“When Christ Calls a Man, He Bids Him Come and Die”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I don’t know what words, if any, can capture what the video above so excellently communicates. Throughout all of the his epistles, Paul speaks of the “sufferings of Christ”. In Philippians 3:10 he says that he counts everything he was before Christ as loss, and throws it all away so that he might not only know the power of the resurrection, but also the “…fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…” In Colossians 1:24 he says that he rejoices in his sufferings for those at the church at Colossae. We see Paul actually invite Timothy to join him in suffering for the Gospel in 2 Timothy 1:8. Paul does all of this because “…the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us…”
Matthew 16:23-25
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Christ tells us that if any of us want to follow Him, that we must carry our cross and follow Him. He then gives an added warning that whoever tries to avoid carrying their cross will in fact lose their life, but whoever embraces their cross as He did will actually find life.
So what does this look like? How do we take this command and see it as something other than a solemn command not based in reality?
First, we must understand the nature of the Gospel. The first part of the Gospel (forgive me for breaking the Gospel up into parts, but it’s easier to explain this way) is that we as humans have sinned against God, committing open treason against the King. Therefore, we deserve instant death. So far, this doesn’t seem like great news. Well, you’re still breathing, aren’t you? All of us, from Adam and Eve all the way to you and me, are alive because of the Gospel. Yeah, I know, you’re thinking “How does the good news of Jesus have anything to do with me simply being alive?” Good question.
John 1:3
3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Colossians 1:15-17
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Romans 3:25 (full context is verses 21-26)
25 [Christ] whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
The first two verses here show us that all of creation (including angelic beings), even before sin entered the world, was created through Christ. So does that mean that even if I don’t believe in Jesus or God that I still exist because of something I don’t believe in? Absolutely! The third verse tells us that Jesus had to go through the cross so that God would be just, or be right in not punishing the sins of the past. This is why Adam and Eve didn’t physically drop dead the moment their lips touched the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve didn’t physically die when they committed open treason against God because God gave them grace and mercy through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, even though it hadn’t happened yet. This is what is called “common grace”, the fact that each of us is alive and breathing even though we have committed (and still commit) treason against the King. We are all physically alive because of the cross of Christ, because of the Gospel.
The second part of the Gospel is specific to Christians (or the elect, for the Calvinists out there — another blog, another time). This part of the Gospel concerns spiritual life, not only physical. We have already seen how we’ve committed treason against God, and that Adam and Eve deserved to die instantly. So, what happened? They didn’t die physically, why not? First, God justly spared their physical lives through the cross of Christ, but Adam and Eve died spiritually that day, and everyone since then has been born spiritually dead, or separate from God (Eph. 2:1). This part of the Gospel is that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross paid our debt to God, who then declared us right in the King’s court, and restored our relationship with Him (see the book of Romans, the whole thing). The Gospel is that when we committed treason against God, He not only gives us the common grace to go on living day to day, but sent His Son to pay the price we couldn’t pay to get back into right relationship with Him spiritually. The Gospel is that we get God because of something we didn’t do, when we don’t deserve it.
Now that we understand more about the Gospel, what else do we have to do to see this command as something based in reality? We focus on Christ’s character, we focus on the cross and we don’t take our eyes off of it. You want to know how to be a good man or woman? Look at Jesus. You want to know how to be a good husband or wife? Look at the way Jesus lead and loved with sacrifice. You want to know how to be a good leader? Look at how Jesus served. You want to learn to carry your cross? Learn all you can about the character of Christ and become that.
Right about now you’re probably thinking, “So, wait a minute? You’re saying that I have to be like Jesus, like God? That’s impossible.” Bingo. Congratulations, you’ve understood what it takes most people a lifetime to learn, if they ever do. We CAN’T please God in and of ourselves. We can strive to be Christ-like all we want, and we will fail every time if we are trying to accomplish this in our own strength. The first step to carrying your cross is admitting that it’s too heavy to carry. Then we can finally begin to trust God, and rely on Him to carry the cross with us.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
If we want to please God, we must trust Him. We must be humble enough to admit that we can’t do it, and trust God to guide us one step at a time. How do we get this faith though? God saved you without you doing anything to deserve it, do you think He’d leave you hanging there? God gave you the faith you need to trust Him. If you feel like what you have isn’t enough, ask for more…and get ready for more opportunities to trust God and exercise the faith He’s given you.
Bonhoeffer is right when he says “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die”. I think we limit that statement to the physical too often, and that definitely does happen around the world, even today. Jesus also called us to die to ourselves internally, to throw off the “old us” and put on the “new us in Christ”. It is painful at times, it is costly at times. Sometimes it feels as if all we are is literally being burned away. That’s when our faith lets us look up and see the fourth man in the fire (Daniel 3), that’s when we look up and see Jesus beside us carrying our cross with us, only this time He isn’t beaten up, bloody, and weak. He is strong, confident, and giving us a smile that says “I got this”.
If we want to learn to carry our cross, we must learn the humility of Christ and admit that we can’t do it alone, and allow Him to serve us by carrying our cross with us.
“…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” Matthew 20:28.
