Christ died for us -- now we get to die for Him

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV

What a great verse to wake up to this morning.

• What compels us?? Christ's LOVE. 
• Why? Because we are convinced!
• Of what? That the ONE died for ALL
• And so? We ALL die too. 
• Die to what? To our old life!
• Why did he die for all? So we could no longer live for ourselves!
• Who do we live for? For Christ who died for us! 
• Why can we do all this? Because he WAS raised again!

This is a matter of personal faith and choice. We are, of course, filled with God's power through His indwelling Spirit to make this choice. But we must make the choice to die and live for Him. We do not make this choice just one time in our lives. We make it many times over, as many times as needed and as the Lord brings further growth and conviction to us. We make the choice with friends, and we make the choice in the Church. But your church cannot save you. 

WE DO NOT LIVE FOR OUR CHURCH

We do not make a choice to die and live for our Church. We make the choice to live FOR Christ Himself. He has certainly given us a Body of friends whom we can call our Church. But churches are made up of people. And people are not perfect. So churches are NEVER perfect. However, Christ IS perfect. So we live for Christ, regardless of what church we are a part. Christ then calls us to lay down our lives for our friends, just as he lay down His life for us. This living for Christ through loving our friends produces the very best sort of Church, one which can have great power and purpose, revealing the risen Lord to the nations. For they will know we are Christians by our LOVE. But, again, it is the first step... deciding to LIVE for Christ and not for ourselves. We take this first step again and again throughout our walk with the Lord. 

WE DO NOT DECIDE FOR ANOTHER WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE FOR CHRIST

And we cannot decide for another what it means to live for Christ. We are ALL very different. We have different backgrounds, personalities, stories, dreams, goals, families, lifestyles, incomes, genders, etc. etc. And we live ALL over the world. So for one person or one Church to decide for another or for all other churches that they KNOW how all should live for Christ is arrogant and judgmental. We must provide ample grace to people all over the world, but promote one and only one message -- "die to yourself and then live for Christ. In Living for Christ you will indeed find true LIFE." But this is where we must hand over the practical aspect of this message to the Spirit of God, to work out that salvation in the believer's heart. It is a deeply personal thing, or at least it should be. The person making this decision to live for Christ needs to hear one voice, the voice of the Spirit of God, speaking to his or her conscience and going down deep to plant the seeds which will yield fruit in this life. Since we are all so different this process itself will be different for each person coming to the LORD. If we say to the new follower "this is how you live for Christ" and then proceed with a laundry list of tasks, and if the would be disciple then listens to our list instead of the words of the Lord to them, then we have just replaced the role of the Spirit in that person's live, and worse, we have created a dependency on a man instead on the man, Jesus Christ. So we must step back and allow a person to go to God directly to find out directly from God what is means for them to die and live for Christ. This is how we can become friends in the LORD, not by ruling over the new Christian, but by coming along side of him or her as a fellow traveler. 

THE GOAL IS LOVE

The goal is LOVE. It is to get to the point of saying, truly, Christ's LOVE compels me. Why do we lay down our lives and LIVE for HIM? Because Christ's love compels. When we are compelled by that love nothing can shake us. Another might come at you with demands for your Christian practice, but it will not matter. You are compelled by Christ's love and not by another human. Another person might come at you with accusation or even condemnation, but it will not matter if you are compelled by the Divine love. You will hear the Lord's voice over and above the voice of the accuser. And someone might come at you  with a fist, attempting to kill your body but they cannot. There is ONE and only one thing in this world which can never be taken from you -- it's not your home, your family, your church, your friends, your clothes, your food, your country, your comfort, your car, your money, your flowers, or your pet -- it's your FAITH!  The goal is LOVE because we have faith. We believe in the one whom was sent to die once and for ALL. We believe -- in HIM! This belief the enemy cannot steal from us. And we do not underestimate the power of this belief, and the subsequent choice to live for Him, for it IS the universal message to the nations, and to all people at all times both now and forever. Christ died for us -- now we get to die for Him, and with HIM, and in this death we find LIFE everlasting! 

Now let's go live this life, together! I'm blessed to be surrounded by close friends who make this decision as well, and it helps me. And we are each SO very different. I've come to really cherish and love the great diversity of my friends, and the way they apply this verse daily, seeking to lay down their lives for Christ. They've shown me a great deal, especially about grace. So let's stop judging one another and cutting people off because they don't believe like you or do what you think they should do. (I've repented from this judgement in my own life, but still work daily to open up my eyes and see how glorious is our God, and how many thousands of desciples there are in the world.) Let's stop thinking we cornered the market on right thinking, or pure Christianity. This just ends up creating division and denominations. Dying to live for Christ might just start with our dying to our own opinions.

We all can come live for CHRIST! But it's going to be a great big beautiful mess of a thing, with a great big beautiful bunch of messed up individuals. But this great big beautiful bunch of messed up individuals makes up the universal Body of Christ! And that's great! For we are not alone in our desire and decision to live for Christ. Millions of people share this same desire and decision everyday. Those millions of people are indeed our brothers and sisters in Christ. Now that's a big family. 

Thank you LORD!

What compels us?? Christ's LOVE. 

Why? Because we are convinced!

Of what? That the ONE died for ALL

And so? We ALL die too. 

Die to what? To our old life!

Why did he die for all? So we could no longer live for ourselves!

Who do we live for? For Christ who died for us! 

Why can we do all this? Because he WAS raised again!

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV