Surrender
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” -Philippians 3: 8-11
I feel like those verses have enough depth in them to be finished with this blog post right here. The earliest followers of Jesus were simply radical. They had faith. They gave every bit of themselves to the service of the Lord. They endured beatings, starvations, imprisonments, and even death- all for the sake of making the name of Jesus known on this earth.
From the early disciples who were beaten and bruised and killed, to the persecuted christians all around the world today, followers of Jesus have given and are giving their lives fully to the king of Kings- a God in whom they cannot yet see face to face- that is faith. To hope in an eternal God and yield oneself to his invisible plans, that is faith. To let go of one’s own desires and aspirations in this life in order to follow Jesus to the path of suffering, that is faith. To live a life holding onto nothing but Jesus, who was crucified, that is faith.
So why have millions chosen this “broken way,” if you will, for the sake of making the name of Jesus famous? Why have so many been willing to suffer, yes, even die, for this name? Why have so many chosen to be excommunicated from their own families? So many who have sold all of their belongings, gone to foreign lands, lost their friends, sat with the poor, turned the other cheek?
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.”
Paul, the writer of Philippians, regards all that he has lost in his pursuit of Christ as trash- rubbish- because he understands how much greater it is to gain Jesus as his reward. This is how surrender is possible. We look to the one who lead the way… the one who IS the Way… our Messiah, our Jesus.
This Jesus, “Though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” -Philippians 2: 6-8 (bolded for emphasis).
Life comes through surrender. The surrender of Jesus on the cross brings life to all who put their hope in him. In a world that tells us we must seek our own and gratify the desires of our flesh, God is offering an even better way, the way of faith. Though it is absolutely counterintuitive to our flesh, it offers us rest in a way we’ve never known before. This laid-down, emptied-out, wholly-given way offers us peace beyond this world. Crazy enough, the more “surrendered” we become, the more abundantly we reap the gift of life. Even when surrender looks like giving up what externally looks good, feels good, or makes the most sense logically, we know our Father in heaven knows what is truly best. It wouldn’t be faith if we could fully grasp the exchange. We must put our hope in Him.
Finally, we know that our Jesus is the only thing that is absolutely certain in this life. Nothing else is guaranteed. He is enough. He is enough in our circumstance; today, tomorrow, and the rest of our lives. If I walk out of this life with absolutely nothing but Him, I have gained everything. If I am robbed of everything but Him, I have lost nothing.
Christian, how willing are you to give your life away in such faith? Have you beheld the face of the one in whom your soul longs for? If you have, the answer would be quite simple.
Indeed, he is worthy.