BURIED – Glen Gerhauser

Posted on July 28th, 2010

Making sense of things that don’t seem to make sense

Throughout church history God’s people have often pondered the significance of the cross and the resurrection. Christ’s burial––the middle point between his death and resurrection––has often been skimmed over. Yet I believe it’s worthy of our meditation. Christ’s burial has significance for us today. It can help us understand God’s ways and work in our lives. It can give us prophetic understanding of what he is doing in our churches and ministries. Moreover, it will help us make sense of things that don’t seem to make sense. Paul made it clear that identifying with Christ’s burial was key to the Christian life: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom. 6:4).

In order for a seed to grow it needs to be buried; it has to enter the darkness of the soil. There it experiences the pressures and forces of the ground. Under the earth is a lonely place, a place where you are cut off from the world’s light. The seed seems lost and most people wouldn’t even know it’s there––except the gardener. The sower knows the seed needs to be smothered before it sprouts.

It’s the same with us. Disappointment, loneliness, rejection, criticism and misunderstanding are like dirt. There are times in our lives––especially when God is birthing a new thing through us––that he is burying us like a seed. He hides us in the ground; we become unseen, unknown and forgotten. The fact that God is planting us somewhere is exciting. But losing sight of the light as dirt is thrown on top of us isn’t. The dirt crowds in and overwhelms us. We feel like there is no hope. But if we understand what God is doing, our confidence in him will grow.

The seed’s potential to sprout life is impossible without extreme pressure. Only then is the power within it displayed. And it’s only as we go through the extreme pressure of living like Christ in an often hostile world (and even church) that we learn to rely fully on God’s life within. When Paul was breaking ground in Asia he said, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt the sentence of death” (2 Cor. 1:8-9a). Paul and his team were being planted like seeds in Asia, but the pressure of the dirt around them was crushing them. They despaired of life; they felt a continual sentence of death––even their ministry looked like it was failing. Yet, that was not the end. Paul explains to us why God was allowing it: “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again” (2 Cor. 1:9b-10a).

God wants people to see that it is his resurrection power that produces the fruit, not our talents––or even our goodness. The way of the cross is the only way. Even the best of Christ’s miracles before the cross could not save people from the ultimate power of sin and death. He raised Lazarus from the dead, but Lazarus would still have to face death again (John 11). Only Christ’s death, burial and resurrection was able to save man totally. All of his holy living would have fallen short of saving us without his atoning sacrifice. Through Jesus we see the best man could not save us unless he became like a kernel of wheat and died (John 12:23-24). Jesus “was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25).

If Christ’s death was like the falling of a kernel of wheat, then Christ’s burial was like the seed’s penetration into the ground. Jesus was wrapped in linen cloth and put into a tomb with a sealed stone to keep him locked in (Matt. 27:62-66). Guards watched night and day so that none of his disciples would steal his body. The death was final and even guarded––they wanted him to stay dead. Only the power of God could bring life and set him free. People did all that was in their power to keep him entombed. Not only did God have to raise him from the dead, he had to remove the stone and scare away the guards. The seed was firmly buried and there was no hope of escape. But with God nothing is impossible. The resurrection came, the stone rolled away and angels scattered the guardians of death.

We need to remember that the same power of Christ’s resurrection is available to us who believe (Eph. 1:19-23). So when you are buried in hardship––in the dark night of the soul––look up. Let the life of God within you reach out to the light above. Let your roots go down deep in God, absorbing all the water you can. Let the pressure cause your shell of protection to break so that you cry out to the living God. In times like these, reach out for the Psalms. David and his spiritual sons often reflected on the experience of internal death and God’s power to deliver. Listen in to one of David’s prayer times: “For you have delivered my soul from death, indeed my feet from stumbling, so that I may walk before God in the light of the living” (Psa. 56:13, NASB). When things don’t make sense, let’s remember that God’s way is to bury a seed before it blossoms. If we trust God, his life within us will break out––our fruit will soon nourish the hungry and our leaves will bring healing to many.

Tags: baptism, Christ's burial, criticism, cross, death, dirt, disappointment, loneliness, misunderstanding, pain, pressure, Psalms, rejection, resurrection, seed, sowing, trust
Filed under Articles - General, Christian Living, Contributors Australia, Glen Gerhauser, Identity, Revival, Teaching (General), Walking in the Spirit |

4 Responses to “BURIED – Glen Gerhauser”

Maree Houston Says:
July 28th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Thanks Glen…God’s faithful timing always.
Glen Gerhauser Says:
July 28th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Thanks Maree, it’s a joy to hear from you. Thanks for reading. May God bless you with his grace today.
Carl Porter Says:
July 28th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Thanks Glen. Good stuff. Bless you and the family.
Glen Gerhauser Says:
July 29th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Hi Carl, Good to hear from you. Thanks for reading. How are you doing? What’s new?