The greatest struggle in the Christian’s life is a control issue. We want Jesus to be Lord but we don’t want to lose control of our lives. We want to call the shots. Jesus is Lord – conditionally. That is, He is Lord as long as His will and direction agree with what we want.
As someone once said, “The problem with a live sacrifice is that is continually climbs off the altar.” This is the crux of our problem. As soon as we give ourselves to the Lord we are taking back what we gave Him – we climb off the altar. “I” keeps control, maintains lordship.
Is there an answer to this wrestling, up and down life. Well, the way to ensure that the sacrifice remains on the altar is to kill it. Galatians 2:20 reveals how this is done for us: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” “I” is crucified and we are raised in Christ. “I” is not obliterated, rather given true life and made subservient to Christ’s Lordship. He is our life; our identity; our Lord. He is the ground to our being. We are freed from self-domination. We are liberated from self-obsession. We are emancipated so that we can fully love and serve God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. J.D. McClurkan stated it well: “There is a sinful self to be crucified with Christ; a true self to be realized in Christ; and a human self to be disciplined by Christ.”
John Wesley had believers pray a prayer in a Covenant Service. It is the prayer the Christian who longs to be done with the great battle over lordship and be sold out to Christ. It is the prayer of all that have been crucified with Christ. It is the prayer of every Christian:
“Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will. Let me employed by You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low by You. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am Yours. So be it. AMEN.”
Keep close to Jesus.
(PASTOR GERALD WHETSTONE)