The daily cross

This topic is much misunderstood. I explained how death, through the work of the cross, is the great liberator for the Christian. We die to sin, Satan, the world and the flesh. We even die to the law, in spite of what the legalists have to say. However, there is one more aspect that we need to realise and accept. That is death to self. Let me explain.

Adam was created a living being. He received the breath of life, which became his spirit. He also received something unique, the soul. The soul consists primarily of mind, emotion and will. The soul is the organ of expression. Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord! My spirit rejoices in God my saviour". This indicates how the spirit and soul are related. The soul should express what is in the spirit. The spirit of the born again is alive to God and it is where Lord Jesus lives.

So what is the problem? We also have an independent life in the soul. Adam was created neutral. He was neither for God or against. God gave man free will and just one instruction. Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam disobeyed and the rest is history.

The principle of good and evil became the rule in Adam's life. The worst time in Israel's history was summed up this way: "Everyone did was right in their own sight." Right? The terrible events recorded at the end of Judges? It is hard to imagine how such evil could prevail, at least until we look at our own society. People can do terrible things and justify their acts.

Law is based on the principle of good and evil, and that applies to God's law also. It was given to sinners who lived by the good/evil principle. God's covenant people were no different from the gentiles. They also were born in sin and conceived in iniquity.

So what does God want from us? Let's go back to where it all started. The Tree of Life was also in the garden. Adam was permitted to eat from that. It is not stated whether or not God drew Adam's attention to the Tree of Life. It was in the middle of the garden along with the the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If all you have is knowledge, death is the result. It's one thing to know what to do, another entirely to do it. King David knew God's law better than most. He wrote about it and it's in God's word now. And the record of his sins is written there as well.

God may change the way He does things but He does not change. He still requires that we live according to life, not the principle of good and evil. Lord Jesus came that we might have abundant life, He is the Life of the believer, we are saved by His life. But these thing are only effective if we choose them to be. We have the same choice as Adam. Do we live by knowledge in the soul or life in the spirit?

When we are first born again, we receive a new spirit. Our soul is unchanged. We have years of conditioning by the world. We have been told that pride is good, independence is valuable, there is nothing wrong with rebellion and that reason and logic should rule us. We are told that emotion should guide us also. Children in the West are told that if you don't feel like the gender you were born then society will enable you to change gender. This is insane, but it is the way the world is going.

Christians can go along with the world or not. Some Christians reject God's word regarding homosexuality. They engage in all kinds of mental gymnastics to come to that conclusion. Some walk away from their marriage because they don't have feelings for their spouse any more. All this and much more is the consequence of being ruled by the soul.

Once we realise that we have a problem, usually because of much failure, we may wonder how to get off the treadmill. We always seem to be failing and doing the wrong thing. Our intentions are good, but the result not what we expected. What we need is to get off the treadmill of being led by the self of the soul and come onto the narrow way that leads to life. It's much harder than we imagine.

Abraham produced a child by his own natural ability. It was, and still is, a disaster. We need to learn what it means to be led by the Spirit. Often we find that the Spirit will lead us in a different direction to logic and reason, and emotion also. Emotion is a powerful thing. Many marriages result from emotion and when the emotion dies down, people are left wondering what they have got themselves into. If we allow Lord Jesus to lead us, we will not give in to emotion. We will not be enslaved to reason and logic.

Where does the cross come in? It is the means God uses to free us from our worst enemy - ourselves. Every time that we reject the demand of self, some of self's control is diminished and the Lord Jesus can shine that much more through us. We will not be entirely free in this life, but some are close. A young preacher asked how long he should spend preparing his sermons. The wise elder replied, 20 years.

It gets a little easier as we go on. We discover that God's ways really are better, His will is preferable to self will and God's wisdom is vastly superior. It is life that overcomes death. But until we die, we cannot experience resurrection life.

To finish, most Christians have something dear to them that they cling to. It is rarely anything bad. Yet it is a blockage. I had many. What is wrong with playing guitar? Nothing. Yet I had to give up for years. God restored it to me when it no longer was an obsession. God's grace is always available. All He requires is our willingness. He will do the rest. If you want to be a kingdom Christian, a disciple, there is no other way but the cross.