Why
Die?
In the previous page about The Day I Died I
described what happened to me shortly after May 15, 1976, and the
spiritual death which I experienced. I also described the fruits
of this spiritual death which appears, from my experience, to be a
rarity among followers of Jesus Christ.
So, why should anyone want to share
my experience of spiritual
death? A good questions, and I hope to provide you with good
reasons.
First. if one wants to make the most
of their life, I suggest that one
should seek the Most High God for all the help one needs.
Second, I am convinced from the
historical record that spiritual
followers of Jesus Christ, also known as The Prince of Peace, is real,
and is really the only Way to know the One True God as He said is:
Joh_14:6
Jesus told him, "I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.
John
17:1 After Jesus had said this, he looked up to heaven and said,
"Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may
glorify you. For you have given him authority over all humanity so that
he might give eternal life to all those you gave him. And this is
eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you
sent—Jesus the Messiah.
You may have
noticed that I mentioned spiritual
followers of Jesus Christ. The is to distinguish them from carnal
followers of Jesus, who are really only living for themselves rather
than for God. They are responsible for all the bad fruits which
are associated with Christianity, including the Crusades and the
Spanish Inquisition for example.
Third, the real distinction between
carnal and spiritual Christians is
that spiritual Christians have been shown the truth about themselves,
and have begun to hate their own lives as a result! This hatred
for our own lives is the most important key to wanting to die and be
born again of the Spirit of God by receiving Jesus Christ into one's
heart in unconditional surrender to God and His will for our life.
Jesus declared:
Luke14:26
"If anyone comes to Me
and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and
sisters, as well as his own life, he can't be My disciple.
You wan clearly see that
hating one's own life is the
keystone to becoming a real disciple of Jesus. Many people hate
everyone else including family members, but only those who truly hate
their own lives for the proper reasons and turn to Jesus to become His
disciple actually become His Disciples!
So, how does one tell true followers
of Jesus and the One True God from
everyone else? By their fruits.
Mat 7:15
"Beware of false
prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are savage
wolves.
Mat 7:16 You will know them by their fruit. Grapes aren't
gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles, are they?
Mat 7:17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit,
but a rotten tree produces bad fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree
cannot produce good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut
down and thrown into a fire.
Mat 7:20 So by their fruit you will know them."
Mat 7:21 "Not everyone who keeps saying to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will
get into the kingdom from heaven, but only the person who keeps doing
the will of my Father in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, we
prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed
many miracles in your name, didn't we?'
Mat 7:23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Get
away from me, you who practice evil!'"
So, we see that it is
better to bear good fruit than to bear rotten fruit.
And, if we are honest with
ourselves, and compare ourselves to
Jesus as God's standard of righteousness , we can only conclude that we
fall far short of being Godly. And if we are even more honest
with ourselves, we can easily conclude that we will never become Godly
by ourselves.
So, how does one become Godly?
Jesus gives the answer, of course:
Mat_3:10 The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So
every tree that isn't producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown
into the fire.
What is this ax, and who is
going to pick it up and apply it to
the tree with rotten fruit?
May I suggest that God provides the
'ax' by giving His only begotten
Son to die and be resurrected to life in order that we might claim His
death and resurrection as our own death and resurrection. I find
this truth in the following verse from Paul's second epistle to the
carnal Christians in Corinth:
2Co 5:15 He
[Jesus] died for all
people, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but
for the One who died and rose for them.
2Co 5:15 He died for all people,
so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the
one who died and rose for them.
Most Christians, including
their leaders, make the mistake of
believing that this all happens automatically when the receive Jesus
into their hearts. But again, if they are honest with themselves,
they will admit that they have not become perfect, or even very good
disciples, until they come to unconditional surrender to God through
conviction of sin and hatred for their lives leading to true faith into
Jesus.
More later, Lord willing.