THE SEVENTH SAYING—COMMIT YOURSELF TO GOD

THE SEVENTH SAYING—COMMIT YOURSELF TO GOD 

In Luke 23:46 Jesus cried out, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Jesus died entrusting Himself to the promised care of God. We are to live the same way, casting all our anxieties upon God because He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7). That means you must put your life, your death, and your destiny in His hands. That is what is meant by a life of faith—a life of complete trust in God.

God promised to raise Christ from the grave (Ps. 16:10). Jesus knew that promise because He often affirmed that He would suffer and die but rise again (Matt. 16:21; 26:32; Mark 9:9, 31; John 2:19). Based on God’s promise, He committed Himself to God’s care. That’s the only way to live—to commit your life to God.

We are to live totally committed to God. Romans 12:1 says we are to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices. That means all that we are is His and we trust Him for the outcome. First Peter 2:23 says Jesus “kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” He gave Himself to God no matter how great the pain, how much the hostility, or how difficult the task. He knew God would do what was right, judge righteously, and bring to pass what He had promised. He was willing to face death and hell (1 Pet. 2:3) because He knew God would not fail Him. That’s the kind of confident trust we’re to have.

The Lord Jesus Christ lived a perfect life and died a perfect death. Both are a supreme example to us. His last words summed up the greatest elements of life: we are to forgive those who sin against us, give the truth to damned souls who are lost without it, love selflessly and show compassion to others, understand the serious implications of sin, admit our weakness and allow others to meet our needs, finish the work God gives us to do, and rest assuredly in the hands of a caring God whose promises are sure.

As a result of Christ’s perfect life and death, God raised Him from the dead. Then He set Him at His right hand in glory. That was God’s affirmation of the perfect Person and work of His Son, and it affirms He will raise those who are perfect.

For anyone who’s honest, that doesn’t necessarily sound like good news. We aren’t always faithful evangelists. We are often insensitive to the pain and needs of others, and naive regarding sin’s destructive power. Pride keeps us from living dependently. Laziness keeps us from finishing God’s work. We often find ourselves trusting only what we can see. So we know we are imperfect, and it is mankind’s failure to live perfectly that makes all mankind fit for hell.

What hope can we have in that light? Hebrews 10:14 says, “By one offering [Jesus Christ] has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Christ was the only perfect God/Man. God has graciously provided that we may be given the perfection of Christ, and through Him approach God in perfection.

Christians often say they are in Christ because they understand that if they weren’t in Him, God wouldn’t raise them to glory. His perfection becomes ours when we receive Him as Savior—His righteousness clothes us and His perfection hides us. Because of our identity with Christ, God will raise us to glory and seat us on the throne with Christ. That’s the good news of the gospel.

That doesn’t mean Christians are perfect in this life. We still struggle with sin in this life, but we look forward to perfection in heaven. In the meantime we are covered by the perfection of Christ, and are being progressively conformed to His image (2 Cor. 3:18).

Because Christ has covered us with His perfection, we ought to do all we can to live as perfectly as possible—to forgive, evangelize, and love as He did. Our desire to be free from sin should be as great as His. We should depend on others, finish our appointed work, and totally trust God in the way He did. By doing all that, we will not earn perfection, but we’ll live up to the perfection we received from Christ when we received Him as Savior. That’s the gospel.