Have you ever considered the idea of suffering for the name of Jesus? What about dying for Him? What are the chances you will get to die for Christ? As Christians, who have been saved from the depths of Satan, we look with joy for the opportunity to lay down our lives for the name of Christ. The reward for doing so is to sit with Him on His throne in eternal life, where death has no more power. That sounds like a good trade if you ask me.
With our acceptance into the family of God, we have taken on a new name and a new way of thinking. This upgrade comes with a new body, a new life, and a new truth to live by. These added gifts are great for us but also come with new responsibilities. You are not your own anymore; you’re now something much greater, you’re part of the Family of God. You are born into a family of believers who view themselves, the kingdom of God, and the world much differently now. You are a Spirit worker, and it’s time to represent God in a manner that pleases Him.
Once you learn to walk in these gifts from God, there’s little reason to want anything other than what Jesus provides for you. The thankfulness I have today comes from knowing that God not only let us into His family but adopted us as one of His own. That kind of love is worth protecting and dying for. Knowing that we were trapped in sin and death with no way out and learning that God sent Jesus to free us from our prison has a way of refocusing us on what matters most.
The prison has always been our false identity, and the world continues to lay the traps that keep us believing we are part of its religious system rather than the ones who God says we are. It’s sobering to think that we’ve lived our life by a song and dance that ultimately, in the end, causes us to fall to our uncertain death.
But no more dying the death of falsehood. No more pretending that the world is our friend. Today we make choices to live for God. And if that means dying for Him, then we will relish the opportunity to be counted worthy of doing so.
The only death you should die going forward is the one you experience with Jesus Christ. His death frees you from the world’s traps and raises you up to sit with Him in heavenly places. Dying with Christ frees you from the burden of being someone you’re not. It removes the falsehood of fitting into the categories that the world provides. We are not here to fit in; we are here to make new categories representing God’s kingdom.
The world is not your friend. In the end, it will eat you like it does everyone else. All that is in the world is lust and pride. The world does not know the love of God; therefore, the world will use you and discard you. Once you find true love in Christ, you will never return to the hurtful lusts of the flesh. If you want to fit in somewhere, a whole kingdom of heavenly hosts awaits your return. That includes us, who are part of the kingdom.
When you examine what God did for us, all of our salvation hinged on one question; would God make the sacrifice and die for us and not leave us in death? The answer is no longer yes, He will, but yes, He did! Jesus died for us, and now we can join Him in the most significant sacrifice He made as a man. He continued until He completed His purpose. He passed the test, and the world could not stop Him. Now because of Him, we can too.
Accomplishing the goal and winning the prize is already done. Jesus finished it. Now it’s not about whether we can die with Him; it’s about whether we will die with Him.
In the next writing, I will go to the book of Revelation and talk about the ones who partook of this great glory of rejecting the beast and refusing to take his mark so that they could die with Christ and be risen and reign with Him in glory.
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