Peter Sammons reflects on a recent survey, third in this series.
# 3/5 – Do you think the King would give up his life for you?
Background to the Wolverhampton Surveys
If you’ve been following this series you will know a little of the background by now. In brief: it was TFM’s privilege to serve five churches in Wolverhampton during May 2023, two independent churches (International Life Centre, and Hope City Church) and three in the Anglican benefice of Bushbury. Approximately ten minutes driving time apart, these churches are ‘local’, but not on each other’s doorstep.
During the TFM mission we used two surveys. The first was a one-off, recognizing that the Wolverhampton mission coincided with the Coronation event. As this seemed a God-sent opportunity, we grasped it gratefully! Here is the “Crowning the King” survey with its questions in full:
https://tfm.uk.endis.com/Publisher/File.aspx?ID=327542
Whilst the questions might appear to be focused on King Charles III, there was an easily recognizable sub-text, as they provided an opportunity to think about The King of Kings. The TFM survey seemed to be well received, overall, and was certainly thought-provoking. It made for friendly and non-stressed person-to-person encounter, irrespective of peoples’ personal feelings about Monarchy in the UK. In this short reflection we focus on the third question – Do you think the King would give up his life for you?
A King born to die …..
This was the first question that really surprised the residents of Bushbury, and caused them to think. Some ‘got’ the idea behind it, that members of the modern Royal family can be argued to have surrendered their lives for their National task, and of course there is a grain of truth in that. There are genuine ‘costs’ to being a Royal, after all. Here is the specific question and the associated percentage responses:
| 3. Do you think the King would give up his life for you? | |||
| k | No | 63 | |
| l | Yes | 10 | |
| m | Only if he knew / liked me | 2 | |
| n | Maybe he already has (?) | 6 | |
| o | Note sure | 16 | |
| p | something else …. | 3 | |
The subtext behind this question is to help us consider another King Who really has died for His people. Normally Kings expect their people to be willing to die for them. But with King Jesus it is precisely reversed. Not only was Jesus willing to die for us, He actually did so. These two short articles help to make the point:
https://ourdailybread.org/products-fgsl/born-to-die/
https://covenantlifetampa.org/2017/12/1-timothy-115-jesus-was-born-to-die/
63% in Bushbury Parish
A considerable majority, no doubt thinking of Charles Windsor – King Charles III – reckon he would not be willing to give up his life for his people. Some respondents thought for a minute about this, but then almost reluctantly came to the conclusion he would not be prepared to die. A few (only 6%) recognized that in one sense Charles has already given his life for the citizens of Britain. Do we recognize Jesus as the King Who gave up His life for His people?
Why did Jesus have to die?
If people want to unpack this fully, here’s a great place to start:
https://bibleproject.com/articles/why-did-jesus-have-to-die-a-question-worth-unpacking/
At it’s most straightforward, it works something like this: our rebellions against God (sins) cannot go unpunished. If God was to allow sin to prevail, either He would be ‘bad’, or even worse, He would not truly be God at all. Yet in reality God is righteous, holy, merciful and loving – and in that order (I suggest, reverently). His righteousness and holiness demand a final reckoning with sin; His mercy and ‘loving’ nature means that He will find a righteous and holy way to resolve Mankind’s deepest problem. We cannot pay our own debts for sins. Either we go to Hell or someone pays our debts for us. Jesus willingly gave Himself in substitution for us (for you and for me). He paid the price of our sins.
But we have something to do in return. We must own-up to being sinners (that is, rebels against God), and must ‘repent of’ (or more literally turn-away from) our sins and instead turn towards Jesus our Saviour. At this point we really must allow the Bible to speak its own words on this:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:1-11 (NIV))
This may not be easy to understand, and in at least one sense it is pretty much impossible for mere humans to fully comprehend this, yet we have to accept it (or bluntly to reject it) as God has given it to us. We will allow the magisterial book of Romans conclude this brief thought for us:
………., the message concerning faith we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10: 8-13).
Wow! Praise God indeed. I can use that Salvation. I certainly need it. I have not earned it, but I accept it as a gift from God. I turn towards Jesus, and I trust Him. What about you?
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Look out for our next article which will consider how people responded to the second question – ‘if you could be a part of a real royal family, would you be interested?’ We hope this will come out next week via the TFM prayermail.
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Through Faith Missions (TFM) is an evangelism charity that aims to bring the good news of Jesus to people across the UK – and beyond. Volunteer missioners are mobilized for short term mission, and regularly see profound answers to prayers. Here is a link to TFM: https://tfm.uk.endis.com/
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If you are excited by the possibilities above, please visit the TFM website where there are some great links to other gospel materials that make these things easy to understand. As the Bible says “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). Why not seek Him? He’s waiting for you, too!
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