| For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2Cor5:21 The basis of eternal life is substitution. Jesus took on him the sin of the world, my sin and yours, and sacrificed his body for our salvation. We do not earn our salvation nor can we purchase it. It is a free gift and a love offering of God. He became sin that we might be the righteous. Our righteousness is something God gives us. It is bought with the blood of Christ. That is the first substitution. The next substitution is for discipleship. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Mt16:24 Discipleship requires self-denial. The self is the way I reason, what I desire, and how I feel about things. To deny the self and take up the cross is painful. Nobody wants to give up self for God. To deny one's self means giving up the world for the sake of the kingdom. You cannot serve God and money. You cannot serve God and your passions. You cannot serve God and the flesh. It is a painful process. It is done not by willpower but by faith."I crucify my flesh with its passions and desires."Rm5:24 "Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." Gal5:16 "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God." Confessing these scriptures and applying them as circumstances dictate provide the means for establishing the discipled life. If the blood of the Christ provided substitution for salvation, then the cross of Christ provides substitution for discipleship. The third substitution is to apostleship. I die to my life that Christ might live in me and through me. "I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me." Gal2:20 The life of a martyr is one in which the old man completely dies and the new man completely takes over. Christ lives in me and my life is buried with him in baptism that the work of Christ might continue in the world. The Christian who wholly aspires to the will of God will use his faith to completely surrender and die to self that Christ might wholly live in him. "Death works in us but life in you." 2Cor4:12 Co-crucifixion precedes co-resurrection. The life of the apostle was one of complete substitution for the kingdom of God. In order for resurrection power to take place in the world one must bury the old man and live in newness of the Spirit. Only a life motivated by Christ, with him, in him, through him, has the kind of power that Christ had when he walked this earth. If we are dead to the world and to the flesh, then sin no longer has power over us and we are fit to engage in spiritual warfare. If we are in the world but not of the world then sin is defeated and we can begin to battle Satan and evil spirits. The first substitution is without cost. The second substitution more costly. The third substitution the costliest of all. To give up everything for the kingdom of God means more than giving up things. It means giving up what we want and desire not only in the world but in our thoughts and dreams. It means living a life totally on faith and giving yourself for the salvation of the world. Those who do will enter the millennium with Christ and judge the kingdoms of the world. Loss in this life is gain in the next. Gain in this life is loss in the next. Few make the choice for complete substitution. But for those who do, the rewards are great. Amen. |