Life In Death

“Then Jesus said to the disciples: ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever desires to lose his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” – Matthew 16:24-26

There is true life in death. Jesus leads the way to eternal life. It is a hard thing for many to understand, even those who profess to live in the Name of Christ. This concept is profound. It’s beyond our human understanding. It is treasure hidden in the heart of God, and you will only begin to understand it when you walk it out with Him. This is not something to be understood mentally, then exercised. Rather, it is to be understood as you exercise it. I’m sure the disciples had no idea what Jesus meant when He spoke this. Even so, they believed Him, because His words contained life and their hearts stirred when He spoke. God speaks, and our innermost beings respond. We respond to the Uncreated, because it is by this very Word that we were created. We responded then, and we respond even now. However, now our responses are different, because we test everything with our understanding before we are willing to trust and believe in it. What is the understanding of man in light of the understanding of God? Our understanding is darkness when compared to the light of His magnificent understanding. Until we obtain His understanding, we remain in darkness. We obtain this understanding by saying “yes” to Christ and following Him to the cross. Some would call this blind faith. How do you follow God to the cross if you have no understanding of this principle of life in death? Because God is good, and He only has good planned for me (Jeremiah 29:11). There is no evil in God. The fullness of His being is good. My faith is in God, not in the road. If I focused on the road everywhere I walked, I would stumble over the next step and walk into things. That’s walking blindly to me. But, if my focus is on Jesus, the person leading the way, I will be able to walk without stumbling or bumping into things. I will be able to avoid the obstructions in the path, because He clears the way. Jesus clears the way to God in His journey to the cross. As I follow Him, I walk down a clear path to the presence of God and make way for others to walk without care to the Father. Trust God. There is life in death. We follow Christ to the cross. For there, we see the truth of our being. We are confronted with our weakness and the depravity of our sin. In that moment, He speaks. We respond. He created us with free will, and we have a choice. We can choose to die to our sin and self-preservation, and choose God. Or, we can choose to continue in our “self-sufficiency” and to gain the acceptance of the world. The truth is: you can’t serve God and the world, because no one can have two masters. Thus, you can’t love God and the world. When Jesus took up the cross and walked to Golgotha to be crucified, He died to the world. God is asking us to do the same. I don’t mean literally killing yourself, but turning from the desires of the flesh to know God. Dying to oneself means denying your physical desires and being obedient to where God is leading you. When Jesus died, He took upon himself our sins, our hatred, our feelings of worthlessness and condemnation, our pains, sickness, and disease, (etc.) and He died with all of these things upon Him so we would not have to live with them. When we die to ourselves, we are saying “no” to these things and choosing to live in Christ, who died and was raised again. This is not the popular path, but it is the only path to God. If you want to be popular, you will lose your soul. If you want to know God, not just know about Him, but have intimate knowledge of Him as a close friend of His, you must give the fullness of your being to Him. You must die to the things you love and are familiar with that oppose Him. You would not keep doing things that dishonored a friend if you knew he felt dishonored when you did those things. Why do we keep dishonoring God when He makes it clear to us what dishonors Him? Dying to oneself means turning from those things that dishonor God and choosing to honor Him in everything. When we do this, He promises to honor us with eternal life. We do not choose to be good for the sake of being good. This only brings glory to oneself. We choose good and not evil for the sake of Christ. We will only find life when we live for Christ’s sake. I chose to live for Jesus, and now, I truly live. Before, I went through life in a daze, walking out day-to-day life without any sense of purpose or fulfillment. Now, life has become an adventure, and everyday is full of excitement, because I am alive. I live with God, as Christ lives in me. He leads me in this adventure, and I get to experience my greatest joy: daily walking with God. In His presence, my heart is exposed: my wants, my desires, and my dreams. I examine them, and those that are not in alignment with Him, I die to that I might live more freely in Christ. I know my heart, and my flesh is weak, but God gives me the strength to continue this journey to life when I choose Him and not the world. The world perishes and those who live by it will perish with it. But, those who live in Christ find everlasting life with God. In Christ, we are immortal as we walk out the fulfillment of our purpose. We were created to know Him, the only true God.

Few Find It

There is a way that leads to God. Few people find it. Jesus urges His audience to enter through the gate that leads to this path. In Matthew 7:13-14, He says: Enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Two things struck me as I typed this verse: 1) it is our natural tendency to walk towards destruction, and 2) the narrow gate is full of offense. Webster’s Dictionary defines offense as the following:

1 a obsolete : an act of stumbling b archaic : a cause or occasion of sin : stumbling block


2 : something that outrages the moral or physical senses


3 a : the act of attacking : assault b : the means or method of attacking or of attempting to score c : the offensive team or members of a team playing offensive positions d : scoring ability


4 a : the act of displeasing or affronting b : the state of being insulted or morally outraged 


5 a : a breach of a moral or social code : sin, misdeed b : an infraction of law; especially : misdemeanor

The way of God is offensive to the heart, the body, and the mind of men. It is offensive to the moral and social codes established in the world, because it brings the destructiveness and depravity of these standards into the light. When this happens, the heart of men is exposed. God did not leave us to navigate this road alone, but He extends Himself to show us the way. Jesus is the gate to this path, and Holy Spirit is the guide, while love is a budding staff on our hike to the Father. By love, we are able to enter into His presence and receive the pleasure He showers on us. Once Christ is received, another challenge arises. Jesus says two things that test the heart of the new believer and determines their ability to walk down this path:

The first: “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things which I say?” – Luke 6:46

And the second: “If you love Me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may abide with you forever…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” – John 14:15-16, 23

Rebellion and shame have been increasing in the hearts of men since The Fall. Jesus confronts these two issues in these verses. We rebel against the commands of God, thus rebelling against His very heart and nature. Our rebellion brings shame, because in our hearts, we know we were created for a higher way of living. We were created to enjoy the pleasure of knowing God. We hinder ourselves from doing so by continuing in the cycle of rebellion and shame. When we give ourselves to the higher authority of God, and not to the fleeting desires of our own hearts, we will begin to progress down this road of life. We are saved by repenting of our sins and making Jesus Christ Lord of our lives, but how many of us live out this salvation that we profess? If Jesus Christ truly is our Lord, why do we continue in our rebellion? Why do we fail to take His word and commandments seriously? Because our hearts have not connected with the God of the universe. He is love. We can only come to Him when we understand the love He has for us through believing in the sacrifice of His Son. From that point, we must make a conscience decision every day to live in obedience to Him. As we choose to live obediently, we choose to declare daily that Jesus Christ is our Lord. We’ve entered through the gate. Jesus hands us the budding staff of love and points us towards Holy Spirit who has been awaiting our arrival. With joy, He takes us by the hand and begins to lead us down a difficult path that is full of life and love if we choose to receive what He is offering. For many, they enter through the gate and are ridden with fear, regret, and shame. They are not able to take the first step, but Holy Spirit is ever extending Himself to them that He may help them overcome that first step towards love. If the staff goes unused, we grow cold. But, when we allow Holy Spirit to teach us how to use the staff, how to walk in love, then a growing passion drives us, as we are in the midst of the All-Consuming Fire. Jesus says, we show our love by obeying Him, by keeping His words, and walking in His command. Only then, are we able to touch the heart of God and enter into His joy in the center of His flaming gaze. Beloved, don’t hinder yourself from living a life of true passion and pleasure. It’s in Christ alone. In Him, you’ll be revived. I gave myself to His authority. It was the best thing I’ve ever done. From that point, love has flooded my life, and I am kept in His passionate gaze. When I stare into His eyes, I’m further in love and begin to realize the height of my worth. I walk down this path that is narrow and hard to find. It’s the most scenic path, not easy, but so beautiful. I chose to love God, no matter what comes. Love is obedience. I gave up rebellion for authority and shame for love. And, now my heart has been awakened. Offense comes, but it can’t stand before love, because I took up my cross and have found life in death.