Matthew 16:25, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
I’ve written a lot on this verse and on passages like it, but it is a truth that I easily forget and so need to be continually reminded of. Living to preserve, to secure, to cushion, to defend, to build up my life and myself in this present age *will* lead to damnation….Whereas spending ourselves, giving our time and energy and money, pouring out our efforts in order to see others satisfied with the beauty of God in Christ….this will lead to (and, indeed, is) life (the Greek word in the above picture is ζωή, “life”).
Why is this the case? Is it because—generally speaking—living for ourselves is “bad” and living for others is “good”? Not exactly. Instead, it comes down to who God is. In His self-giving death on the cross, Jesus reveals to us the nature, the character, the excellence, the beauty, the glory of GOD…the cross of Christ is the Life of God on display. This is who God is and this is how God lives: the total outpouring of self to other so that other might be satisfied in God.
Therefore, in a universe that exists from and for *this God,* “Life” is going to look like Him…Life is defined by who God is, therefore Life is found as we join Christ in the “crucifixion” of His own self giving love. There is no other way to truly live. Everything else that claims to be Life (thrill seeking, travel, seeing the world, having a comfortable house, being surrounded by the things and people we love) is a lie….or at least, it is a lie to the extent that these things prevent us from pouring ourselves out in love to others.
Death is living to maximize my life here and now, Life is joining Christ (and so harmonizing to the identity of God) in the outpouring of my life here and now so that others might know and enjoy God in Christ…..May God give us all grace to know what this looks like for our individual situations.
