In a world that celebrates self-reliance as a virtue, Christ calls His followers to be entirely dependent on Him. We are called to surrender our personal autonomy in exchange for the life under the control of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul tells us, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NIV). Therefore, the call is to be crucified with Christ, and when we respond to that call in obedience, we trade our lives for His! Now you see, the Fall resulted in our independence from God. However, the fallen man considers that a good thing. With access to all the information he needs together with his resourcefulness, he sets himself up for a life of sovereignty.
When we come to faith in Jesus, we are surrendering ourselves unreservedly to Christ’s ownership. The Apostle Paul tells us: “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV). In other words, God roots us in His love, which enables us to have a rich experience of God’s presence in our lives! Why then do we tend to gravitate towards weak flesh? Because flesh offers self-gratification. We look at ourselves and commend our own abilities and achievements. With a petty attitude, we envy others and want what they have. We strive to get all that our heart desires, thereby usurping a life of self-fulfillment.
The consistent humility of Jesus teaches us otherwise. Only a life anchored in Him will know His ways. What makes a strong saint is the extent of his total abandonment to the Lord. God, in Christ has created us for Himself. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9 NIV). The Apostle Peter understood this from the Old Testament where God was drawing His people, the Israelites, to Himself, calling them to be set apart: “…you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6. See also Leviticus 20:26) God wanted a people who did not depend on an earthly king like their neighbors or did not bow down to any idols because they saw in Him a life complete. This is the very life that was designed by God in the Garden of Eden: a life of unbroken fellowship with our Creator!
Now Christ came to accomplish what man could never achieve in his weak flesh. And in Christ all things are now restored. A Christ follower has the responsibility to put to death the deeds of the flesh: “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13 NIV). We are to put our trust in God alone. Having full confidence in God’s hand over our own circumstances, we should not try to be our own providence. Neither must we work towards our own deliverance for God is able to use all things to work unto our sanctification. At the end of the day, in every situation we are placed in, we need to examine ourselves in this one thing: Am I growing in my capacity to reflect Christ?
This is the hope of the gospel in our sanctification that we are becoming fully human as He created us to be.
Nisha Ajit George
