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He who loses his life for My sake by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf "Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself (push himself away), and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life [psuche] will lose it, but whoever loses [apollumi, puts to death] his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul [psuche]? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul [psuche]? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works [praxis]" (Matthew 16:24-27). Jesus is to return in the glory of God with His angels to take away His Bride (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). The apostle John described the taking away, "I heard a loud voice from heaven saying: Now has salvation come, with the power and reign of God and the authority of His Christ" (Revelation 12:10). Then he added, "They did not love their life to the extent that they feared death" (Revelation 12:11). Those who are taken away will be those who will not have loved their life to the point of putting it to death. The Greek word praxis means 'act', 'action', 'behaviour practice'; it never means 'work', in the sense of 'good work', but rather in the sense of 'occult practices' (Acts 19:18-19), 'actions of the body that the Spirit has to put to death' (Romans 8:13) and 'works of the old man' (Colossians 3:9). When Jesus said "deny oneself", He spoke about putting one’s soul to death, that is to say putting to death everything that has come forth from the flesh and which is therefore contrary to the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17). It is only on this condition that we can follow Jesus who has Himself given up His soul (life) to accomplish nothing but the will of His Father. It might even be the final battle for His soul in Gethsemane, "Not what I will, but what you will" (Matthew 26:38-39). The apostle John said, "They overcame him (the Devil, Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" (Revelation 12:11). As long as the true Bride of Christ is on earth, she is victorious over the Devil because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the Word of Christ that allows her to have power and authority to overcome. So it is vital to put to death what has come from the flesh in one's soul, and it is a daily work, in order to let Christ reign as a conqueror in one's life! The apostle John said, "Rejoice, heaven, and you who live [skenoo, to tabernacle] in heaven" (Revelation 12:12). In fact, at the time of the taking away of the Bride, our soul 'will tabernacle' in our glorified body in heaven. Meanwhile, we are spiritually with Jesus Christ in Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), in order to accomplish the good works which will produce the fine linen garment of the Bride (Revelation 19:8). If we choose "to follow Jesus", we have this hope of being taken up with Him into heaven. |