Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross. Today we become united with him in the likeness of His death by self-denying, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection. So anyone in Christ is a new creation; everything old has passed away; everything has become new.
Galatians: 6:14 reads, "May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." We can see that Paul made a clean break with the world and was at odds with it. He had lived in Christ and become a new creation. As for us, are we crucified with Jesus? Is it no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me? Do we walk in newness of life? Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Only those who crucify themselves on the cross will have eternal life.
Even though it is painful and hard to crucify ourselves, difficult change is better than suffering. It is even more difficult not to change. It takes long hardships to change, but it takes a lifetime not to. It is the same with Christians. We need to bear the hardships and work out our own salvation. For example, we've all seen tadpoles. In summer, there is a dense mass of them in the pond. But we also know that the survival rate of them is very low. Why? Because it is very difficult for tadpoles to transition into frogs. They must absorb their tails, but many tadpoles die in the process. Without such process, they can only live in small rivers and eat silt and moss. Also, they can only have a lifespan of some dozens of days. However, if they absorb their tails and grow limbs, they can come on the land and eat whatever they want, and live much longer than tadpoles.
This metaphor symbolizes the change of life from tadpoles to frogs. If we're afraid of hardships and do not crucify ourselves, we're like tadpoles failing to absorb their tails. However, how wonderful it is to be resurrected with new lives if we're willing to crucify ourselves.
Bible verse reference: Ephesians: 4:17-24.
(The author of the article is a theological student from Litiaozhuang Church in Laiwu, Shandong.)
Translated by: Grace Hubl
