The Surrendered Life (Part III)

To dethrone self is one of the hardest task the willing Christian will undertake, yet by His perfect example, Jesus showed us what it meant to deny self and allow the will of God to take precedence in our lives. It is easy to forget that when He walked the earth He did so as a man, and not as God (Philippians 2:6-8). He was faced with the same temptations we face (Hebrews 4:15), and there were times when his human will, the self, was in direct conflict with that of the Father, yet of Him it is written "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God" (Hebrews 10:9).

We see the magnitude of this surrender in the Garden of Gethsename. Matthew recorded that as he spent his final moments with his disciples together, after asking them
to watch with him, "he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (26:38,39). Lest we forget, Satan had previously offered Him a way out (Matt. 4:1-11); a way to bypass the worse form of execution then - death by crucifixion. Jesus, however, knew that from before the foundations of the world God had purposed that He should be so bruised (Gen. 3:15; Isaiah 53:10), and so despite His soul being "exceeding sorrowful, even unto death", He purposed to conform His will to that of the Father. It wasn't easy. Luke tells us, "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (22:44). Can you picture that? What awesome struggle! Despite the ruthless cruelty of the cross, and the weight of the sins of the world upon His shoulders, He willingly surrendered self in order to accomplish God's ultimate
purpose - our redemption!

This is the example that is set before us. Jesus has not asked us to do something He has not done. He has set the standard for what it means to be a true disciple,
and for those who choose to take up The Call, there's no way around that standard. For God's will to get done in the earth, it will require disciples who are willing to
dethrone self and unconditionally surrender their lives, and all it entails, to His service. To borrow the words fromm an old hymn: "Love so amazing, so divine / Demands my soul, my life, my all."

Can you offer that to Him?