We do not live towards dying, but die towards life

published on Monday, 1 February 2021 by Matthias Altwegg

Meanwhile, we are already in the middle of the new theme for the year. I am fascinated by the idea of metamorphosis, the transformation of our being into Jesus-likeness. I myself was somewhat surprised by the discovery that this does not just happen smoothly, but has a high price, namely our life. For the new life is not simply grafted on, but replaces the ego nature. In other words, the old ego has to die so that the divine ego can unfold. This led me to the play on words: We do not live towards dying, but die towards life. This sentence does not mean death at the very end of life, but describes the reality of a follower of Jesus.

I have found myself not feeling well after sermons with such statements. The question of why has been on my mind for a long time. Is it the finger pointing of the Holy Spirit because I have lost my way? Through Bible study and prayer, I have come across the following negative-feeling causers:

I much prefer to preach on topics that people can absorb more easily. Clever tips, good life advice packaged in a bite-sized way; that goes down better and raises the rate of positive feedback.
We live in a rather superficial, suffering-averse fun society that is all about self-realisation. The preaching of the cross seems unwieldy and inappropriate.

Jesus, on the other hand, said: "Whoever refuses to take up his cross and follow me is not worthy to belong to me"(Matthew 10:38). We do not have to take up Jesus' cross. He did that. There He redeemed us to life by dying. We are to our Taking up the cross. This means that we give our ego nature to death in order to receive real life. Paul calls this lifelong process metamorphosis. This may not sound popular, but it is extremely promising!

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Anne Gröber (@guest_114)

5 February 2021 15:26

#114

Dear Matthias, thank you for your thoughts! Thank you for also making "unpopular" statements. They always move me a lot. I am free to decide whether I want to implement them.

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Chris (@guest_115)

7 February 2021 8:48

#115

Reply to Anne Gröber

Yes, Matthias. Just by reading Rees' book, I notice how deeply the Spirit of God leads us in prayer and makes us more passionate, makes us empathise with the suffering of others and leads us more and more into His deep dependence. I am happy that we can be on the way together like this.

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Tobias Meyer (@guest_118)

22 February 2021 8:04

#118

You said it, Matthias, this subject seems unwieldy, because we have to upgrade our thinking: if we do the opposite of what we have been taught by the world, we are already quite right in the kingdom of God: When you give, you get, when someone does evil to you and you repay with good, the good will overcome the evil, when we want to be the greatest we should be a servant to all, when we die, we awaken to life...I think it needs our devotion that Jesus can change us, a concrete way is "to read Jesus", or in other words to read his word....... Read more "

Zuletzt geändert am 4 Jahre zuvor von Tobias Meyer

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