“Verse 3 [Romans 8] is the ultimate what if– ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ But the if in verse 10- ‘If Christ is in you’- is the ultimate as if.”
Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 10 of If by noting that sports teams often memorialize a fallen comrade by putting that person’s monogram on their jerseys. For example, the Chicago Bears have GSH on the left jersey sleeve to honor their founder, George Stanley Halas.
Far more significantly, Pastor Batterson writes, we aren’t playing for ourselves anymore. The apostle Paul writes in Galatians 2:20- “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God.”
Mark observes that it is hard to get offended, angry, upset, or depressed when you’re dead- dead to your old self, that is. You are a new creation in Christ, and you have to step into this identity on a daily basis. There is great freedom in this daily death. Mark says waking up each morning is like a little resurrection. He summarizes:
“You live as if Christ was crucified yesterday, rose from the dead today, and is coming back tomorrow.”
Jesus modeled the power of as if. While the Pharisees treated people as they were, Jesus treated others as they could be (emphasis author’s). We all need Someone who believes in us more than we believe in ourselves. That’s who Jesus is and what He does.
Mark describes how Jesus grows us through a high dosage of grace and truth:
“Grace means I’ll love you no matter what. Truth means I’ll be honest no matter what. No one was more graceful and truthful than Jesus. He was full of both. When those two elements combine, you’re loving people the way Jesus did.”
Today’s question: How can you live the ultimate as if following your vocation loss? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Therefore- where as if begins”
