How Can I Possibly Imitate Him???
The death of Christ was not cute. It was bloody, gory, filthy, stinky, painful, and deeply sad. He was spit on, stabbed, made fun of, and ridiculed. He was not afraid to die; he was not afraid to suffer and he was not afraid to pay the penalty for something he did not do.
I don’t know about you but whenever I spend time thinking about the resurrection, I sometimes feel a sense of guilt. That should have been me on that cross. Maybe I shouldn’t feel that way at all. Maybe it’s a sign of spiritual immaturity in me. Regardless of my feelings, the truth is, Christ hung where I should have hung. But because of his graciousness and his love for his Father, I didn’t have to die.
So when I reflect about what happened that day, I am reminded about the following passage:
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps. (1 Peter 2:21)
What is the purpose Peter tells his readers they have been called for? Suffering (1 Peter 2:19-20). Whenever I seriously reflect on this passage I am amazed at the fact that he expects us to follow in his steps. Just as Christ suffered, Jesus expects us to suffer. But here’s why he expects us to suffer: because he told us that we would (John 15:18).
Peter says that Christ suffered as an example for us. Here is where things get even more insane. Christ did not suffer because he was forced to. He chose it. That’s right. He chose to suffer (John 10:18).
So let’s put this all together. If Christ suffered as an example for us and he said that we would suffer as well, then we can look to Christ as our example when we suffer. More than that, if Christ is our example of suffering then that seems to suggest that in the same way that Christ chose suffering we are to choose it too.
What Peter is trying to get his readers (as well as us) to understand is that our lives are to be an imitation of the life of Christ (1 Peter 1:15). In the same way that Christ suffered, we are to suffer too.
So then, how did Christ suffer? I think that answer can be found in Luke 9:22-23. In this passage Jesus is telling his disciples that he will go to Jerusalem and be killed. Read the following verse, paying close attention to the verbs (bold).
“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes , and be killed and be raised up on the third day.” And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. (Luke 9:22-23 NASB95)
Christ says that he will suffer by being rejected, killed, and raised. And then in the very next verse he tells his disciples that if they want to follow him they need will need to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. Notice the parallel of the verbs between the two verses.
In verse 22 Christ is explaining what will happen to him. But in the very next verse he tells us what should happen to us. In doing this he is laying out the pattern for how we are to live the Christian life. In other words, he is telling us how we must also suffer if we are going to follow him.
There is something else we need to take note of regarding these verbs and that is their order. Notice that rejection and death precede resurrection. Before Christ can be resurrected he must die. There can be no resurrection without their first being a rejection and death.
In the same way, if we are going to follow Christ we must first deny ourselves and take up our cross. There can be no following of Jesus without self denial and cross-bearing.
Please do not miss the implications of this passage. As we reflect upon the cross this week there are a few things I would encourage you to keep in mind.
The Proper Way to See The Cross
We should no longer see the cross as just a symbol of our salvation but a reminder to us of how we are to live the Christian life (Luke 9:23). Jesus laid out the pattern for how we are to live our lives as Christians. When people look at us, they should see self denial as a characteristic of our lives. We should aim for this. For this to happen, we need to embrace suffering with joy.
Suffer with Joy
We are told in Hebrews 12:2 that Christ embraced suffering with joy. We should strive to become infatuated with it. Why? Because suffering is one of the ways we glorify God and find favor with him (1 Peter 2:20). Our suffering puts a smile on the face of God.
Choose to Suffer
Jesus “chose” to suffer. He expects us to do the same. As we go through life, I think it is important that we try to develop a regular habit of choosing to do the hard things instead of always taking the easy road.
I know this is not easy stuff to swallow. But as you reflect this week about the life of Christ, ask God to help you become the kind of person whose scars are as visible as the Son. Ask him to help you embrace suffering with joy. Because the life that is modeled after the life of Christ is the life that experiences the true depths of joy.
People who embrace suffering take greater risks. They move their families to neighborhoods that aren’t safe so that they can be close to the people they minister to. Singles who are infatuated with suffering forego marriage for a season in order to fulfill the Great Commission. Pastors who embrace suffering take the risk to teach the truth knowing that it could possibly cost them their job. Guys who embrace suffering tell their girlfriends about their sexual struggles and maybe even break the relationship off because they know they are not right with God and cannot bring their sin into the life of another person. Young women who embrace suffering take the risk of going overseas for a year knowing that it may mean they would not be married for a long while.
You get the point? We are to live and model our lives after Jesus. He is our example. Just he chose to suffer, we should also. Just as he embraced it with joy, we should also. The cross is not just a symbol of salvation, it’s a reminder of how we are to imitate the one who gave his life for us.
Robert
I love theology and the challenge of making deep teachings non-boring. Let's face it, most of the time we hear theological teaching, it really is boring. Does it really have to be that way? Nope.
