You Must Die!
Are you letting God mature you? This means that you are being conformed into His image, as you are dying.
I am currently reading a book called, From Glory to Glory by David W. Dyer, and I really like how he describes this process. He says,
"Here is an aspect of the gospel which all too few Christians understand. Many people receive Jesus with the hope of some great improvement in their lives. Perhaps they are led to believe that they will feel better, they will find the solution to all their problems or even that they will be come rich and prosperous. But the truth of God looms over them. Jesus stated clearly, "If any man will come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24). To receive God's gift of Life and follow Him means that you must die. You must be eliminated from the universe. This is the only solution for you. It is an integral part of God's plan. Although we perhaps prefer to focus upon the love of God, our death is also part of the gospel and to really understand the gospel, we must understand the aspect of death very clearly.
Have you really been convicted of sin? Do you really understand in the light of God how evil you are in your inward parts? Are you really repentant, not only for what you have done but also for what you are? When you received Jesus, did you do so with the understanding that it was the end of your own life? If you cannot honestly answer "yes" to these questions, then you are not right in your relationship with Jesus Christ. You have not really understood the gospel and you are in danger of missing most, if not all of what God has in mind for you.
Let us take a little time here to speak of baptism. Clearly baptism is an integral part of the message which Jesus preached. We read: "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mr 16:16). Paul and the other apostles also practiced baptism. But what does baptism mean? It means that we are ready to die. To be immersed under water is not a bath. It symbolizes drowning, dying. We are baptized into Jesus' death (Rm 6:3). Our baptism signifies that we are confessing that we are worthy to die and that we are in fact ready and willing to experience the death which Christ has for us. It means that we have understood our sin and God's judgment upon it. Our baptism testifies to the end of all that we were, are or ever would want to be. We are agreeing with God's sentence of death and are ready for Him to apply it to us. If you have been baptized without this clear understanding and conviction, then you have truly missed the message of Jesus Christ."
I am currently reading a book called, From Glory to Glory by David W. Dyer, and I really like how he describes this process. He says,
"Here is an aspect of the gospel which all too few Christians understand. Many people receive Jesus with the hope of some great improvement in their lives. Perhaps they are led to believe that they will feel better, they will find the solution to all their problems or even that they will be come rich and prosperous. But the truth of God looms over them. Jesus stated clearly, "If any man will come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24). To receive God's gift of Life and follow Him means that you must die. You must be eliminated from the universe. This is the only solution for you. It is an integral part of God's plan. Although we perhaps prefer to focus upon the love of God, our death is also part of the gospel and to really understand the gospel, we must understand the aspect of death very clearly.
Have you really been convicted of sin? Do you really understand in the light of God how evil you are in your inward parts? Are you really repentant, not only for what you have done but also for what you are? When you received Jesus, did you do so with the understanding that it was the end of your own life? If you cannot honestly answer "yes" to these questions, then you are not right in your relationship with Jesus Christ. You have not really understood the gospel and you are in danger of missing most, if not all of what God has in mind for you.
Let us take a little time here to speak of baptism. Clearly baptism is an integral part of the message which Jesus preached. We read: "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mr 16:16). Paul and the other apostles also practiced baptism. But what does baptism mean? It means that we are ready to die. To be immersed under water is not a bath. It symbolizes drowning, dying. We are baptized into Jesus' death (Rm 6:3). Our baptism signifies that we are confessing that we are worthy to die and that we are in fact ready and willing to experience the death which Christ has for us. It means that we have understood our sin and God's judgment upon it. Our baptism testifies to the end of all that we were, are or ever would want to be. We are agreeing with God's sentence of death and are ready for Him to apply it to us. If you have been baptized without this clear understanding and conviction, then you have truly missed the message of Jesus Christ."
posted by Patti Blount @ 9:13 AM
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