“I would give my life to save my child, family, and friends” would be most people’s response to this question. However, would you be willing to die for Hitler, Mussolini, or Ted Bundy? Do you love and believe in someone so deeply that you are willing to endure torture, a terrible death, or have a loved one murdered to remain loyal to them?
Following Unto Death
This question may seem extreme. Yet, how many terrorist and hate groups have members killing others or taking their own lives because they believe in a cause or their leader? The enemy knows and exploits the voids in our ultimate needs to feel loved, valued, belong, and have a purpose. The devil’s schemes and his goal to kill, steal, and destroy our minds, spirits, hearts, and eternal souls will never end until Jesus comes for us.
Everyone is on a journey to discover truth, love, value, purpose, and belonging. However, because we are all born in sinful conditions, we can be deceived by the devil’s schemes. We are vulnerable to listening to the devil’s schemes when we experience great loss, pain, abuse, abandonment, and despair. Our enemy uses worldly empowerment, value, purpose, and belonging that focus on controlling, taking, or conning others. He will use any and every hurt we have endured and lie we believe in to lure us into serving him through his followers.
Getting caught in the cycle of living for the world, which our enemy influences, happens to many of us. It can be subtle, blatant, or at many levels of extremes. Many religions and movements claim to bring peace, empowerment, happiness, an easy life, and extra life, or the opportunity to pick and choose different things to create your own god or gods. Some claim that you can be a god.
Only Christianity gives you the gift of salvation through belief, faith, repentance, and surrender to Jesus Christ as your Lord. Unlike all the other religions created from imperfect people, God and Jesus are perfect. They are the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega.
No other religion has had a perfect savior live with them, die for the judgment of everyone’s sins, be buried and raised from the dead, conquer sin and death, ascend to heaven, and await for his time to come back for his believers. Because of Jesus, hundreds of prophecies have been fulfilled in the Bible, and lives have changed on Earth and for eternity.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16, NASB
Christ’s Sacrificial Love Changed Everything
Self-preservation and self-focus dominate our sinful flesh-desiring minds before God comes to live in us through the salvation of Jesus Christ. Unless you choose salvation through Christ and walk hand-in-hand with him, you will continue to be dominated by sinful self-focus.
The life of Jesus depicts his pure love. His equal respect and treatment of all people went against the culture of Jews. His willingness to heal their minds, hearts, spirits, and bodies, regardless of their condition, broke all barriers of prejudice and injustice.
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Romans 5:6-11, NLT
Faith Supersedes Our Reality
Our tangible reality can cloud the reality of our spiritual aspect on Earth and into eternity. I have had the privilege of being with several family members and friends who have passed into eternity with Jesus. One second, they’re breathing, and the next second, they’re not. One of the hard points of grieving for me is not being able to hug their skin suit. We can touch people and feel their love. When their body is gone, we can’t touch them, even though we still love them.
Jesus warned his disciples several times that he would leave them, but he also said he would be with them always through the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew the struggle we would have to continue to love, serve, and obey him without his physical body on this Earth. Our choice to loyally serve him until death, regardless of the circumstances we must face, mirrors his unconditional love for us.
Our Faith Will Meet Our Reality
One of my favorite stories of faith comes from the Old Testament. Three men were kidnapped and forced to serve King Nebuchadnezzar. Their names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Although they served the King, they remained loyal to Yahweh, their God. However, some laws were passed by their jealous enemies that would test their loyalty to God. The men were commanded to bow down before Nebuchadnezzar and profess him as their god or die in a fiery furnace. Here’s the response.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
Daniel 3:17-18, NLT
These men chose to follow God even though they couldn’t see him. They had a deep relationship with him spiritually and knew they would be with God on Earth and into eternity. They understood that the death of their body was only the doorway into heaven. They knew God’s love, and they trusted him. No matter how it turned out physically, they were confident of their spiritual eternity, which made all the difference.
Who Has Shown You Such Unconditional Love?
God knit our desire to know him and Jesus into our DNA inside her mother’s wombs. Many people do not realize their drive to know the universe’s ultimate power is God. The enemy uses our unawareness and self-focus to keep us from seeking and finding God’s truth. He manipulates us into believing that we will fill the voids in our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits with other religions, causes, self-determination, and self-power. However, none of these imperfect or self-focused beliefs provide us the opportunity to receive spiritual salvation for our souls. They lack Chrisht’s unexplainable peace and the ability to walk with their living God on this broken Earth as well as in eternity.
I have tried to find love, value, purpose, belonging, and meaning for my life apart from Jesus, with devastating results. The dark canyons I have been pulled from with the hand of Jesus will never be a part of me again because I walk with him daily. Jesus gave everything for my salvation and yours. Therefore, I know there is no other person, save Jesus, who deserves my complete love and loyalty until death.
Jesus said. “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”
John 15:9-14, NLT
What will you choose?
