Your life is over

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:14,15
One of my favorite lines in a wedding sermon is to tell the groom, “Your life is over.” It always gets a few chuckles. Then I explain that this new husband in his wedding vow commits to sacrificing himself for his wife just like Christ sacrificed himself for the church. He promises no longer to make decisions based solely on what is good for his life. He has the call to live and act in a way that benefits his wife and their marriage.

We all died

Paul said the same thing about himself: “My life is over.” Paul died on Good Friday. We all did. “[Christ] died for all, and therefore all died.”

First of all, that gives every Christian a reason to breathe a sigh of relief. As long as we are alive, we face the sentence of death. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We were like the criminal on death row, waiting for the inevitable.

But the sentence of death has already been carried out. In God’s sight when Jesus died, we all died. Justice has been satisfied. We don’t have to live in fear of the sentence of death anymore.

We now live for Christ

But if we died, then our lives are over. “He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” The life we once called “ours” belongs to Christ. Like the husband who is to live for his wife, so we are to live for Christ.

That affects everything we do and think. What will you do with your time today? It isn’t your time. It belongs to Jesus. Christ’s love for us compels us to ask, “Jesus, how do you want me to use your time today?”

What talents do you have? Paul would say, “None!” They all belong to Jesus. So we ask Jesus, “How do you want me to use your talents and abilities in your service today?”

How much money do you have? None! It all belongs to Jesus, not just the tithe, or 10 percent, that God commanded his Old Testament people to give. That means we need to ask Jesus, “It is your money. How do you want me to divide it? What percentage do you want to give to spreading the news of your death and resurrection? What portion should go towards the purchase of a car, or a home, or entertainment?”

Some couples keep separate checking accounts. But in our relationship with Jesus, there are no separate accounts. It all belongs to Jesus. My life is over. Jesus lives in me.

As I finish this article, the guilt is weighing heavily on my shoulders. How often have I forgotten that this is Jesus’ life?
Author: Peter A. Panitzke
Volume 94, Number 8
Issue: August 2007
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