1st John 3:16. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” OUR LIFE. What really is my life? Is it the ability of my body parts to all function properly and in harmony so this 220- pound carcass can freely move about? Or is my life a style of moving through the course of a day; the interacting of myself with Linda, our family, the Lord’s people – or even everyone in the sphere of my daily activities? Is it the way I do things in this setting?
I know eternal life is the life of God, graciously imparted to me, an undeserving sinner. But because of God’s sovereign interest and divine love, He has given to me His kind of life – really, His life; and to do that He laid His life down. Did He do that at the cross only, or was there more to the fact that He laid down His life for us? Did He not lay down the style of life He had in the glories of the eternal past? Yes, He set that aside deliberately; He had that and laid it down. Did He not lay down the close family life He had as a growing child in the home of Mary and Joseph? Did He not have to lay down His family life? Yes, He had to walk away from the obscurity and, in a sense, security of coming home each night from work into the warmth of a loving home. Did He not have to lay down His life as a carpenter with all the satisfaction of a job that allows one to create and then the joy of a job well done? Yes. He had to lay that down and then pick up the reproaches of men that came on Him because of us. The laying down of glory, family, occupation and ultimately – physical life was deliberately laid down for the welfare and benefit of us. And because of that willingness to give Himself – not just of Himself, we have the abundant blessing of a new life that’s hid with Christ in God.
But now, the fellowship we have with the Father and Son comes only when we follow that same pathway of light. The brethren need me. They need my life. They need all the glories that might be mine. The glories of strength. Family life, important as it is, cannot be the all-encompassing objective of my life. I must lay down the time I would like to spend with my wife and children, because the need is greater in the family of the saints. I do not have to kill, forsake or ignore and abandon family life – I have to lay it down.
The satisfaction that comes from a creative occupation is very great – at least for many people. The closing of a deal; the conclusion of a successful operation; the finishing of a project; all means of proving our worth. These have to be laid down for my brethren. The physical aspect of life being laid down, brings a conclusion to everything. The on-going offering of myself as an offering to God for my brethren, continues as a drink offering poured out. The Lord who laid down His life for us, had power to take it again. He didn’t take it again with a selfish, grasping hand, but with all the blessings and glories linked with the result of laying it down in the first place, comes increased glories and blessings as He takes it again. The same is true of us – as we lay down our lives for the brethren, we find that we have more after than we ever had before.
“O Father God: He who was the God-Man of the “open hand” and laid it all down for me, is the supreme example of giving. I know Jim Elliott said it well, and I can’t improve on his statement. But somehow, I need to lay down what I can keep, even if I can only keep it for awhile, that my brethren might be benefited. I think the only way I can do that is if Thou wilt keep me from a tight hand, by letting me have some insight into the needs of others. It this is the way it can best be done, please give me this special kind of eyesight. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”