The Salvation of Jesus Christ is the greatest miracle and gift that mankind will ever know. However, this gift of salvation that one would have upon putting their belief and trust in Jesus only affects the soul and spirit of that person. This is often overlooked by believers of Jesus Christ. Jesus knew this and warned His followers of this in His definition of a true disciple.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24 | ESV
Self-Denial
I know that it isn't as obvious as we would want this to be. But think about this for a second. If your body is naturally inclined to sin and your salvation doesn’t suddenly change your natural desires, then you would have to deny yourself to keep your salvation.
A contrasting example to understand this is monks. They strive so hard to attain salvation by denying themselves since they understand that the body naturally tends to sin. But Jesus made it easy for those who believe in Him by ridding them of their sins and making them pure. Not only that, they additionally receive the Holy Spirit—God Himself to help you in everything you do! Not that's an offer any rational person would not forfeit.
However, there still exists a barrier to living this out—the ‘self’. To deny your ‘self’, you need to know your ‘self’. This is a missing piece in the puzzle of self-denial. The ignorance we carry around with us is the greatest advantage we have given the enemy for free. We are constantly baffled by voices and noises wanting a say in our identity. We are not anchored in our true identity in Christ, allowing everything else to define who we are.
I hope as you continue reading, the Holy Spirit will help you understand the magnitude of the impact your perception of your ‘self’ can have. So, In this blog, I will attempt to define self-denial in a unique perspective in light of all things said.
Creation and Formation
Create: to bring (something) into existence.
Form: the visible shape or configuration of something.
I know you’re wondering why I defined these terms. That’s because these are not merely terms in a dictionary, they are principles in the Bible; principles I never saw the last time I read the book of Genesis.
Light and darkness
Let me give you some context. The account of the creation of light in Genesis 1 reads:
Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day. Genesis 1:3-5 | NLT
However, A few verses later:
Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. Genesis 1:14-16 | NLT
Plants and vegetation
Again, the account of the creation of plants and vegetation reads:
Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:11-12 | NLT
Yet again, In the next chapter, we read:
This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. Genesis 2:4-5 | NLT
Mankind
Finally, the account of the creation of man:
So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 | NLT
In the next chapter, we clearly read:
Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Genesis 2:7 | NLT
2 fold self
I’m not sure if you noticed this pattern occurring in the creation account. When I read this, I was blown away. So, God is creating something first and then giving it form. To understand the difference between these 2 states, lets read Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 | ESV
Here, God says “Before I formed you in your mother's womb.” What comes before form? Creation. I call these 2 states the formed-self and the created-self. In this passage, God is talking to Jeremiah about his call—to be a prophet. That was Jeremiah’s God-given identity. It wasn’t in his formed-self. No, it was in his created-self—before he was formed in His mother’s womb.
Often we hear God say a bunch of stuff about us. But when we look in the mirror we see a mistake, we see a big fat mess, and we don’t always see the miracle that God sees. That's because our formed-self and our created-self aren’t the same. if you feel that way, you’re not alone. Jeremiah felt the same way.
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God ! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” Jeremiah 1:6 | ESV
He couldn’t picture himself bringing the powerful word of God to the people of Israel. But look at God’s reply. This is the same reply He’s giving you too:
But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord .” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Jeremiah 1:7-9 | ESV
God has given you a divine purpose. A unique purpose unlike any other. He doesn’t look at you through the lens of your formed-self. No, He looks at you through Jesus bearing in mind the created-self—the one He created.
Given all this,
Self-denial is the process of the formed-self conforming to the created-self as we follow Jesus on the narrow path.
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