Here’s how to show our gratitude for what Jesus did on the cross
By Dean Collins
During the three years of his public ministry, Jesus introduced the crowds to the ways and purposes of his Father’s kingdom. Jesus also told stories about what the kingdom of God was like, and frequently he performed miracles of healing and other miracles like the feeding of the 5,000 in Luke 9.
It was just after this miracle that Jesus asked his disciples who they believed him to be. Peter pushed past the opinions of some who thought Jesus was a prophet of old who had come back to life. Peter declared that Jesus was “the Christ of God.”
Matthew’s account of Peter’s confirmation included a blessing from Jesus and a statement that God had revealed that insight to Peter. Imagine the validation Peter must have had when he heard the words of Jesus. He was a simple fisherman called to follow Jesus and was granted spiritual insight from God.
Daily self-denial
As Peter and the other disciples traveled with Jesus, they saw firsthand that Jesus taught the truth of God but also told them how to live and behave as kingdom citizens. In this instance, Jesus followed Peter’s confession with a deeper explanation of what it meant to follow him: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Peter would later write in his letter to early Christians, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”
All of life
Many passages confirm Peter’s understanding that what we remember and celebrate this very week is that Jesus did die an awful death to make payment for all of our sins and for everyone in every generation past, present, and future. But we must note that our call to discipleship requires our daily surrender. Peter, the early followers of Jesus, and every follower of Jesus cannot rest on a simple historic confession of our belief that Jesus is the Christ who died for us. We are called daily to die to the flesh and choose to surrender all of our life to God so that he would be fully visible in us every day and everywhere.
There is no holding back for later when it comes to our discipleship. It may be wise to save some money for an emergency fund and for retirement, but when it comes to following Jesus, we are called daily to give ourselves away to Jesus as well as to his visible body in the world today, the church. Jesus assures us that releasing ourselves fully to God now guarantees we will have all we need and more in eternity. Full and abundant life has little to do with the monetary things of this world and everything to do with our future and eternal state of being with God in eternity.
Before we sing “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” we must fully embrace our surrender as an expression of our love and gratitude for the work of Christ on the cross. Then we will be able joyfully to do the work of Christlike living today and every day, filled with resurrection power.
Your time with God’s Word
Luke 9:18-26; 1 Peter 3:18 ESV
Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash
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