Key to a Resurrected Life
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it won’t produce fruit. John 12:20-26.
To have resurrected life it is essential we follow Christ
To participate in a new and resurrected life we need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We need to follow Jesus Christ if we want His resurrected Life in us. It is only in Him that we find this life.
Where did Jesus go? Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:17-19
Do you get an idea where Jesus is headed? He knew His destiny. He knew why He was sent to this earth. When the time of His crucifixion drew near He set His face to go to Jerusalem. He knew. He didn’t run away and hide. This was why He came.
Then He told his disciples that if they wanted to be His follower, they needed to follow Him. Abundant life would be theirs just like He promised in John. Luke 9:21-25
Death before resurrection
What does that have to do with me and my resurrected life? Let’s see what Paul in Romans 6 tells us. Verses 3-11
So there it is. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit. But first, He had to die. For a resurrection to take place, there must be a death. Now I am not talking about your physical death. It is counting it done, or reckoning it done in the spiritual realm.
It is our natural way of doing things, our right to live as we choose that died with Him. Our living separated from God dies, and we are born again from above. We turn from following ourselves to follow Him.
It is a daily process of maturing by believing it to be true. Bit by bit, piece by piece, we are dying to what separates us from God. We are being freed to be one with Him. Our spirit that has been under the control of our soul is being released to be one spirit with Christ.
It is our human nature, the veil of flesh, that separates us from the abundant, resurrected life that Jesus promised us in chapter 10 of John.
Many believers are content to be baby Christians. They’ve had their sins forgiven and are on their way to heaven. That is all they want. But there is so much more to experience. God wants to take us deeper and closer to Him.
Not only do we cheat ourselves of an abundant life in Him, we also restrict God the opportunities to express Himself through us. When flesh/natural self/mind/will/emotions are in control, God is not free to live through us. He won’t be free to create in us all we were designed to be. Nor will He be free to minister to others through us.
Crucifixion is the step before resurrection
Crucifixion is the door to abundant life. It is the door to freedom from besetting sins. It is the door to freedom from addictions. It is the door to freedom from the tyranny of self.
It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free.
The cross is rough, and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the Presence of the living God.
The Pursuit of God ebook pg. 46-47 A.W.Tozer
The resurrected life depends on one thing. It depends on death. That is why Jesus told the disciples that if they wanted to follow Him they needed to deny self(don’t be bossed by yourself), take up their cross daily(reminder of their death) and follow Him.
Two negatives that yield a great big positive. Following Him, walking with Him, allowing Him to express Himself through us is a wonderful life. It is abundant life. It is unknown, not understood, and scary until that step is taken. What might look like utter darkness is simply a door to a wonderful life.
Don’t listen to the voice of fear that keeps you from following Jesus Christ every day, step-by-step. Our enemy desperately wants to keep you from following Jesus completely.
Words to light your path – Romans 6:3-11 Remember, take one verse per day and meditate on it. Let it sink in and do its work in your heart.
6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
6:5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.
6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
6:7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
6:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
6:9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Father in Heaven, help us to take that first step to following Jesus to the cross by surrendering our life to You, giving You permission to begin the transforming work. We want to be changed. There are sins that we can’t seem to conquer. We need You to conquer them for us as we die to them and their hold on us. We don’t want to be controlled by our flesh, our old ways, or limited by our resources. We are sick of self dominating, lording it over us, and demanding its way. Even the good that we do, is done in the flesh and is flawed, tainted by flesh. Come into my heart and begin Your transforming work as I see myself dead on the cross with Jesus.
For more on this topic:
The Pursuit of God eBook by A.W.Tozer
A Guide to Freedom Through the Cross The Wheel and Line Video by Grace Fellowship International
Dying to Self and Discovering So Much More by Billy Graham
