“Static Kill” in the Gulf and in Life

After 500 million barrels of crude oil gushed into the Gulf, the final solution is, in the official technical jargon, “static kill.” BP has injected mud into the damaged well permanently preventing any further leakage. The effort has a two options for long-term success: either permanently plugging the existing hole and/or drilling in from an accessory well to fill the shaft below the sea floor.

“Killing” the offending well is colorful language, but it is a notice that there are instances of legitimate deadly force to curtail extreme danger. For example, lesser threats, as in a runaway speedboat or other mechanical device, may be eliminated with what is called a “kill switch,” which cuts the power.

The most significant “kill” endeavor was the death of Jesus Christ. God knew that we could not get out of our problematic spiritual condition—that we are sinners on our way to hell—without Christ’s substitutionary death. The Apostle Paul wrote autobiographically, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which 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) God saw the entire human race as dying with Christ so that believers could live together with Him. “For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.” (Romans 6:7-9)

God provided a merciful “kill switch” to solve our sin problem.

Years ago, I heard of a man who had been tried, convicted and sentenced to death for committing a terrible crime. When it came time to take him to be executed, they found that he had died in his holding cell. Since he had already died, they abandoned their plans for his execution. The cross was the death of spiritual death, and those who have put their trust in Christ are free from the double jeopardy of dying spiritually as well as physically.

Believers also understand “static kill” on their spiritual journey. When sins creep into our lives, we are to “put to death [our] members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5)

The old King James Version uses the word “mortify” for “put to death.” The word is akin to other familiar words such as mortician or mortuary. Actually, the word mortgage is also derived from “mortify.” It really means a “dead pledge.” The agreement “dies” upon full payment or upon default. If you fail to pay your mortgage, you will discover how deadly it is for your home ownership!

Whether it’s the old “mortify” or the newer “put to death,” the meaning of the original Greek word is actually “to kill at one blow.” When I was a boy, we acquired a dog that was a breed needing a short tail but born with a long tail. Being relatively poor, we couldn’t afford to have the vet remove the tail so Dad decided to do it himself. We gathered in the cellar with the dog, a block of wood, a sharp knife and some courage. Dad’s merciful slicing only succeeded in the dog yelping. I suggested that this needed to be done quickly and decisively. A makeshift tourniquet was applied, and Dad smacked the knife with the heavy blow of a hammer. One “Yip” from the dog, and it was all over.

The incident was my first introduction to the concept of “static kill,” meaning really dead, over, done with, gone, finished. It’s a description of what happens to our old lives and our old sins, which are “mortified”—put to death—at a single blow.

Dave Virkler