Notes of Faith July 6, 2024
The Surrender of Paul
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
Philippians 3:8
The idea of surrender is to choose not to resist and to submit to authority. We think of surrender most readily in military terms, but surrender is also experienced personally.
The most consequential act of surrender in history happened when Jesus chose not to resist His Father’s will for Him to die on a cross: “Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). All disciples of Jesus are called to surrender in the same way—to be willing to take up our own cross (Luke 14:27). Paul’s surrender to Christ is the most dramatic in history. Having been the chief persecutor of Christ’s followers, Paul surrendered to Christ beginning with an encounter on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19). That act led to a lifetime of surrender in which he gave up everything in order to live for Christ.
If you are a disciple of Christ, contemplate the degree of your surrender to Him and any resistance you feel.
I surrender all, I surrender all; all to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
Judson W. Van de Venter
Phil 2:5-11
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We must surrender to recognize that we are sinners in need of a Savior. There is a God who is higher than any earthly authority and power and is to be worshipped and praised and given thanks for the life we have. Submission is a good thing. If Christ can submit to His Father even to death, we can submit to receive a true life that is offered through believing in Christ. Begin or grow in your relationship with Jesus today. Become more intimate with Him to truly know Him and His love for you. Your choice to submit will bring you the glory of God!
Pastor Dale