What a verse! What does it mean to "know" Christ? Especially in "his sufferings" and sufferings"? Why would we want to "become like him in his death"? Didn't Jesus die so that I do not have to?
So many questions. What do you think?
Last time was about peace in suffering and about having Peace with God. But Christ's sufferings took away my sin why should I suffer? If this is our thinking (as it is mine) then our focus is WRONG!
The Christian walk is about knowing Christ in every way. Its about relating to God in however we must to know Him best. Christ resurrected from the dead, so I desire this too! Christ suffered, so to know Christ in this, we must suffer. Christ died so we must die (in a high voice)?
If we really desire to know God then we venture into this odd realm of rejecting our life to follow Christ. Check out Luke 9:22-24
Luke 9:23-24 is a hard passage, but it ends with a blessed promise: "Whoever loses his life for My sake will save it."
ReplyDeleteWhen Jesus says "deny yourself", I've always thought of it in the same way as Peter's three denials of Jesus on the night of his arrest. Peter denied that he knew Jesus; he acted as if he had ever met Jesus; he refused to associate himself with Jesus.
In the same way, we have to deny that we know our sinful nature, with its passions and desires. We must act as if we have never been introduced to our sinful selves. We must refuse to be associated with who we once were apart from Christ.
May God grant that through dying in Him, we might have new life in Him.
Hi Brandon! Hope you and Nadine are having a great time back home....we miss you! Thanks for your blog. I talked with a friend from work today who was just diagnosed with breast cancer and has to have a mastectomy. It's really shaken her up, but she shared that she's been praying for the first time in a long time, and seeking comfort from God. Although suffering is so hard, sometimes it is just what we need to open our hearts to Christ.
ReplyDeleteMegan :)