Carrying Death but Manifesting Life? How in the World Does this Work?

Sunday Scripture

One of the few relics that has survived my youth is a small golden cross, mailed to me by a dear aunt and uncle I met only once. Whenever I wear it, I think about their unlikely generosity, their completely uncalled-for interest in an awkward pre-teen. And in this Lenten season, I wonder, too, at the irony of anyone wearing as jewelry a sanitized version of an ancient instrument of torture.

The cross was a horror to those who lived in first-century Imperial Rome, and Roman executions were carried out before the public eye to motivate a compliant citizenry. Jesus’s very public and terrifying death story drives home the ugliness of sin and the huge price of our redemption, but even so, we are invited to push back against morbid and morose introspection and instead to celebrate resurrection as an accomplished fact and the basis for our confident faith.

Life out of death and victory out of suffering are common themes in Scripture, but nowhere is the collision more jarring than in 2 Corinthians 4:

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

2 Corinthians 4:6-11 (emphasis mine)

Carrying Death While Manifesting Life?

Paul was familiar with suffering, and it was clear to him that the attacks against him and his colleagues in ministry were actually attacks against Jesus. His afflictions were very real, but he lived in service to One who actually had been crushed, forsaken, and destroyed (4:9).

Paul said that he carried about “in [his] body the death of Jesus.”
Always.
But, in return, he saw the glory of God, “the life of Jesus,” put on display in his weakness, his suffering, and in his loyal proclamation that Christ was the source of his strength.

“…we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” 2 Corinthians 4:11 #SundayScripture #Lent2023

Tweet

What relevance, then, does this startling juxtaposition of life with death have for us in 2023, serving God in freedom and comfort? I would suggest that the difference is our ability to choose. To believers in first-world nations with reliable transportation and clean water supplies, with the right to vote, ready access to education, sufficient nutrition, and the right to trial by a jury of our peers, the word of the Lord is, “Take up your cross.“

We are not flung down and nailed in place. Instead, our voluntary self-denial looks like an easy yoke and a light burden.

A Chance to Die

Saying no to ourselves is, at the very least, counter-cultural. In some circles, it’s considered heretical, unhealthy, and even repressive. After all, if this life is all there is, I’d better coddle myself and get down to the business of fulfilling all my hopes and dreams!

Amy Carmichael, pioneer missionary to India, understood true discipleship and lived it out. In her daily work with the Dohnavur Fellowship, an orphanage she founded for children in moral danger, Amy set exacting standards for the children’s care and training. When colleagues came to her with disputes or complaints about the cost of discipleship, her reply would have been, “When anything cuts across your natural desires, see in it a chance to die.”

Whenever we release our own will and accept God’s will in a situation, when we deny ourselves some comfort or legitimate desire simply for the good of another, when we accept suffering and loss with God-given courage, we are choosing to die, or as Jesus put it, to deny ourselves.

How much inconvenience am I willing to accept for the sake of Christ? The measure of my willingness is the measure of my love, and it’s usually the little sacrifices required for the people who are closest to me that reveal my unwillingness to die to irritation or impatience.

When I choose to stop keeping score of all the offenses I’ve been holding against others or when I release my need to defend myself or to be “right,” that small, insignificant death puts the life of Jesus on display in my mortal body.

How would it change your attitude toward suffering or even minor inconveniences if you let yourself “see in it a chance to die?” How would this impact on the important relationships in your life?

Holding You in the Light,

To believers living in safety and comfort, the word of the Lord is, “Take up your cross.” We are not flung down and nailed in place. Instead, our voluntary self-denial is an easy yoke and a light burden.

Tweet

How Will You Come Close to God in the Days Leading up to Easter? (Here’s a FREE Resource to Help…)

As a gift to my newsletter subscribers, I’ve created a collection of 20 devotional readings called Come Close to the Story, a preparation for your true celebration of resurrection on Easter Sunday. This Lenten season I invite you to join me for a daily pause—most readings should take five minutes or less—to come close to the story. In your busy life, remember that Easter is on its way. Affirm your belief in resurrection power, and then admit that without a death, there would be no resurrection.

Every month I send a newsletter with biblical encouragement straight to my subscribers’ email inboxes. Frequently, I share free resources, and the newsletter is where everything lands first. I’m committed to the truth that women can become confident followers of God and students of his Word, and it’s my goal to help you along that path.

To add this free resource to your pursuit of biblical literacy and to make Come Close to the Story part of your Lenten observance, simply enter your email and then click on the button below…

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. If you should decide to purchase any of the books or products I’ve shared, simply click on the image, and you’ll be taken directly to the seller. If you decide to buy, I’ll make a small commission

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash