Jim Elliot and friends had no idea how many would be called into missions as a result of their sacrificial death. Our deaths can have a profoundly positive effect on others. Our deaths even have resurrection power.
When Jesus “yielded up His spirit” (Matt. 27:50), verses 51 and 52 then tell us that the “…veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked and the rocks were split, and the graves were open, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.” The fascinating aspect of this event is that it was the death of Jesus that raised these saints–not His resurrection. When we lay down our spirits, something happens in the unseen realm that gives life to the dead. Deaths (of will or body) in the name of Jesus always give life. We bring more life by dying than by living.
Church history records seasons of martyrdoms and I am convinced we are entering one such season; yet common to all ages is the call to a crucified life–death to self. This principle (yielding up our spirit that others might rise from the dead) is always, ever efficacious. As a father of strong teenage boys, I am learning that sometimes yielding to their opinion gives them life. As a husband, it is often in my best interest to yield to the preference of my wife; as she feels honored and cherished, she delights to yield to me. As I yield to my leaders and my followers, something about my death gives them life, and I am the ultimate benefactor of that life. Most importantly as I yield to Jesus, things in my soul that are dead rise from the ashes. Yielding our spirits brings life from the dead, to others and to ourselves.
In the wonderfully mysterious plan of God, our yielding of spirit has impact on those with whom we are not intimate. The saints raised when Jesus died did not know the incarnate Jesus. The text indicates that random men and women were raised from their graves when Jesus died and the veil was torn. Jesus’ yielded spirit unleashed the presence of God, and this irresistible power jerked decaying flesh out of the tomb. When we die to self, when we yield up our spirit in total surrender to God, something in the spirit realm is unleashed–and it has life giving force.
The stakes are too high not to die. It is our death that unleashes power. It is our yielded spirits that gives others life–both those near and far.
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Dick Brogden ( - )
I was born in rural East Africa, just north of Lake Victoria. My dad and mom are my heroes (still missionaries on the field, they went out in 1966) and taught me to love Jesus and love his passions in the earth. I married my best friend, Jennifer, and she is stronger and wiser than anyone will ever know. I have two joys in life—my sons, Luke and Zack. Together we have treasured Jesus among Muslims since 1992, first in Mauritania, then Kenya, then Sudan for the past 15 years. The next treasure stop is Cairo, Egypt.Jennifer and I love to pioneer, we love working among unreached Muslim people, we love taking the gospel where it has not yet gone. The picture Jenn has had for our lives is that of a team on an obstacle course. We run to the wall first and get down on our hands and knees so others can spring over the wall. We do believe the great opportunity of our age is to engage the world of Islam with our magnificent, divine Jesus. We do consider the Arab world to be the heart of Islam. As Jesus is enthroned in the Arab world, we will be that much closer to every tribe, tongue, and people in worship, that much closer to Jesus coming back to take us all home. Whatever that costs us, Jesus is worth it.