“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love”. 1 Cor. 13:13
To manifest the power of Christ in our lives as Christians we must be immersed in His death and burial.
The more we die to self is to the degree that we die to the world- this is by a reckoning faith that our old man of sin died with Jesus.
The more we die to self interest and the more we alive to selfless love the more the reality of the life and power of Jesus appears in us. Jesus said this much: “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12).
How do we achieve this marvelous Christ like life ? By reckoning that our life style of sin has been nailed to the cross along with Jesus and we are by faith united with a resurrected Jesus.
Galatians 2:20 puts it thus: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” This is the secret of sacrificial love unto power.
What this mean is that we should not allow ourselves to be slaves to the old lifestyle knowing that we are now a new creature in Christ Jesus and alive from among the many who are still dead in sin and are foreigners to the resurrected life of Christ.
The world cannot exercise the sacrificial love of God because they are blinded by selfish purposes. Of the many who are still held in bondage, the Bible in 2 Corinthians 4:4 says:
“For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God.”
But we who are truly in Christ must die to self by saying no to ungodly thoughts and conversations which always lead to sinful actions. Without death to self we cannot manifest the power of love through Christ.
We say yes to Christ, when we chose to consciously allow him to express his love through us.
The root of every darkness is man’s selfishness which leads to spiritual death but the obedience of a sacrificial life leads to righteousness and the manifestation of the divine life.
Apostle Paul’s declaration, “ I die daily”, ( 1 Cor. 15:31) echoes Jesus’ command to those who want to follow Him: “If anyone would come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
James said, “But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and entice. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:14-15)”.
Temptation comes from our selfish desires, which entice us and drag us away from Christ.
To live a life of power in Christ we must constantly have our heart fixed on heavenly things and not on earthly hope which is at best evasive, deceptive and terminal.
Earthly appetites and passion are the things that supplies weapons to satan to attack us but through the practice of self denial we can actually overcome the attacks of the enemy.
The more that we yield to, and agree with the Holy Spirit, the more He gives us grace to grow spiritually. As we seek God’s direction and follow his instruction, and are careful not to quench or grieve the Spirit of our holy God (Ephesians 4:30), His love becomes more manifested in us.
God gives us the essence of His Spirit so that we can reflect His glory to the world, through becoming just like Him in love.
Reading
Romans 6
