Dying to Self

To believers, death is the door to eternal life. It is not an optional door. In order to follow Jesus into eternal life, one must die. That does not mean one must die physically before he can go to heaven. There will be Christians living on the earth when Jesus returns. Whether or not we die physically before Jesus comes is a matter of divine prerogative rooted in plans known only to the Father. There is a more germinal death involved. We must die to ourselves.

That sounds so abstract. Dying to self? What does that actually look like? A functional definition might go something like this:

“Dying to self is a conscious denunciation of one’s own sin and prideful self-interests. True disciples turn away from these things, surrendering the claims upon their own lives to Someone that they trust to run them better.” Paul knew Who that Someone was: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me …” (Galatians 2:20).

Christ’s final glorification by the Father required that He die. Once, in an exchange with two of His disciples, He said:

… “The hour for has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  – John 12:23, 24

To “glorify” means to “ascribe honor.” God glorified Jesus as a baby when angels announced His birth, and a star adorned His childhood home. Later, on two occasions, the Father spoke audibly, saying, “This is my son …” This phenomenon occurred as the Father glorified Jesus at His Baptism and, again, at His Transfiguration. Now, Jesus was to be glorified in some new way. His words to the disciples conjured up images from Daniel 7:13-14 in which a Son of Man” is crowned by the “Ancient of Days” as the Ruler over an eternal kingdom.

The Jews presumed that this coronation would require the re-exaltation of Israel to global power, but Jesus told them that when the Father glorified Him, the affair would be unlike they had ever envisioned it. “Gentlemen, it is time for that big event to which you’ve been looking forward since you were children. The Ancient of Days is going to give to Me, the Son of Man, My kingdom. However, the details will be different than you imagine. There will be no epic military campaign. I have to die - just as though I were a kernel of wheat falling to the ground.”

Jesus was tempted to avoid this essential death.

“… Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. “Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”  - John 12:27:28

The Father had a plan for Jesus’ life. He had to die. It was not easy to embrace His calling, but the redemption of the first Adam’s children was why He came. Jesus was tempted to abandon the Father’s plan many times. He was tempted in the wilderness to establish Himself as a king by flamboyant means. Those temptations were attempts to steer Jesus away from a life of obedient self-denial.

Peter was commended when he confessed Jesus to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). However, when Jesus spoke of being killed by the rulers of the Jews and, then, raised back to life, Peter rebuked Jesus saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22). Peter was thinking of the kingdom of Messiah just as every first-century Jew was accustomed to thinking of it. Jesus rebuked His disciple severely: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of man” (Matthew 16:23).

Jesus always knew that His heavenly agenda was to die for His brothers. Despite Satan’s fiercest efforts, Jesus would not be steered away from His Father’s plan. This plan established a pattern for all who choose to follow Jesus. Now, any man must die to himself to receive the new life Jesus provides. He must take up a cross of his own. That does not mean that he will necessarily die physically in the short run. It does mean that his faithful resolve to trust Jesus with the remainder of his life is a settled matter.

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”  - John 12:25, 26

Eternal life does not begin at the point of physical death. Eternal life begins when a relationship with God, through dying with Jesus Christ, is forged. Verse 24 is effectively a link between the death of Jesus and the death to self of the believer. The dual application, to Jesus Himself and to any would-be follower, is deliberate:

“… Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Jesus not only announced His Own death. He is also informing the rest of us that a commitment to Him is no half-hearted matter. Jesus can give new life, and His power to do so was proven when He walked out of a grave two thousand years ago. The shameful deletion to the Gospel as it is so often presented today is this: No death, no life. To take hold of the resurrection life of Christ, a kernel of wheat must fall to the ground and die.

What's Wrong with You People?

I don’t move in the same circles I once did. About a week had passed before I learned that author, pastor-teacher, theologian and my second-favorite Calvinist, R. C. Sproul had graduated to his eternal reward on December 14. In the meantime, a friend had posted a video of him on Facebook. Perhaps, it was a tribute, and I did not catch it. The post did not generate much response, but I liked it and re-posted it. Again, it did not generate much response.

In the video, Dr. Sproul was seated on a stage at some conference for a question-answer session. A query was raised to this effect: “Since God is gracious, why was His punishment of Adam so severe?” The question seemed to vex Sproul. After a fervent reminder to the audience of the holiness of God, the “creatureliness” of Adam, and the terms of the Eden arrangement, he asked, “What’s wrong with you people?” He added that the problem with the modern church is that we don’t understand Who God is and we don’t understand who we are. Through the years, Sproul has written prolifically on a number of topics, but some of his greatest contributions have touched on the Person of God and, in particular, His holy “otherliness.” In retrospect, I wondered if his impassioned response to what he perceived to be an idiotic question was a desperate plea to the modern church to finally start to wrap our collective heads around the holiness of God.

A few decades ago, the church went through a kind of grace awakening. In reaction to the sternness and perceived legalism of a previous generation, we came to grips with how loving, longsuffering and “nice” God really is. But, as we are often prone to do, our fixation on certain aspects of God’s character tend to undermine our appreciation for some of His other attributes. We are currently abiding in nothing short of a crisis regarding the typical believer’s lack of awe at God’s holiness.

What else can explain why so many believers are reticent to declare as “sinful” behaviors and lifestyles to which God has spoken from ancient times? Are we more fearful of the world calling us names than we are of God’s holy nature? Why are so few today grievously undone by their own sins? With open eyes, they do as they please, sure that grace will cover them. Why is worship discussed in terms of human tastes and relevance rather than in terms of honoring the Holy One Who is the sole audience of our worship? I remain a bit old-school in my worship attire, even to the point of being good-naturedly teased on occasion. I abide six days in my Father’s presence wearing work clothes, comfortable clothes and even jammies. I would not show up to an event specifically convened to honor my earthly father in such attire. I would not attend an audience with a royal or a president in such attire, regardless of party affiliation. I would not show up in court before a robed human judge that way. A worship service is not my daily abiding in God’s presence. It is a special event held in His honor.

Whatever we think we understand about worship …

Whatever we think we understand about service …

Whatever we think we understand about grace …

Whatever we think we understand about stewardship …

Our understanding of anything pertaining to God is significantly diminished and diluted when we fail to be adequately captivated by His holiness. I choose my words carefully. I am not suggesting that we can grasp or understand this holiness, only that we must stand in awe of it.

The Bible speaks of a “fear” of God. We avoid that word. We redefine it as “awe” or “reverence” because nobody wants to fear One Who has been refashioned into our benign and indulgent “Daddy.”

We tend to misunderstand the purpose of all our human emotions; love peace contentment, anger. We confuse the fallen versions of each of these with the real thing. Holy fear may top the list, for there is little modern fear of God. However, only as this posture before God is restored will the church make any significant progress toward fulfilling her role as salt and light for this age.