And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Photo by Thanti Riess on Unsplash
“I belong to Christ.” This truth has encouraged me through many of life’s trials, whether walking through the death of my first marriage or being slandered publicly. Perhaps you are going through a monumental trial such as the death of a loved one or a battle with cancer. Or perhaps you are facing persecution or a great injustice. How will you have the courage to follow Christ when it will be costly?
Jesus said that whoever would come after him, let him deny himself, pick up his cross and follow him. We may forget how radical this call is. The cross was the Roman instrument of death. Christ calls us to die to ourselves to follow Him. Ouch! Deny ourselves? Couldn’t there be an easier way? What are my natural wants (whether sinful or unsinful) that I may be called to deny?
There Will Be a Cost to Following Christ
As much as I cherish my comforts in this life, I am called to be willing to forsake them to follow Christ. I am to follow Christ no matter the cost. It may cost me my job, employees, possessions, my family and friends. How do we love Jesus more than life itself? How do we get the courage to follow Christ, no matter the cost? How do we remain faithful when our faith will be costly?
Jesus calls us to count the costs before following him. He tells us to do the mathematical calculus and look at both the present and future reward of union with Christ through faith. A call to following Christ includes a call to suffer for Christ. If you want to be a rich happy fool merely concerned about storing up bigger barns and enjoying earthly comforts, don’t follow Jesus.
If we follow Jesus, personal attacks and persecution may be the result. As we live as salt and light in this world and stand for righteousness, hate may be coming your way (Matthew 10:22). Evil does not like to be exposed to the light. If they hated Christ, they will hate us. A servant is not greater than his master (John 15:18-21, 1 Peter 4:12-19). Jesus knew that when following Him, we may be disowned by our own tribe or lose our very own lives (Luke 14:26-27, 33).
When we recognize a higher power above the rulers of this world, we invite conflict. When we do not bow down to the idols and shrines of the kings of this world, but serve God alone, a fiery furnace may be coming our way. How can we be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and not bow down to idols, when a strong and rageful king threatens us with death for loyalty to the one true God? How do we find the strength to obey and please God rather than men?
Christians Belong to Christ
Christians can endure suffering and carry their cross in the joy and confidence of knowing that they belong to Christ. If you are a child of the risen King, united to Christ through faith, then you belong to Him. Belong to Christ… those words hint at Christ’s ownership and possession of you. Peter calls us a people for God’s own possession, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9).
Similarly, Paul says you were bought with a price. You are not your own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). There is slavery imagery here that many in our culture would recoil at. We like to think of ourselves as strong and independent and that we don’t need to answer to anybody. But scripture says we are either slaves to righteousness or slaves to sin (Romans 6:16-19).
The surprising paradox here is that slavery to Christ is actually true freedom. No longer is sin our master, exercising its dominion over us. Rather we bear the fruit of the Spirit, such as the fruit of righteousness, joy, peace, patience, love, self-control, gentleness, and humility. When we can say that our lives are not our own and say, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20), we will find that we have not actually lost our lives, but have found it (Mark 8:35).
There are times in the Christian life where the call to die to ourselves feels inconvenient, unbearable and untimely. But we should not be surprised at the frequency of God’s call to die to ourselves in our lives. The parallel passage in the gospel of Luke calls us to pick up our cross “daily” to follow Jesus (Luke 9:23). Daily… ouch!
The comfort in this is that our union with Christ means that we can have confidence that any time we are called to deny ourselves for Christ, we know there will be a greater purpose in it. These purposes involve themes of resurrection, God’s glory, our sanctification and our good (Romans 8:11, Romans 8:28). Just as Jesus trusted his Father in his suffering, we too can have confidence in God’s kind care for us (2 Corinthians 4:14, Matthew 16:21, 1 Peter 4:19).
Christ our Gentle Shepherd
When we talk about belonging to God, we should remember the price that was paid for our ransom. We were ransomed not with perishable things but with the precious blood of Christ. The price was God the Son’s own life (1 Peter 1:18-19).
Belonging to Christ means belonging to a victorious and risen King who willingly laid down His life for His sheep. We are not not talking about belonging to a cruel task master. We are talking about belonging to a meek and gentle shepherd who knows our needs (Matthew 11:29). Christ’s disciples, the ones who hear his voice and follow him, are his prized and cherished possessions (John 10:27-28, Zephaniah 3:17).
Jesus is the Great and Gentle Shepherd, one who strengthens the weak. The prophet Isaiah, prophesying about Jesus, said “a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice” (Isaiah 42:3). Notice the confidence we can have in God’s good justice. Those who mess with God’s prized possessions will have to answer to God on judgement day!
Reasons for Courage
Belonging to Christ then is a great reason for courage. We belong to Him and He belongs to us. When we know that we belong to Christ through faith, we can have the courage to stand firm in trials. Here are some additional thoughts for courage in the face of persecutions or trials.
- Our lives are hidden with Christ in God, so death is no threat to us. To live is Christ, to die is gain (Colossians 3:3, Hebrews 2:14-15, Phil 1:21-23).
- God is with us and for us. Joshua was told not to fear, rather to be strong and courageous for God would be with him (Joshua 1:5,9).
- God is faithful to us even more than we are faithful to Him. He loved us to the end and ever lives to intercede for us. Our loyalty to God actually comes from understanding his faithfulness to us. We may fail, but when we are faithless, he is faithful, for he cannot deny himself (John 13:1, Hebrews 7:25, 2 Timothy 2:11-13).
- When we are persecuted and stand trial, the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say (Matthew 10:16-20).
- God is the Warrior God who fights his people’s battles. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31-33). Knowing God’s power, we can then respond like the three men who were thrown into the fiery furnace: “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).
- When we fear the Lord, we need not fear anything else. Courage comes from fearing the Lord. The fear of the Lord consumes all other fears. Matthew 10:28-33 says it this way:
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Blessing Redefined
In counting the costs of following Christ, we must also consider the rewards.
In contrast to the false prosperity gospel that focuses on getting us the best life now, Christians know what it means to be truly blessed. The blessing we are promised may not come in the form of material wealth or many friends or a great spouse and kids or becoming someone who is highly influential, but there is real blessing and comfort from belonging to Christ!
Look at how these verses describe the good and happy Christian life. Notice the references to blessing, persecution, and eternal reward.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10).
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:11-12).
When we are persecuted, we share in the sufferings of Christ and can have great joy knowing we belong to Him (1 Peter 4:13).
The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus (Acts 5:41).
Instead of the hashtag #Blessed, which is often used in a way that paints God’s blessing solely through material blessings, perhaps we should start a new hashtag such as #WorthyToSuffer or #CountItAllJoy. There is great comfort that comes to a Christian who knows that he has been counted worthy to suffer for Christ.
Lest we think that blessing for following Christ is only relegated to the eternal, with no comfort or bearing on the present, notice the promise of blessing (along with persecutions) in this life in Mark 10:29-31:
Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
The “hundredfold” blessing surprised me a few years ago when I read this verse with my then fiance, now wife, Nikki, before she moved to Virginia to get married and be a part of my life. While I’m against a false wealth and prosperity gospel, this verse clearly indicates that our good God intends to bless his children in this life, for following Him when it is costly. How this promised blessing plays out in this life remains mysterious to me but I may understand it more fully as I age or when I get to heaven.
We can be confident that we who know the freedom of denying themselves, picking up our cross to follow Jesus can know that we are #TrulyBlessed because we belong to Christ. In this belonging, we can be courageous and fearless for the trials or persecution to come.
The Heidelberg Catechism puts the comfort of belonging to Christ this way and I leave it here for you to ponder.
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
Reflection Questions:
- Do you know your value and the joy of belonging to Christ?
- Does your definition of blessing include suffering for Christ?
- Are you willing to give up everything you have for the sake of following Christ?
- What crosses might God be calling you to bear for his glory?
- Do you know the courage and freedom that comes from the fear of the Lord?
