Robert and I were in the car when he broke the silence, “Do you realize that you can’t have resurrection without first having death?”
I thought, “That’s true,”
But as I contemplated on the reality that Jesus had to die before He could be resurrected, the Lord said, “It’s true for your life too. You can’t enjoy resurrection unless you die first.”
Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Lk. 9:23-24).
Deny myself? That isn’t fun. Nor easy. In a self-centered world, denying self isn’t popular.
Take up my cross? That’s serious. Crosses may be used for jewelry and home décor, and thus seem common place, but a cross is an instrument of death. Excruciating, torturous death.
Nevertheless, if we want to taste resurrection, we must first die. If we try to save our lives, we cannot enjoy the benefits of Jesus’ resurrection.
That’s true if we want eternal salvation, but it’s also true if we want to experience daily resurrection life on earth—kingdom life, righteousness peace and joy life.
Jesus must have known we might struggle with dying to self, because He added the word “daily.” He calls us to a lifestyle of dying to self;
Oh, we don’t have to. We can choose our own way.
But if we don’t die daily, we won’t live a resurrection life. Kingdom living is achieved only as we die to self. As we decrease, Jesus can increase in us.
Jesus death on the cross was a one-time event, but His whole life on earth was a denial of self so we could know Him and believe.
He is our example. If we want to follow Him and experience the resurrection, we must take up our cross too. That’s hard.
Yes, but if we keep our eyes on the prize—resurrection life, fellowship with the Lord, assurance that our heavenly Father is pleased with us, and on and on. If we keep our eyes on the prize, rather than on the desires of our flesh, we will be strengthened and have grace for the journey.
We can then experience victorious resurrection life of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
He took the tapes with him on a trip to a little church at Morro Agudo (Pointed Hill) in rural Brazil. He arrived a couple of hours early, so he trudged up the hill, climbed a tree at the top, and settled into the crook of a limb overlooking the countryside below.