Spiritual Ponderings

When Satan tempted Jesus with the doubts about being the Son of God in the wilderness, he was not only referring to Jesus' condition as a human and trying to question that aspect of Him; he was also coming from the stance in which he, as previously Lucifer, had originally taken in heaven when he questioned the truth about Christ being God just as authentically as the Father. The whole great controversy between Christ and Satan was initiated in heaven when Lucifer began to entertain doubts about the divinity of Jesus. It seems that he found it difficult to believe that Jesus was not a created being like himself. Christ apparently appeared so similar to Lucifer that Lucifer made the mistake of thinking that he was equal with Christ and thus should have all the same privileges as Christ. So when God treated Christ with greater honor than Lucifer by including Him in the secret counsels of the Godhead while excluding Lucifer, it was at that point that Lucifer's jealousy began bree...

I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily . (1 Corinthians 15:31) I have been crucified with Christ ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20) I got to thinking about this again a few days ago. I have pondered these texts for many years and have puzzled over just what they really mean; not only the idea of dying without actually physically dying, but especially the part about being crucified with Christ. Just how is that supposed to take place? And particularly, who is it that does the crucifying? There are many texts in the New Testament that talk about our need to die to self. Jesus makes it very plain that unless we are willing to give up our right to life and be willing to die that we cannot enter into the converted state of mind and heart needed to participate in the kingdom ...