? What examples can we give of the grammar of Death in our lives?

• How do we become aware of the ways Death has infiltrated our language and actions?

• If you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will immediately jump out. But if you throw a frog into a pot of cold water and slowly increase the temperature until it is boiling, it won’t notice, and it will die. How do our habits sneak up on us?

• How can we help each other to become less sensitive to the light? How can we push each other out of the habits of darkness?

• Shane explained that when you try to separate two things that have become one it deeply impacts everything around them. How can we help others see this in our churches?

• Do you agree with Shane’s perspective on our fear of the light? Why or why not?

• Where are you afraid of the dark?

• Where are you afraid of the light?

• How can we sever this union with Death, so that we can be in union with Christ again?

• What do you think life looks like without union to Death?

• We killed Jesus with our sin and he was the definition of love. So how are we killing others (figuratively) today?

• From an evangelism standpoint, if those who live in the darkness are so accustomed to the dark that they fear the light, how do we bring the light to them?

• Have you ever been in a predicament where you knew there was a solution, but you didn’t actually want to take steps towards the solution because you were so accustomed to how you’ve been living?

• How can we avoid “Christianizing” our sin to keep it out of the light?

• What can we learn about God from studying physical light?