TURKEY VULTURE!

  ‘Turkey Vulture’ by Steve Harvey on Unsplash.
(Reader’s discretion advised)

It is almost Easter, a time when we celebrate the death and resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ! I thought it would be healthy for us to take the time to REALLY THINK ABOUT what it cost our savior to die on the cross for us. It is painful, but I think necessary to really begin to know the Love he has for all of us.   

Turkey vultures are repugnant!  Look at the photo above, ugly.  They eat death.  They like the smell.  Our natural reaction is to shoo them away or shoot? them.  Did you ever meditate on the reason for their existence, why God created them?  They are God’s clean-up crew.  He invented them to protect you from Anthrax, Tularemia, Lyme disease, Typhus, Scabies, Bubonic plague, Botulism, Salmonella, Cholera, etc., the diseases decomposing flesh may contain.                                                                        

None of these diseases bother the Turkey!  Its stomach acid destroys just about everything!  By the way, it can smell carrion (dead things) from a mile away!  Thank God we haven’t the same gift.  And you bald folks, you may have something in common with this bird!  Its head is completely bald so the nasty stuff it eats doesn’t get stuck in its feathers.   God is so clever!

This bird represents one of the most formidable metaphors God has ever created!!!  The smell of death is so powerful and gut wrenching that it certainly should get our attention.  Physical death stinks.  But God created the Turkey Vulture to cleanse our environment of the stink of death and protect us from disease.

Romans 6:23 reminds us that the ‘The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

Sin brings with it, spiritual death.  Figuratively speaking, spiritual DEATH STINKS!  It smells a whole lot worse than rotting flesh, especially when you think about all the misery, death and destruction sin causes. 

Jesus suffered on the cross to cleanse us from ‘the stink’ and consequences of sin and spiritual death.  As the Turkey Vulture swallows up physical death, ‘He, (Jesus)  SWALLOWED UP spiritual death (and sin) forever’ as prophesied by Isaiah: ‘He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:8-9.

Think about the smell of all the sin He took upon Himself!  He took upon Himself, Adultery, Anger, Arrogance, Bitterness, Blasphemy, Boasting, Brutality, A brother going to law against a brother, Carousing, Clamor, Complaining, Conceit, Coveting, Cowardice, Defrauding, Denying Christ, Desiring praise of men, Disobedience to parents, Divisions, Divorce, Drinking parties, Drunkenness, Eating the Bread or drinking the Cup unworthily, Effeminacy, Enmities, Envy, Evil thoughts, False witnessing, Fathers provoking children to wrath, Fearfulness, Filthiness, Foolishness, Foolish talking, Fornication, Greed, Lust, Haters of God, Hatred, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy, Idolatry, Immorality, Impurity, Jealousy, Jesting, Judging, Knowing to do good, but not doing it, Laying up treasures on earth, Living for pleasure, Lovers of self, Loving another person (or pet) more than Jesus, Lusting after a woman, Lying, Malice, Man praying with head covered, Murder, Murmuring, Pride, Quarrels, Reviling, Sensuality, Slander, Sorcery, Speaking against the Holy Spirit, Stealing, Strife, Swearing an oath, Swindling, Thievery, Treachery, Unbelief, Unforgiveness, Ungodliness, Ungratefulness, Unholiness, Unrighteousness, Wickedness, Woman cutting her hair short, Woman with her head uncovered, Woman speaking or teaching in public (cultural sins), Wrath.  (This list of sins from the Bible was compiled by Richard Hollerman at Truediscipleship.com.) 

And what about His suffering on the cross?   Nothing, NOTHING stinks worse than that.  ‘The cross was itself the embodiment and emblem of the most hideous of human obscenities.  The cross was a symbol of reproach, degradation, humiliation, and disgust.  It was aesthetically repugnant.  In a word, the cross was obscene.  Crucifixion was used to humiliate as well as to harm.  Crosswalk.com.        

BUT JESUS HUNG ON THE CROSS WILLINGLY, JUST FOR US.

For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2.

JUST LIKE THE TURKEY VULTURE, He cleaned up all the sin and death to protect us from the consequences of sin, the disease of our flesh and yet, people still ‘shoo’ Him away or ‘shoot’ Him (get rid of Him or pretend He doesn’t exist) not realizing that He died to cleanse and protect them.

As the scripture from Isaiah said: ‘The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.  In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in Him.’

LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN HIS SALVATION!”

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You’re my God

You’re altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me

King of all days
Oh, so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came to the earth You created
All for love’s sake became poor

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You’re my God

You’re altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me

Well, I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

Well, I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

Well, I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

Well, I’ll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

Source: LyricFind

Songwriter: Tim Hughes.