The Greatest April Fools Joke Of All Time

April fools day, the 1^st day of the month of April, is a day where practical jokes are not only expected but encouraged. It is where you try to outwit, mess with, and prank those around you. Of course the best pranks are those that you don't see coming. In order to truly make a fool out of someone, your prank needs portray them as silly, incompetent, or stupid. . . at least that is how we traditionally view it. Some classic April Fools jokes include, but are not limited to, the rubber band on the spray nozzle, a bucket of water above the door, rearranging a room, or saran wrap on the toilet seat.

Yet there is something, or someone, that has made the population of the world over look like an even bigger bunch of fools. The greatest April's fools joke of all time is still offending the proud and overly serious to this day. Besides April Fools, the month of April is also when we celebrate Easter, the death and resurrection of our Lord!

Some of you may be calling me to stop, ‘a joke you say, never! The Gospel is not a joke.’ Although I recognize that we do not want to be irreverent, let me shed light onto the the most scandalous, irrational, unexpected, and surprising scene to ever take place on Earth. All in all, it is one big joke.

1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is write, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For consider your calling brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that they may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, 'Let Him who boasts, boast in the Lord!.”

Wisdom of the World

' Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?

Since the beginning of time, humankind has been obsessed with one thing, living. Our questions, concerns, efforts, struggles, and emotions revolve around living. Think about it, happiness, fulfillment, joy, peace, success, anger, pain, struggles, consequences. . . all these things, the questions that come with them, all have to do with life. How we live, how we live together; we are obsessed with life, and controlled by it.

Take anxiety for instance, is it not fear that life will not go as expected? Isn't it produced out of a desire to control an manipulate our environment? Anxiety stems from living; the futile attempts at managing, controlling, and manipulating our environment and circumstances to achieve a specific result. In scripture we are instructed to be 'anxious about nothing', and to not worry about tomorrow (Philippians 4:6). That seems pretty impossible doesn't it?

Even though freedom is 'supposedly' found in Jesus, those of us who 'believe' in Him keep on at our attempts at living. We hold on tightly to the idea that our lifestyle or circumstances will dictate our happiness, fulfillment, or freedom. I am not saying we shouldn't seek good advice or be obedient to the Lord, but much of the time our Christian culture pursues good living more than the rest of the world. Our sermons revolve around self-help in changing your circumstances, we are excellent at utilizing psychology, philosophy, and sociology to motivate people to change their lives around a moral standard. Victory then, is still thought to come through a certain lifestyle rather than through the cross. In all honesty our self-help programs are not working; our striving attempts at living well have never produced their desired result.

We have had good advice for the last 5000 years, from the philosophers, to theologians, to our very own parents; and where has it gotten us? I would suggest no better off than before. Everyone wants advice, instruction, and guidance, because we selfishly want to dictate how our life is going to play out. We want to 'know', to control'. We shouldn't dismiss advice, or count it completely irrelevant but all of our striving and straining, trying to grasp hold of what we have, actually leaves us empty and only wanting more. If we are honest with ourselves, our attempts at living have only produced anxiety, worry, and depression. Living causes us to fall into comparison, makes us discontent, and produces bitterness, resentment, and insecurity. Living ultimately puts you in the book keeping business, where you keep record of all the wrongs and rights of both yourself and other people.

The Paradox of the Wisdom of God

“Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul (Matthew 16:24-27).”

Jesus takes the wisdom of the world, the idea that our living will ultimately save us, and turns it on its head. Jesus came because our best efforts at living weren't making the cut. Not only that, but He shows us how our deeply rooted desire to control and manage our lives is the very reason why we fail. Then he says that it was not our ability, but our inability to live that mandated His coming; it is our failure, not our success that attracts Him. Even though we are 'hell bent' on dictating our stance with God through living, he says it is our very failure at this attempt that mandated His involvement. In all our attempts at being wise we are ignorant of the fools we have actually become. The joke of the Gospel reveals to us the truth of this foolishness.

The road to victory isn't an upward climb of living, but it begins and finishes when you understand that you are completely bankrupt before God. You have nothing to offer. Struggle, brokenness, suffering, coming face to face with your inability is most of the battle! The reason you are trying to live so well is to hide your inability to do it. Insecurity, anxiety, anger, jealousy, comparison. . . they are all ways for you to hide from yourself! All of our attempts at good living place us into bondage, the gospel sets us free, because it convinces us that we didn't have it in us in the first place.

Come, let us rejoice in our inability, knowing that it is your weakness that is your only redeeming quality! Haha! How crazy! Come to realize that and you will be free. It is this blissful freedom, the detachment from all of your living, that actually positions you to live well. It is actually how true righteousness is produced, not by works but by grace. If you don't know that you are incapable then you will continue on with the shackles of self-help and external motivation slapped tightly around your wrists. Always straining, striving, and learning, but never actually coming to a knowledge of the truth.

"You get worried and worked up about so many things. It's a wonder you don't kill yourself with all the effort it's taking you to hold your life together. Let it go. As long as the most important thing in your life is to keep finding your way, you're going to live in mortal terror of losing it. Once you're willing to be lost, though, you'll be home free. Your lostness is the one thing no one will ever be able to take away from you. The only ticket anybody needs is the one ticket everybody already has." - Robert Capon

The Gospel, the good news of Jesus, allows you to live without pretense, for there is no need to pretend. When you realize that you deserve nothing, are completely incapable, and yet have been given everything, you are set free from you. The Gospel is what sets you free to be able to do this. . . more on that later!

Life out of Death

“For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

“I have come to give you life and life to the full (John 10:10).” Life is still important! Jesus came to bring life, life to the full; but in the greatest April Fools Joke of all time he makes it so that life can only come out of death. How backwards is that! This is the polar opposite to the 'way of the world' and absolutely messes with our minds! We want life to be fulfilling, we want to be happy, but the only thing that will truly produce the freedom to engage in life the way we are supposed to is to lose our lives in Jesus. Detached from the world, yet completely connected to it, that is the life of a Christian.

The Apostle Paul was set free with the revelation of the cross, and he was thrust into living abundantly out of his participation in the death of Jesus. We see Him as a great example of the blissful lifestyle that is only found in Jesus' death and resurrection.

“I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me, the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).” In fact, everyone who is in Christ has crucified the flesh along with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).” “You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:4).” “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations. Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch (referring to things that all perish as they are used) according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh (Colossians 2:23).” “Or do you not know that your life is not your own, you have been purchased at a price, therefore glorify Christ in you body (1 Cor 6:19-20)”

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).” “In fact I claim to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2).” “I have come to know the truth, and the truth has set me free (John 8:32).” “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:8).” “In any and every circumstance, I have learned to be content (Philippians 4:12).” “For my life is but a mist, here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14).” “Therefore I do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough worries of its own (Matthew 6:34).” “In fact I am anxious about nothing, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, I present my requests to God.”

Abundant Life

When you live dead you are able to experience and engage life without being 'owned' by it. You become a passive receiver rather than a active pursuer. That is not to say you don't have purpose or responsibility to step into things God is calling you to, but it does mean you can live without worry or anxiety. How can you enjoy money, food, friends, family, or work when they are the materials that make up the cage that holds you? When you are set free from life you are capable of putting everything in its proper place. You own life rather than life owning you.

Of course we 'adam'antly still think that our happiness will change with our circumstances. Yet the bliss of Jesus rings true even in the most miserable of circumstances. In fact the more miserable it gets the more glorious life becomes! When we live from His death, towards heaven, everything in our lives become an opportunity to experience Him and to be a witness of what life in Christ looks like. Forget our petty 'struggles' of insecurity, our first world problems of 'inconvenience', and all of our self imposed depression that stems from 'entitlement'. Paul and Sila's worshiped in prison, Stephen saw Jesus stand in respect as he was being stoned, Peter and John rejoiced after being put on trial, and Jesus endured the cross for the 'Joy set before Him!'

"Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. . . (James 1:2)"

"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings. . . (Romans 5:3)"

When Paul boasts in his weakness in 2 Corinthians 11, he is not boasting in his insecurity, emotional problems, or his bitterness that other people have it better off than He does. He is boasting in his tribulations for the sake of Christ. The beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, and insults. When he says, 'I die daily' in 1 Corinthians 15:31, he is not talking about putting off selfish desires. He is literally facing the chopping block everyday! In all of the struggle and persecution, life has never been more enjoyable for him.  Paul died with Christ, he was crucified to the the wisdom of the world, and entered into the life of abundance. 

The Gospel: Your Death and Your Liberty

Jesus, God Himself, comes into the world to save those who cannot save themselves. He came into a worldly system where everyone is earnestly trying to live; boost up the morality, look down on the tax collectors, wash your hands, and make sure you don’t tie your sandal on the Sabbath. The world has been submitted to a yoke of slavery, where we try unsuccessfully to liberate ourselves. Keeping tabs on every thought and action, desperately wanting to know who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’, we scramble to make something of the mess we call our lives.

The bond that holds us is the lie itself, the lie that good living will ultimately save us. That makes the truth the key that will set you free. The truth is that Christ died for you while you were still a sinner (Romans 5:8). God gave all judgment to the son whose whole deal is non judgment, He didn't come into the world to judge the world but to save it (John 3:17). He doesn’t hold our transgressions against us (Hebrews 8:12).’

This rattles our brains and causes us all the manner of anguish when we consider our good attempts at living, because we realize that we had nothing to do with it! The Gospel proves that we are incapable of living well, but paradoxically, when we catch onto that revelation good living is actually produced in us! Not from striving but from resting.

On the cross Jesus undermined the system of good living and worked salvation completely set apart from you! He doesn't hold our transgressions against us; He died for the sins of the world and reconciled us to the Father. He proclaims from his mercy seat, “Behold I have overcome the world (John 16:33).” You are in because He died and rose again, it has nothing to do with you or your living, good or bad. In fact it doesn't even have to do with your response, your a response is simply faith that it is true. Your response is not the price tag for forgiveness, but it is simply the acknowledges thereof.

That is why the truth will set you free, it sets you free from keeping tabs, from pretending to be good when you aren't. It sets you free from you, from the way of the world, and brings rest, bliss, and contentment. Those are what give faith flavor. You hear the Gospel, the good news of what Jesus did for you as you, and you say, “Well that’s easy, heck I might as well have been dead for all the good my living did me.”

And there you have it folks, your death. There is your rest, your security, your trust. That is freedom. The revelation of Christ in you, of what He did, is freedom. You are simply set free by the recognition of your salvation.

"Come to a conclusion (Katergozomai) on whether or not you are saved. When you get the facts lined up, you will experience a fear and a trembling self-distrust realizing that it was God who saved (Energeo) you apart from you. That revelation will set you free and will bring you to a place of trust in God who gives you both the desire and ability to carry (Energeo) out His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13)." - New Revised Dan Translation

"And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory (1 Corinthians 2:1-7)." Read the rest later!

What is that secret wisdom? It is the truth that your salvation and relationship with God has nothing to do with your behavior, in fact it has everything to do with your poor behavior! That is why Jesus came for you, because you screwed it up, you botched the job, and made a mess of life. Once you catch the drift, once you are ‘in’ on the joke, once you realize that all of your frightful living has been a joke, and you a fool; you can sit back and laugh your way into heaven.

Now you might be feeling condemned because you realize you don't have faith in Jesus and are living by performance! You are still running on the same hamster wheel of unbelief. Just turn to Jesus and you will see the author and perfecter of you faith, you will see salvation itself.

“But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, 'Let Him who boasts, boast in the Lord!.”

Does Grace Give License to Sin?

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. for the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but he life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ Jesus our lord (Romans 6:1-11).”

Does grace increase where sin increases? Yes it does (Romans 5:20)! In fact if you don't get this question then you aren't preaching the gospel. If it doesn't seem too good to be true then it probably isn't. However look at how Paul responds to this question. . . 'That is stupid talk! How can you understand God's grace and still sin?'. It is a paradox, an impossibility. Grace isn't freedom to sin but freedom from sin. Any other understanding isn't understanding at all. 'Sin?' Paul asks, 'How can you sin? Dead people don't sin.'

Death is so easy it is hard. Hard because of how much we try to live. The Gospel isn't just about Jesus death, but about your death with Him. We say things like, “Believe in Jesus and He will set you free”; but that isn't really true. If you believe in Jesus then you know the truth of who He is and what He has done. That revelation, that 'knowing of the truth', is what sets you free. Christ is freedom embodied.

"But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)?"

Paul was living in this beautiful revelation of being crucified with Christ, but others clearly weren't. They just could not see the truth through all their attempts at living! Sadly this is how most of us are, comparing, performing, filled with envy and strife; we just need to die!

Unfortunately, to motivate people to live dead, the church has made life with God a process of 'dying'. Kill off your old man, reject the physical to gain spiritual benefit, and do everything you can to live in accordance with God's plan for you life. Out of our 'good' intentions for living well, we again miss out on the good news of Jesus. Dying does not produce freedom, it is not life, rather it is the most miserable form of living! The good news is that you are dead not that you have to kill yourself!

“Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ Jesus our Lord.

What About Hell? (Luke 14:16-24)

Now some of you may be asking some questions. If God saves us apart from ourselves, does He save everyone apart from themselves? What about hell? What about our beloved secret knowledge about who is in and out? Scripture clearly communicates that there is hell, but it is shrouded in mystery and is often not portrayed the way we want it to be.

“A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ' I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.' Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.' Another one said, ' I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.' And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lam.' And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.' “If anyone comes to Me, an does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

All these people who were concerned with life and good living, missed out on the party. Remember it was the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal who was so set on good living and book keeping that he couldn't enjoy himself either. All you need to do to enter the party is to participate in the death of Christ. It is your lostness, lastness, and weakness that gives you entrance into the kingdom, nothing more and nothing less. That is good news! It is so easy its a joke.

It is so simple, but many remain firmly fixated on the idea that their living should have some influence on God's decision for them. If you want to insist on having some say in your eternal standing, if you insist on dictating your stance with God through your behavior, keeping tabs on rights and wrongs, then you can go right ahead and pout about the good time everyone is having based on no merit of their own. If you want to do this whole thing through good living, then Jesus will pull out the book at the end and give you exactly what you want. For everyone else He has the book of life, which just has their name, not their good deeds or their bad.

Conclusion

If you are concerned with your right standing with God, then you don’t understand the gospel. The Gospel is all about your inclusion apart from yourself, therefore questioning your salvation means you are still depending on your performance to give you assurance. Shame and condemnation only exist in a pre-faith, un-renewed mind state. “There is now no condemnation for those who are ‘in Christ Jesus(Romans 8:1)’.” 'In Christ Jesus' does not mean your silly attempts at being a Christian. You just understand that he loves you because he loves you, and that you are in because he said so.

The whole basis of being a Christian is that you have faith in Jesus, that you are saved apart from yourself. This is the secret knowledge, the hidden wisdom talked about in scripture. Some of you are still asking the same questions the disciples did, “So then what must I do to be saved? Jesus answered them, ‘Believe in the one that was sent.’

Jesus died for you while you were still a sinner. He died for your sins before you ever sinned. He does not hold your transgressions against you. This grace is what will set you free, not more efforts at gaining victory. You already have victory because it has already been won for you.

"In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37)."

This is an invitation to die, not to kill yourself, but to be set free by the truth of your inability and His ability. Not to go on a process of dying, but to rest in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. You are loved, you are forgiven, you are set free, and it is not your fault! We can rejoice right here right now! We have been given victory, liberated by the blood of the lamb. There is no more separation and we are ministers of this reconciliation; proclaiming that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Engage God, invite the Holy Spirit, live for eternity. After all, your life is not your own, you have been purchased at a price."

"We will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. For we do not love our lives even unto death (Revelation 12:11)."