Ultimate Consecration to do the Will of God
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:5
Today 04th of April 2023, we commemorate our Lord’s Memorial. This event of our Lord’s memorial is a remembrance of the sacrifice of our Paschal lamb – our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 5:7). [During this season] The events that happened from Nissan 10 until Nissan 14 are still fresh in our minds.
Some of the events that we readily recollect are,
– The selection of Jesus as Passover lamb on Nissan 10
– Anointing Jesus with the oil (in preparation for his death)
– The last supper with his disciples
– The Gethsemane prayers
– His arrest and his trial before Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod.
– His crucifixion and death at the appointed day / hour.
In all these events and many others, we see that Jesus was always doing the will of his God. This was the ultimate consecration of a human being. He submitted himself fully to God. Jesus was in fact delighted to do the will of God and hence readily accepted his will whatever it may be.
Two important and key characteristics that helped Jesus in all these events and in fact to complete his consecration, his baptism of death which started at Jordan and was successfully completed at the Calvary when he said, “It is finished”, is that of humility and obedience.
Let us review some of the recent events culminating in the sacrifice at Calvary.
– On Nissan 10, though all others were shouting with joy, Hosannah, Jesus in fact knew that this was indeed his selection as the sacrificial lamb – as the reality.
– When the disciples complained about spilling the costly anointing oil, Jesus informed them of his imminent death and that he could be served only when he was available.
– During the last supper Jesus gave them a practical lesson on humility by washing the feet of the disciples.
– At the Gethsemane Jesus expressed his wish that he did not want the communication with the Father to be cut off as was required of him. But again, he submitted himself to God’s will. (Sometimes when we do some things correctly, we expect ourselves to be rewarded by granting our wishes. But here we see that though Jesus was perfectly obedient to God until such time, he still did not expect that God MUST grant his wish. But rather requested in prayer that, if it is God’s will then it could be removed (Luke 22:42).
– We understand that his arrest and trials were not legally valid. He was found not guilty by the then-Roman Governor, Pontus Pilate. But still, he was sentenced to death, and that too the cruellest form of death, the capital punishment that was given to any human being (but never given to a Roman citizen since it was considered a derogatory punishment). We see Jesus humbly submitting himself to God’s will. (Some of us think, that we should submit or obey authorities over us only if they are just. But here we see the example of Jesus, wherein he submitted to unjust authorities. The lesson here is we should be ready to submit ourselves not only to the just ones, but also to the unjust ones. A similar line of thought is expressed by Apostle Peter in 1 Pet. 2:18. However, we should be careful to always obey God in all these submissions and not obey men, when they are in conflict).
– Even on the cross, Jesus was sure to fulfil all the prophesies that were told about him in the scriptures. Like John 19:28.
In all these events, we see that Jesus was very particular in seeking God’s will, understanding God’s will and submitting or obeying God’s will to the fullest. Are we copying the Son in these wonderful qualities?
We come back to our text by Apostle Paul. In reading the context of the verse, Phil. 2:3,4 the Apostle advises us to consider other brethren as better and ourselves to be humble. He then proceeds to take Jesus Christ as an example and says that “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8). If this mind of humility and obedience to God’s will is in us, then just as Christ was exalted by the Father, we would also be exalted to our reward in heaven. (Phil. 2:9-12; 1 Pet. 5:5,6.)
In Jesus and his Pascal sacrifice, we see the Ultimate Consecration to do God’s Will. Let us now keep the feast. (1 Cor. 5:7,8) Not the feast of celebrations, for we are yet to Passover to immortality. But let us keep the feast with the “newness of life” and copy the “ultimate consecration” of our Saviour. Let us keep the memorial of our Lord’s supper and let us remember his death for our sake, not only for our sake but also for the world. (1 Cor. 11:26)
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