I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NIV
The spiritual controls the physical. All that we see and hear now are matters that have been settled in the spiritual realm. We speak of eternal life, redemption and forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus. These are not matters that the natural man can fathom, process or understand, but then, truth isn't what it is because I accept it, but because it is Truth no matter what my opinion about it is.
Paul starts from the basic foundation of all who profess Christ as Lord and Saviour. If I do not start from the cross, my journey has not started. If the cross has become just a piece of jewellery, I do not fully understand what I have been called on to deny and accept. If I am still holding on to the deceit that my life is my own, to use as I please, I have believed a lie. How can a man who doesn't know how his life actually started define how it should go and how it will end?
For Jesus, the cross was a place of total surrender to the will of God. It was hard and painful, but it opened the door to the new life that God offers. If I will take the life on offer, I must embrace the process that secures that life. Men may claim that other ways also lead to God, and may want to make the journey smooth by offering shortcuts and detours. Let it be known that because God is not the author of confusion, as He has made clear how man can find Him. Forget all the new age philosophies and emotional messaging that men of today's age try and push down your throat; the cross, with all its shame, is the key to the glory that Jesus reveals.
For Jesus, accepting the cross meant giving up His own will and desire and submitting to and embracing the perfect will of God. Being alive is a function of God's grace, not good genes. This life is not really mine; it is God's, and the best service I can give is to offer it back to the One who loved me enough to secure eternity for me by His death. That is the path I must walk, if I will bring down heaven and make God known. I cannot hide the contents of my life; whoever lives in me will be made manifest by my words, deeds and relationships. Men must know where I stand. Men must know my allegiance. It cannot be left to assumptions; God must be made known in me.
The day I accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, I received the life that Jesus secured via the cross. Love took Jesus to the cross, not hatred or the lack of a choice. He could have refused to do it, and nobody could compel Him, but love won. My best gift is to embrace that love and let His life flow freely in and through me. That is my best gift at this time. He's done and is doing all He can to bring me to eternity; the best I can do is make sure that his love is not in vain and others too learn of and embrace this same love. Am I truly living this out on a daily basis? Are you? His time of favour is here.
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