Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” [Mathew 16.23]
Peter was looking at the situation "merely from a human point of view..." which Jesus pointed out was not God's point of view. Jesus made clear that a human point of view contrasts God's (Kingdom) point of view.
Jesus then defined what God's point of view looks like:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. [Matthew 16. 24-27]
If Jesus is saying a Kingdom point of view is complete resignation from preserving one's own life, then He is also emphasizing that there is nothing about "self" we should be concerned to preserve. This stands in stark contrast to modern society's obsession with self. In fact, any focus on self, whether promoted by the world or even by the Church, is in full rejection of Jesus' teaching found here in Matthew 16 and elsewhere in the Gospels!
The Apostle Paul's statements to the Church in Corinth are consistent with Jesus' teaching about the significance of "human point of view" or "human reasoning."
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. [2 Corinthians 10.3-5]
Paul indicates here that the very things that keep people from knowing God are human reasoning and false arguments (as if false arguments are the result of human reasoning). It is furthermore conclusive from Paul's words above that knowing God and obeying Christ are inseparably entwined. Obeying Christ is to know God. Knowing God is to obey Christ. And, Christ Jesus was not unclear that obeying Him meant giving up on self altogether!
But...
Jesus provided no alternatives to His mandate. Jesus did not go on soften His words' meaning in further explanation (the way so many do today). In fact, as He further explained it in Matthew 16.24-27, the more dogmatic Jesus became leaving no room for "but..." or any other clarification or argument. To follow Christ is to completely deny self, period.
The sad thing is, in all our self-infatuation today, we have the brazen audacity to wonder why God has so little interaction with us as He did with Jesus. Our efforts to preserve our lives have effectively lost them through our disobedience.
It sure would have made it easier on us had Jesus gone on to say, "But..." or "Now, we all know..." or some other words to 'soften the blow' of what He said. But He didn't. In fact, Jesus never made concession for man to pander to self.
It is a hard lesson for sure but one we must strive to master in practice. If we are to look and act like Christ (in other words, be Christ-like, or Christian), then our efforts should clearly disregard self. There is simply no other way that we can be in Christ and Christ in us.
God help all who claim to follow Christ to follow him according to His requirements and not their own!
Father, for all the times I have 'painted myself in a corner' with Your Word, today stands as the most profound I can remember. Forgive me for my infatuation with self. Forgive me for qualifying what the Bible says by how it serves my needs instead of me serving the Kingdom's needs!
1 comment:
This is a very profound message brother. It takes a bit of Rama knowledge to understand it wholeheartedly. I don’t think this ol’ human flesh can clearly comprehend what Jesus is telling us with letting this ol’ flesh go. We must be fully submitted to letting our flesh die daily as Paul states he must let himself die daily. You’re right tho, all this world teaches us is self interest, self gratification, self loathing, self centeredness, self this and self that. I find that I have to live by “Let Go & Let God”. This is the mantra if ya will that helps to guide me into all understanding. It helps me to try to attain Christlikeness. The thing that we all think tho is this; We try, we let go, we give it to God, we this and we that. We have to understand we don’t do jack. Sorry brother Jack no pun intended brother. We must realize that the only “we” we must do is submit and let God. We will never attain Christlikeness as long as we think we are doing it. We have to learn to let go and yield into His Holy Spirit to direct us into His likeness. Only through Him can we ever attain the likeness of Christ in us. I pray; Father forgive my arrogance of thinking I can do anything, I realize that I can do nothing without you. You are my all in every thought that enters my mind to every cell that’s created in my body. Father I am nothing without you help to show me how to let go and let you. Help me to submit wholly and yield into your Holy Spirits leading. I want nothing but you to direct me in this life Father. Show me tech me and lead me in how to be as Christlike as can be obtained in this life. Father I thank you for your faithfulness, I pray all in the precious beautiful gracious merciful amazing glorious blessed and humble name of the name above any name the Lord most high, Christ Jesus, Amen!
Post a Comment