Because of the Cross, You Died to Yourself as Your Source
This is the fourth blog post of an Easter week series which has been focused on our co-crucifixion with Christ and what all we died to when we died with Him.
In the first post, we discovered that because of the cross, you (the old you) died.
In the second post, we learned that because of the cross, you died to the power of sin.
In the third post, we came to know that because of the cross, you died to the law.
Here’s another thing you died to when you were crucified with Christ.
BECAUSE OF THE CROSS, YOU DIED TO YOURSELF AS YOUR SOURCE
Before you came to know Jesus as your Savior, you were the source of your life. You had to rely on your own strength, your own insight, and your own ability to perform. You had to carve out an identity for yourself and make your mark in this world. You had to create your own meaning and purpose. It was all up to you.
But we were never meant to be the source of our lives. That is why no matter what life we create for ourselves or what we achieve it is never enough. It never ultimately satisfies.
In Philippians 3, Paul shared about a time before Christ when he was trusting in himself as his source and what he now thinks about his pedigree and his accomplishments in his flesh. Here’s what he says in Philippians 3:4-9,
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh (self as source), I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him…
Even when we seem to perform well in this world or by religious standards, it never provides ultimate fulfillment.
JESUS IS OUR NEW SOURCE
We died to ourselves as the source of our lives so that Jesus could be our Source. That is how it was always meant to be. He is the only one who satisfies.
In the Philippians 3 passage, Paul said that he considered everything garbage, that he might gain Christ and be found in Him.
Earlier in the letter, he even said,
“For to me, to live is Christ.”
Philippians 1:21
Jesus is our Life (John 11:25). He is our Source. He becomes our point of reference.
If we are still trying to live with ourselves as our point of reference, then we are still trying to perform, achieve, and earn something that Jesus has already earned and given to us.
When we live with Him as our point of reference and as our Source, then we are resting in His finished work to establish our identity, our meaning, our purpose, and our place in His Kingdom work in this world.
This Easter, know that you have died to yourself as your source and begin to walk with Jesus as your Source. Trust Him. Depend on Him. Lean on Him. Have faith in Christ in you and through you.
“Do you know, my friends, that the Spirit within you is very God? Oh that our eyes were opened to see the greatness of God’s gift! Oh that we might realize the vastness of the resources secreted in our own hearts! I could shout with joy as I think, “The Spirit who dwells within me is no mere influence, but a living Person; He is very God. The infinite God is within my heart!”
Watchman Nee
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