The Danger and Blessing of Imitating a Martyr

I am called by God to imitate a man, Jesus, who was killed in his early 30s by people who hated him.

What does this mean for me?

I think an accurate description of the serious, devoted Christian life is summed up well by the words of Jesus in John 16:33. He said, "In this world you will have trouble." Of course this would be true. He calls us to take up our cross and follow Him, to drop our nets and follow Him, to deny ourselves and follow Him. He said that we are not of this world, and we should not live as though we are. What will inevitably happen from a life faithfully lived according to these words? Trouble.

Jesus was killed because He spoke the truth, and people loved lies. He was tortured and mocked because He shined a light onto a people who loved darkness and the deeds of darkness. Is our world any different than the world in which He lived? Are people any different now, 2000 years after Jesus died? Am I called to anything less than living in my culture as Jesus did in his? It sounds like I am called to trouble in this life. It appears that this is the promised result of an obedient life. So where does this leave me?

I am called to follow after a man who made so many people angry that mobs were screaming to crucify Him and let a condemned murderer go free in His place. I am called to speak the truth to a people who might very well hate me as much as those in Jesus' time hated Him.

So why did I sign up for this life? What motivates me to push aside all comfort and live in Jesus' name and for His sake? What compels me to live not for what is seen but, rather, for what is unseen? Because this unseen for which I am living is a Kingdom that is sure. And this Kingdom will be good. It will be very good.

You see, not only is Jesus a martyr, He is also Almighty God. Not only was He a man who believed the truth so strongly that He was willing to be killed by evil men for it, He was also the living God who was raised from the dead three days after His crucifixion to prove that He had power over evil and death.

There is more to John 16:33. Jesus said, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

This world is not the end. This is not all that I get. Because of God's mercy and grace and His great love for me and all who have faith in Christ, Jesus' death and resurrection accomplished eternal life and glory for sinful men. Through faith in Jesus' perfect sacrifice, I am reconciled to the holy and good God who is sovereign and almighty. God is now for me rather than against me, and this trouble I face is all worked together for my good by His sovereign hand. If God is for me, WHO can be against me??

So I have a promise from Jesus that I will have trouble. But I also have a promise that He will never leave me nor forsake me. I also have a promise that all things are working together for my good. I have a promise that I will be forever with the Lord. I have a promise that He is keeping a treasure for me in heaven as I store it up by following Him on earth.

It's as simple as this. I may face trouble. I may face heavy persecution. I might be mocked and tortured and hated and even killed. But as awful as all of this might be, it is temporary. And through all of it, I get God. I have a relationship with the Creator of my soul and the Creator of the entire universe. He loves me, and I get Him forever.

This motivates me to live righteously in a perverted culture. This motivates me to follow the Spirit when He leads me into persecution for the offensive truth of Christ. I will live for Christ. I will follow this man who was killed by evil men.

No guilt in life, no fear in death--
This is the power of Christ in me.
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from his hand.
Til he returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Jesus' resurrection gives me power and hope for future glory even if I will definitely face persecution and deep trial because of His name. I have eternal glory in Jesus, and so I bear His name with confidence and walk in holiness.

"It is He that has brought you here; He has an object in it. He made the world and He made you; the world is His and you are His; you have no right to be or to do in this world of His, anything but what pleases Him." George Bowen

"If I should this Year be afflicted in my Body, Family, Name or Estate, I commit my All to the Divine Dispose; the Will of the Lord be done; only begging that the Grace of God may go along with the Providence of God in all my Afflictions, to enable me both to bear them well and to use them well." Matthew Henry