In a Latin kind of way, it was Augustine and Martin Luther who helped us to see that we humans are curved in on ourselves – and it’s killing us. But before these men, the apostle Paul put it this way:

“. . . and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:15 ESV)

Jesus died so that those who live for Jesus will not die of self-mutilation, that is, the slow suicidal life of selfishness. Even in the world of Dr. Phil, those who live for “me, myself, and I” tend to destroy themselves. So you don’t need scripture to make a valid observation of humanity: the heart of man has a tendency to turn inward on itself, but Jesus’ work in the heart of man bends it back to its original place:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart . . .

and love your neighbor as yourself.”

As we celebrate the Passion of the Christ, we celebrate our redemption from a clutching, grasping, claustrophobic, jealous-driven, miserly heart that is so in love with itself that it can’t worship anything else but self. Now that’s a life that has been raised from the dead!