It has been said that the best soldier is one that has already died in his own mind.
Matthew 16:25, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
So I can be dead and alive at the same time. Dead to my ‘old self’ that I was ‘trying to be’, and alive to the eternal me which is Christ in me. Co-crucified in him, now co-alive. Completely infused in me, in my life. This is the condition we are in now. Having His life in us in all its fullness. By His divine engineering He gifted us with all that it takes to live life to the full. His intimate knowledge of us introduces us to our true selves again, and elevates us to a position where his original intention is clearly perceived. Restored participation in our godly origin (from 2 Peter 1:3-4 Mirror). This fact that Jesus died our death is equally valid to those who are awake to its effect or still fast asleep in their indifference to it (Francois du Toit based on Gal 2:20).
When we are young we don’t think much about death and dying, generally children just live their life without restriction or thoughts of death. But as we get older thoughts of death become more real as our perception and our understanding of the world expands. But Jesus says in John 11:26 (Mirror), “Whoever is alive in the life that I am, shall never die. Do you believe this?” This question Jesus asked Martha. This question still stands today. Do we live in Life Jesus, for He said:“I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). As Christ is alive forever, so are we.
Philippians 3:10-11, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Note that it is ‘from the dead’ and not ‘of the dead’. That is, we are to renew our understanding so that we can enjoy this life to the full, leaving the fear and effects of Death behind. The resurrection ‘of the dead’, which is the raising of the physical body, will occur at the ‘fullness of time’.
