Allaine's Post:
Today's verse comes from 2 Corinthians 4:11-12 (ESV)
[For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.]
Reading this made me think of Romans 6:23. Both of which have the common theme of our sinful humans natures as leading to death, but the saving power of Christ leads to life. We who live will be given naturally to death but through the life of Jesus we too may live eternally. It is in our natural way of falling to death that Christ had to become one of us, to eat likes us, to breathe like us, to feel like us, and to suffer for us. The second half of verse 11 is powerful to me: "so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh." We are called to be Christ to the world, and to strive to be as holy as possible. Another verse that comes to mind is Galatians 3: 27 " For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
In the past I had the great privilege to work a wonderful man who devoted himself tirelessly to the poor and who passed away last year, Brother Sean Rogers. Before going out to feed and to minister to the homeless of Atlanta, we had a pre-meeting in which he stressed that we do not just be Christians to others. People find flaws in Christians and many claiming to be Christian do not really know Christ nor do they seek to spread God's love. Instead Brother Sean told us to be Christ Himself to others. Jesus Christ was human, but no one can find flaws in Christ.
Therefore let's allow Christ to manifest in us to expel the works of sin and death, and to bring light to the world.
-Allaine
This passage reminds me of Christ's call to take up our crosses daily. This means to me that every day Christ calls us to put our own selfish desires on the backburner, essentially dying to ourselves, and living in the way that he prescribes. These two passages seem very similar to me in that they both call us to sacrifice, but that we will then be able to live in a God-honoring way by following Jesus.
ReplyDelete"so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh." I just really liked the powerful nature of this statement in conjunction with the whole passage as we strive to reflect Christ in everything that we do. I think that is what especially hit me out of this. It's not, ok, I'm working now, but later, I will go serve people and put on my happy Christian attitude. No. Rather we should make our entire lives reflect him in every moment of every day. That is plenty of a challenge enough, but then we will truly reflect Christ in everything we do, and people will notice.
ReplyDeleteI just think that these verses clearly sum up what we are with and without Christ. Without him, we are dead. We are dead in our sins, transgressions, pride, jealousy, anger, and all kinds of negative things. But because of Christ's death and the fact that he overcame the death, we are alive and have been given a second chance. I think we all know that God is flawless and perfect. But one thing we always overlook is the fact that we should be like him. We should be able to show others that "life" is in us.
ReplyDelete"For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal"
ReplyDelete2 Corinthians 4:17-18
To me, this verse resonates with the theme of today's passage as well as with some from last week. As humans, we are not perfect. We sin all the time, and the wages for this sin is death. Jesus Christ died for us and rose again that those who believe in him as the sacrifice for our sins would not die but have eternal life. This is truly incredible, but somehow it gets lost behind the veil that is our everyday lives. How is it that we can look so much at these things that are transient, when just out of sight is an eternal truth greater than we can ever imagine? With this promise at the front of our minds we can really begin to show Christ to everyone around us.
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." Romans 6:11
ReplyDeleteThe whole of Romans 6 is a great parallel passage to this topic. It is a very straightforward theme that everyone seems touching on. There certainly is no hope for us in sin. Christ is the only hope we have, and to follow Christ is to die to sin. The two are polar opposites that lead to different ends. By accepting Christ and the life that He gives, we overcome sin. Only then can we count ourselves alive to God.
To me, talking about being given over to death means more than just passing away and being raised up with Jesus to eternal life. I think that it is instruction on how to live our lives here on earth. Give ourselves over to death for Jesus' sake. Don't live for ourselves anymore, don't live for our sins, but rather repent and change our ways and let Jesus Christ mold us into the holy men that we are called to be.
ReplyDeleteDie of ourselves so that we may live in Christ. No longer are we doing things for ourselves, no longer are we letting God do things for us, no longer are we doing things for God, but at last, we are doing things in Christ. In communion with Christ and giving him control of our lives.