Death unto Life
Do you want to have a most amazing Christian life? Would you like to see all the promises of God naturally unfold in yourlife? Then read on; this message is for you, my friend!
Probably the most misunderstood New Testament principle is the concept of the cross. In John 12 we see an interesting and important interaction between Jesus, His disciples, and the crowds of people coming to Him. In particular, some Greeks, probably, non-Jewish believers in Judaism.
Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
“Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. John 12:20-33, NASB1995).
Jesus, interestingly, did not answer these Greeks directly, but apparently responded to the group at large. Nevertheless, it appears He was answering them, by saying that “if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself.” In other words, He was telling them that His death would lead to their salvation. This, on its own, was revolutionary. However, the core message associated with this indirect encounter was the message of the cross. “Except a grain of wheat… dies… but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” He then immediately makes the statement about hating one’s own life to keep it. This is a reference, probably repeated many times in Jesus’ ministry. (We sometimes assume that what Jesus says, He only said once. This does not make sense. It is clear that Jesus taught “in the synagogues,” and in the public squares and/or privately to His disciples pretty much daily over His 3 years of ministry. Therefore, there were likely certain things that His disciples heard repeatedly.) In fact, this is one of the few of Jesus’ sayings, that are found in all four New Testament Gospel narratives, which surely says something about its importance.
This idea of us hating, or “losing” our lives, as it is used in some of the related, similar passages, communicates a message not widely understood by believers. To some degree, this is remarkable, since it is so central a message in the New Testament.
In Peter’s first letter, he makes this very interesting statement:
“Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1).
This passage in Peter tells us the same message Jesus presents as discussed above: we suffer the loss of our own wants so that we might inherit Christ’s life.
There are statements by James, John, the writer(s) of the letter to the Hebrews, and of course, Paul, that echo the same message. ( See for example, Hebrews 4:1-13, 6:1; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12, Romans 6:6-9, 7:6; Philippians 2:9-10; James1:1-8, 4:1-10; 1 John1:5-2:17).
It seems to be the common assumption among modern Evangelical Christians that once we have come to Christ we can now live from ourselves and somehow live up to Christ’s standards. This is believed even in the face of all evidence to the contrary. Christians are known for making excuses about their inability to live according to Christ by using phrases like, “Everyone sins, even Paul admitted this in Romans 7
,” and “I am not perfect, only forgiven,” a popular Christian bumper sticker from the 70’s and 80’s. Moreover, the Scriptures do not agree that we are either able to live by our own power; “Have you begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh” (Galatians 3:3)? Nor do they agree that we are to “continue in sin” (Romans 6:1)This idea of our being set free from the power of sin is also a central New Testament theme (Romans 6:6-7,14, 8:2, 12-13).
How do we resolve these incongruencies? This is perhaps the most common struggle for the vast majority of passionately committed believers, believers looking for God’s answers to profound personal challenges in their lives. Unfortunately, the advise usually given is woefully inadequate!
It is not to merely pray harder, try harder, go to more Bible studies, join a support group, read more Christian books, or even to just read through your Bible – although that is always a worthy suggestion in any case.
Worse still, they may be referred to a Christian counselor. While I am a Christian counselor myself, I do not believe, (apologies to my beloved colleagues) that most Christian counseling is providing answers that offer profound answers. Most are offering that which the secular world considers “answers.” All one needs to evaluate the efficacy of that approach is to look at the fruit of that advice. How is the world doing in the mental health area, or in the are of helping marriages succeed. It is laughable.
There is, however, someone who can and does provide profound answers to these questions. He has the power to transform the most evil, dark, twisted, destructive inclinations of the human soul into glorious righteousness and perfect liberty; turn bitterness and hatred into love.
The passages that I have quoted above hold keys for discovering this amazing life in Christ. This is the life that was found in the early Church through the Apostolic ministry. This is the message of the cross of Christ and its power to daily create the very kingdom of God in the believer’s soul and body. Freud could only dream of such effective solutions.
Everything that the New Testament describes in terms of our calling and capabilities as Christians come from our learning to live “in Christ,” and not in ourselves. Paul describes this profound message most exquisitely in Philippians. He says,
“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death”(Philippians 3:7-10)
Here we see that Paul wants to be found “in Him.” What does this mean? I must admit, in spite of spending 40 years desperately trying to find a way to get Jesus on board in my life, it was an endless tug of war. I wanted to be free of my internal slavery to the things that made me miserable, and caused me to fail as a Christian. Yet, paradoxically, I really was vying for God to establish in me that which I wanted Him to establish. In other words, I did not yet understand how to “enter His rest,” so as to be cleansed from self (Hebrews 4:1-1-12) In other words, I was still alive to my own will, to my old self, and I was therefore at war with the One who had come to liberate me from that old life.
Entering rest in the terms laid out in Hebrews 4, meant that I had to face that my agenda for my life was never going to rescue me from what really behind all my troubles: my own wants, my own will (no matter how seemingly Christianized that will might have appeared to me.
This reminds me of a story I once heard of how the mercenary (paid, non-Christian) Crusaders were allowed to join the ranks of the Crusaders. As Christian representatives, however, they were required to be baptized first. But apparently knowing that they would be prone to do some rather evil things in God’s name, insisted that they be baptized while holding their swords out of the water. I suppose they assumed that the judgment of God would fall on their swords and not themselves!
This is something of a metaphor of the Christian’s folly in trying to live a life from a double-minded motivation. However, James tells us that the double-minded will receive nothing from God . They are living as “friends with the world” and therefore enemies of Christ (James 1:6-8, 4:1-8). When we are operating partly from self, we are completely on our own, serving Christ in name only, because Christ will not fellowship with darkness (i.e. our old sinful nature). This is why we must die (to ourselves). As Jesus told us, a person can only serve one master.
God alone is the author of the kingdom, and He does not share in His work with the will of man. (1 John 1:7-10). Either we are dead to ourselves completely, or we are not dead at all. How many believers do you know live like this? Does it sound unrealistic, even impossible? Well, actually it is impossible, that is, for a human being on their own (Matthew 19:26). However, when we learn to live “in Christ”, it is automatic to live from His perfect life, from perfect motives, and produce fruit that is perfect and eternal (Hebrews 9:14).
What? Am I crazy? No one can live a perfect life! On the contrary, Jesus and the writers of the New Testament disagree with you. I tell you, there is no one that cannot find this life, if they seek it. Or would you rather prefer to conclude that Jesus is a liar? He did not qualify His promises. He did not tell us that only the psychologically healthy or the unusually self-disciplined, or the well-raised individual can be free, did He?
I contend that I am on solid ground here, contrary to the common view held in the churches today. Am I speaking of some kind of “holiness” doctrine, or is some sort of heresy being proposed? Not at all. Jesus said, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48). Is this hyperbole? Is Jesus just setting a standard that no one can aspire to, or to humble us to realize the hopelessness of achieving? Yes, to humble us, no doubt. But also to enable us to discover His life and thus His capacity to manifest His perfect life in us. That is, as we learn to rest in Him, and cease from our own (naturally motivated) works so He can manifest His perfect and incorruptible life in us.
Yes, the Christian life is the impossible life, but perhaps better said, it is the livable impossible life, the extraordinary life, if you will. This impossible life, is Christ’s free gift to all. who believe! Seek Him! He will not deny you any more than He did those who would not be turned aside from crying out loudly to Him as He passed by, ignoring the scoldings of others.They took their petition to the top, to the one who makes all the decisions, not to men.
Yes, it is a free gift not earned by the worthiness of the recipient but by the graciousness and the power of the giver? How much does it cost to inherit a free gift anyway? It is available to all who believe and would not be otherwise dissuaded.. These will not be disappointed. God is not a liar.
I challenge you, Christian, not to settle for less than the life that He lived. Keep seeking Him and you will most certainly find the real Jesus. I have heard so many empty documentaries and books written about finding the “real” Jesus. Most, sadly, tried to humanize Him, to naturalize Him, to make His life nothing more than the vain efforts of a finite man. They do not see the real Jesus. He is profound in every way, and He has proven Himself to all those that believe and pursue. The door is open to all who will to take Him at His word. He will do so for you, as well, if you go after Him relentlessly. He will take you on a journey grander than you could ever imagine.
Just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Do not be like those whose to whom Jesus referred, quoting the prophet Isaiah,
‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
15FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,
WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,
OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,
HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,
AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,
AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’ (Matthew 13:14-15)
But instead, be like those “on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. (Matthew 13:23)
