Supposing I Were A Dead Man...

I find these words amazingly useful.

Supposing I were a dead man...

...I wouldn't have to defend my actions. Dead people don't need to do any explaining.

Supposing I were a dead man...

...I wouldn't have any dignity to protect. People can attempt to tar my name all they want. I'm dead, after all. What do I care?

Supposing I were a dead man...

...I could dispose of my dreams for glory. Dead men don't need it. I can get on with the quiet business of being dead. Glory is for the living.

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me...

So that's how it's supposed to be. Not only must I die, but Christ must live. What does that mean in practical terms?

Well, for starters, when I am mistreated or scorned, I need not take it personally. It's business as usual for Jesus, and he can take care of it. It's his name that's on the line... provided I am indeed dead to myself, and if indeed it is Christ who is living in me.

And indeed business as usual for Christ does mean that vindication will eventually come. Because the living Christ does want glory. Christ will be again vindicated and glorified — in me!

But Christ has his own timing and his own ways. His timing includes eternity. His way includes a cross. And Jesus never takes shortcuts to glory.

So to return again to the question: supposing I were dead... and Christ were living in me. What should I expect? The same thing that happened to Christ when he was living in his own body.

Mark 10:29-30
"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.

Philippians 1:29-30
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him...

I should expect, then, many opportunities to prove that I am dead — or prove that I am not. It all comes down to this: how will I respond to persecutions, suffering, and disgrace. Perhaps even bodily death. If I accept and endure these test as part of the territory and go away rejoicing, then truly indeed I have died already, and Christ is now living in me.

Acts 5:41
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.