Dead to the World

"May I never boast except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
Galatians 6:14

There is a difficult reality that faces every Christian: We have defeated the world and its influences through the cross of Christ, but we must live in the world at the same time. So how do we live victoriously? It occurs to me that the New Testament is full of scriptures that confront this issue head on. On one side, we have our glorious position in Christ, and on the other, we have our flesh which struggles with the offerings of the world.
    The answer to our predicament is this: We must die to the world, just as Christ did. Let me illustrate this. If we took a dead man to a California beach on a hot summer day and propped him up under an umbrella, there would undoubtedly be many scantily clad women there. This worldly environment appeals to the flesh of men. But, would our dead man react or respond to the women? Would he lust after them? No! Why? Because he's dead!
    The process of our Christian experience is one of life and death. We must continually die to sin. This is spoken of throughout the New Testament and is, in fact, a major component of water baptism.When we are baptized, we leave the old nature in the waters. The only way to defeat the world and the sin that flows from it, is to die to it, as Paul writes. This process of life and death continues throughout our whole lives until the final death to the world occurs.
    If we are dead to the world, then we are alive to Christ and his kingdom. We don't have to wait for our physical death to experience God and his kingdom. We can do it now, because he has made the way for us. If we only die to the world and never live in Christ, we will be miserable people. When we finally die, we will experience Christ and his kingdom in fullness. But, if we are dying to the world right now, daily, we have the glorious opportunity to truly live each day in the kingdom of the Savior.
    Choose to die today. Die to sin and the appeal of the world. When you do this, you will find that your life with Christ will blossom. You will no longer be encumbered by the things of the world. The draw to that life will be gone.  The world promises freedom, but in reality, if you indulge, you are imprisoned. True freedom is found in Christ and the kingdom of God. Choose life!