Experiencing Death - Good Friday
What a great privilege for all of us to remember and reflect on the greatest sacrifice that humanity’s ever recorded for the sake of Love! The crucifixion and the death of Jesus!
(Recorded on 2nd April 2021)
Our entire basis of faith is based on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And today as we reflect on the death part of it, I want to get right into this.. Over the last few weeks we were learning about the value and the purpose of spiritual disciplines… And something that I want to bring into this conversation again is that
‘Every disciple of Jesus holds certain disciplines close to their hearts’
Today the entire world is gonna be talking about the details of the crucifixion, the deep revelation behind it, the benefits that humanity receives from it and everything around that day that changed the narrative between God and mans relationship.
Because of the death of Jesus on the cross, we are restored in to our relationship with God that was distorted by Sin! But I want us to reflect on something that Jesus foretold to his disciples, and then He even modelled it out so well..
You see this journey of following Christ can seem like we are going in circles and emotional rollercoaster rides if our understanding is limited to playing church. If our knowledge of Jesus is limited to a 30-40 mins talk that you listen to every week
🔥The real faith life in Christ is experienced when death becomes a part of our everyday life.🔥
And that is only made possible when we allow ourselves to— Take up the Cross!
Explanation
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]. For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake, he is the one who will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God]. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the [heavenly] Father and of the holy angels.
Luke 9:23-26 AMP
Taking up the Cross
Christ’s intention was to instruct those who want to follow him on how to do that.
It involves denial of self, an active involvement in choosing to walk towards the death of self in order to gain Christ.
Taking up our crosses isn’t a passive act but an active one. It’s something we should choose every day.
This Good Friday, I want to stir up these few thoughts for us— Far too long, you’ve been reading, hearing and equipping yourself with the knowledge of Good Friday and may be the essence of it as well.
When was the last time though that you experienced that pain, agony and suffering of loss that comes from self denial? When was the last time you sacrificed your selfish ambitions, your fleshly deeds and desires at the cross?
Cause If we believe in Jesus Christ, If we call ourselves his followers and disciples, let me say this to you:
🔥You cant really follow Christ wholeheartedly until you’ve put to death your old life.🔥
Here is how Paul helps us understand this better:
We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory and power of the Father, we too might walk habitually in newness of life [abandoning our old ways]. For if we have become one with Him [permanently united] in the likeness of His death, we will also certainly be [one with Him and share fully] in the likeness of His resurrection. We know that our old [c]self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin.
Romans 6:4-7 AMP
So we don’t just stop at professing Jesus as the one true living God.. We take our relationship with Christ a step further through the water baptism!
As much as we continue talking about the incredible love of Christ through our conversations, this love and His presence is fully experienced when we are moving away from our old self and embracing the new identity that Jesus gives us in Him. And it is the act of taking up our cross daly that helps us..
🔥The cross is the bridge between your old life of sin and eternal death to your new life of hope and eternity in Jesus 🔥
So Zealous, the actual conversation today is not only the death that Jesus experienced on the cross at Calvary.. The actual conversation today is about the death we are suppose to experience on an on-going manner as we follow Jesus everyday..
The application of the gospel message of Jesus begins this journey of Gospel renewal— where our hearts, our minds and our lifestyles are shaped by the gospel of Jesus! Where we are not consumers of knowledge of the mystic person called Jesus We are mere religious folks who check a bunch of ticks in doing our small religious bit. You and I are ambassadors for the gospel message of Jesus to the people, the communities and neighbourhoods around us.. And that message of the gospel is kept alive and well more, when we are in the habit our putting to death our ego, our anger, our worldly passions, our lust, greed, gloating, pride at the Cross!
I’ve got some news from God today— Some of us need to experience the crucifixion of our old life patterns.. Cause the more you think, you can hold on to them and hold onto Christ… It does not work that way for a Christ follower!
You cant serve two masters!
🔥Our ultimate gain in this life is Christ and Christ alone!🔥
It comes with these top ups of prayers answered, miracles and supernatural provisions.. But that is still the peripheral. All of these are found in Jesus..
Conclusion
And so there is lies this beautiful tension as we reflect on the cross that Jesus bore for us on calvary.. Where He modelled is so well— what it meant to put God’s will above his, where he was obedient to the point of death. He took on that cross for you and me and entire mankind..
Because of the death of Jesus, we have access to abundant life!
As we are living here on earth with the limited time we have here.. Jesus expects us to carry our cross as well.. Cause when you are doing that consistently— In that pain, suffering, mourning, grief and loss of yourself..
🔥Every time you make a decision to deny your will and submit to will of God, you are taking up Cross!🔥
In that crushing you are actually giving out the fragrance of Christ! When people spiritually smell our ethos, our attitudes, our actions — when they sniff spiritually, what they smell is the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and to those who are perishing.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which ascends] to God, [discernible both] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 AMP
Don’t waste the aroma of Christ which you are.
The more we see Christ clearly in the word, the better we reflect Christ in the world.
Laws and religious check lists cannot heal your sin problem only Christ living in you can do that.
We try not to waste our lives by looking more and more like Christ, seeing him more clearly, knowing him more deeply, and so coming closer and closer to his image in the world. And when we take up our crosses and become wilful participants in suffering so that the gospel may be proclaimed, we lose our physical life but gain a rich and meaningful spiritual life.
- Do you struggle with anger? Take up the cross of humility and create space for the Shalom that Jesus provides.
- Are you controlled by an addiction? Take up the cross of asking for accountability in a fellow Christ follower, and be willing to receive it when you need it most.
- Is your heart hardened with bitterness because of past wrongs against you? Take up the cross of untangling those wrongs and applying to them the same forgiveness Christ has given to you.
- Has God called you to share the gospel with your lost friends and family? Take up the cross of a bold proclamation of the gospel even if it causes those you’re sharing with to label you as foolish.
- Have you walked away from a relationship with God? Take up the cross of repentance. Let your pride come crashing down and willingly admit that your way has led you to death and you desire to once again live the life that Christ has called you to.