Reasons To Rehearse The Gospel Daily. Day 25-All Things Crucified, Part II

REASONS TO REHEARSE THE GOSPEL DAILY

Day 25-All Things Crucified, Part II

Thankfully, the gospel teaches me that dying is not an end, but a beginning. For after Christ took up His cross and died, God raised Him from the dead, 108 exalted Him to the highest heaven, 109 and drew Him into His bosom.110 These facts surrounding Christ’s resurrection stand as proof positive that God will not leave me for dead, but will raise me similarly, If I would only allow myself to die. Indeed, on the other side of each layer of dying lie experiences of a life with God that are far richer, far higher, and far more intimate than anything I would have otherwise known.111

In God’s economy, death is the way to life. “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,” Jesus says, “but whoever loses his life for My sake, he shall find it.”112 Indeed, the more conformable I am made to the death of Christ, the more I experience freedom from sin 113 and taste the power of the resurrection of Jesus Himself.114 The path to such power is paved with many dyings, and each stage of resurrection is achieved with each incident of dying to myself and reckoning myself dead to sin.115

The more I contemplate the gospel, the more I understand that this “word of the cross” 116 stands as a blueprint for my own life story. The death that Christ died is the death to which I am called is my entry point to union with Christ and life at its fullest.117 So, come what may, I’ll let no one take this death from me!

108-Ephesians 1:20. “…He raised Him from the dead…”

109-Philippians 2. “(8)…He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (9) For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.”

110-John 1:18. “No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten God who is [present tense] in the bosom of the father, He has explained Him.”

111-Romans 6:4. “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism unto death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

112-Luke 9:24. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it.”

113-Romans 6. “(6) knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; (7) for he who has died is freed from sin.”

114-Philippians 3. “(8)…I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ…(10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;”

115-Romans 6:11. “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

116-1 Corinthians 1:18. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

117-Romans 6:5. “For is we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection…”

118-Philippians 1:23. “But I…[have] the desire to depart to be with Christ, for that is very much better,” 1 Peter 1:13. “…fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Christ Jesus.”