Learning To Die (Part 1)

It seems the longer I walk with God, the more convinced I am that God is asking me to die. Jesus tells me to lay down my life. He tells me to deny myself. He tells me to follow him. He went to the cross to die. But like Him, my death is not an end, but a gateway to eternal life. In order to enter in, one must die to self. Some feel this happens at the moment I accept the gift of Christ’s atonement. But, I do not agree. I think the acceptance of atonement is the beginning of a process that takes one, if done correctly, to the death of self. This is also called sanctification. Sanctification is the process that God takes us through that will make us more and more like Christ, it will at its conclusion make us perfect. However, the thought of us becoming perfect is not a conceivable target. We cannot comprehend ourselves in a perfect state. Therefore, the process of sanctification is hindered by our inability to comprehend the final product. If you look at the words of Jesus, He spends much more time, trying to get us to a point of self denial. The point which is his target is the death of self. And during His ministry He spoke about the death to self numerous times.

To come to a point of self death will take you through every lesson taught in the word of God. There is scarce a lesson in the bible that does not have a root of self death woven into it. It is for this reason that I believe that this is the central point of sanctification and the main purpose for us in this life to realize.

Why use the word Death? It is so final, so permanent. Jesus is not calling us to a temporary denial. He is not calling us to a limited denial. He is calling us to a level of denial that is permanent and unlimited. In this sense it is a form of death. The words used are specific and have a purpose. The finality of death is something we can all relate to.

To find the life that God has for us, we must first lose the life that we are presently clinging to. Like a snake that sheds it skin, we must first lose the old to make way for the new. Jesus spoke of new wine in old wine skins. Like a caterpillar that becomes a butterfly, it is necessary that the old worm dies to make way the beautiful butterfly. Why is it that no one ever morns for the worm that died? One answer is that most if not all realize that the worm never really died. But if that is true, where is the worm? The worm is gone. The worm died, and in it’s place something better was left. A butterfly was born. Some will say that the worm was transformed into the beautiful butterfly. God’s words says not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed through the renewing of your mind. So it would be correct to say the worm transformed into a butterfly. But the central fact still remains… where is the worm? It is gone, be it death or transformation, the old has past away and the new lives on. No where do we see the butterfly returning to the worm stage of life. And the butterfly is not a worm with wings. It is, as the bible says, a new creation. The worm is dead!