John 21:18. ""Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not."
THY HANDS: the cross and our identification It was not only a spiritual crucifixion Peter had before him. The Lord Jesus revealed he would be crucified by men. The cross he would die on was physical and real - To Peter He chose this fact to reveal.
To those of us who live near the end of this day of grace - Can through the centuries past, the way of God with His own people trace; We realize most didn't know until it was about to happen - How death would take place, or how from earth we would be taken.
But all of God's children have one special thing in common All have been identified with Christ; the death of the cross is on them. Of course, not all were nailed to a cross or tree - But all know that Jesus died on the cross for me.
As far as God is concerned, when Christ died, so did I. He gave His life for me, therefore in Christ I died. The enemy cannot deny that my sin was to Christ imputed - So now I live as a new creation, not just an old one uprooted.
The seed that was the Lord Himself, fell into the ground and died. The fruit from that death is new life that always in Him abides. Because He now lives, we who believe live in Christ today, And the life He gave us, He will never take away.
But like Peter, I too must fall into the ground and die. The new life that comes from me is something I cannot deny. There is fruit that comes from each believer, and it springs From the Life-Source Himself what He chooses to bring.
There should be evidence that I have been crucified with Christ. Every true believer knows what it is like to be born twice. The old man is mortified, in Christ, death has taken place. The new man is alive in Christ by the work of God's grace.
"I believe Father, that there is evidence whenever one is saved by grace - of new life. May those who make confession of faith in Christ's death for them, live unto Thee from now on. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."