Luke 9:23-24 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
In the first part of this series, we established that the cup that Jesus drank that he is offering is a life of sacrifice. So in this part, we will be examining what it takes to live a sacrificial life to get into intimacy with Jesus Christ.
What is a Sacrificial life? A sacrificial life is a surrendered life. A life that is surrendered to Jesus. A life that is willing to give up all for Christ.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
When you are crucified with Christ it means you have surrendered everything to Him. So a sacrificial life is a life that has been crucified with Christ.
In the Scripture above, Luke 9:23 Jesus established three things that must be done to come after Him:
1. Deny self
2. Take up Cross daily
3. Follow Him.
Deny Self
Self-denial is the highest level of discipline a man can put himself through. It is the denial or sacrifice of one's desires, interests, and needs.
To be intimate with Jesus Christ He takes you through a journey of self-denial for the following purpose:
1. To subdue your flesh: Our interest, desires, and needs comes from our flesh, so to sacrifice these our flesh must be subdued.
At the beginning in the garden of Eden man enjoyed intimacy with God because the flesh was not alive but after man ate the forbidden fruit he lost his spiritual body, and his flesh came to life and a wall of partition was set between God and man. The death and resurrection of Jesus broke this middle wall to give us access to Him. However, because we are still in the flesh there is a need for the flesh to be subdued. As you keep denying the flesh of its desires, interest, and needs the flesh will be subdued to the level where it doesn't have control over you again.
I Corinthians 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
2. To learn obedience: To be intimate with Jesus requires total submission to Him. It is only in obedience that you can be submissive. For us to learn obedience he takes us through the discipline of self-denial.
Hebrews 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Jesus also learned obedience through the things He suffered (self-denial). The greatest suffering that Jesus went through was self-denial. The scripture confirms this in Philippians 2:6-8:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Jesus is taking you through the journey of self-denial because He wants you to learn obedience through the suffering of self-denial.
Are you ready for the journey of self-denial? Intimacy with Jesus Christ requires climbing this mountain of self-denial. Come along as we continue with this journey. God bless you.
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