I AM DEAD

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there” Galatians 5:24.

Each day I symbolically stretch out my hands as I reminder that I have been crucified with Christ. That means I am dead to my ambitions, my rights, and my opinions. I am dead to my desires, my entertainment choices, and my preferences. I am dead to the lusts of my flesh and the greed and selfishness of my heart. Don’t feel sorry for me. My death with Him is what enables me to partake of His resurrection.

Ephesians 2:4-6 says, “But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

It is only because I am united with Him in His death that the same power that raised Him from the dead comes to live in me. Romans 8:11 victoriously proclaims, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”

So yes, I do die. Yes, it is hard to die to myself. But what do I give up, and what do I get in return? I trade death for life. I trade poverty for riches. I trade being an orphan for being adopted into God’s own family. I trade separation from God for intimacy with God. I trade darkness for light. I trade despair for hope. I receive His pardon, I receive His power, I receive His presence, and I receive His provision. He now meets my spiritual needs, my emotional needs, and my physical needs. Dying is hard. Living without Christ is harder. As they say, “Choose your hard.”

I die to what I am in order to enter into what He is. Would you rather be a caterpillar or a butterfly? II Corinthians 5:14b-15, 17 explains it this way: “Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He dies for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

Dying is the only thing that make you truly live. Each morning make the habit of attending your own funeral.