THE JOY IN "DEATH" MEDITATION ~ On the Gospel of Christ-!

"Knowing this, that our Old Man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, … Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be DEAD indeed unto sin, but ALIVE unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:6,11)

Why do some believers in Jesus wait until the last day of their Life on their deathbed (when they are thinking about their death) to put a smile on their faces? They could have had a smile on their face every day if they had meditated on their death daily throughout their Life. But to experience the Joy of the Lord, they would also have to simultaneously believe that they have Put On their Higher Christ Self. This may sound like a morbid, depressing, and futile exercise to those who don't believe in Jesus. However, many ancient philosophers, spiritual teachers, and religious leaders throughout history have practiced and taught "death meditation." Even though most had no hope of eternal Life, they discovered the Earthly benefits of meditating on their death. For example, the Chinese philosopher Confucius said, "We have two (2) lives, and the second (2nd) begins when we realize we only have ONE." 

The Stoics (a group of Greek and Roman philosophers such as Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius) believed that meditating on death could cultivate a sense of mental calmness and acceptance. They thought that they should not try to avoid or resist death but rather embrace it as a natural part of Life. By accepting death, we can let go of our attachments and focus on living a virtuous life. The Stoics also had exercises to help people contemplate death, such as mentally picturing one's own death, reading about good deaths, and telling ourselves, "Tomorrow I must die." 

Buddhists practice death meditation. Maraṇasati (mindfulness of death, death awareness) is a meditation practice of remembering that death can strike at any time, and we should practice it diligently every moment. Meditating on death can dissolve the Ego. The Dalai Lama wrote: "It is crucial to be mindful of death — to contemplate that you will not remain long in this life." The Nine Death Contemplations of Buddhism are:

1. Death is inevitable (It’s going to happen whether you like it or not).

2. Our life span is decreasing continuously (We are all getting old).

3. Death will come, whether or not we are prepared for it (It will try scare the Jesus out of you).

4. Human life expectancy is uncertain (Nobody knows when you will die, except God).

5. There are many causes of death (For example, You could die from choking on a peanut).

6. The human body is fragile and vulnerable (Deep down, you are weak).

7. At the time of death, our material resources are useless to us (Money can’t save you).

8. Our loved ones cannot keep us from death (Family and friends can’t save you).

9. Our own body cannot help us at the time of our death (Your body will reject you).

Spiritual teacher and author Eckart Tolle says, "The secret of life is to die before you die."

WHAT DID JESUS SAY-?

"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life (Dies) for My sake will find it" (Matt. 10:38-39)

To pick up our Cross and follow Jesus means publicly identifying with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection (Spiritual Baptism). We must be willing and committed to experiencing our death in Him, to lose our Old Life daily for His sake. Jesus wants us to pick up our Cross (our old Life with all of its stress, anxiety, depression, broken relationships, and past trauma) and follow Him to His Cosmic Cross, where we can sacrifice and exchange our Old Life (Old man) for the New Man's Life. Jesus discussed his death in detail (Matt. 16:21–23, Mk. 8:31–32, and Lk. 9:21–22). Jesus had just fed the multitudes, and He said that the "Son of Man must suffer many things" (Mark 8:31), be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised again. Jesus knew that His death must happen. It was necessary in God's plan to save the world. Jesus often predicted His death (Matt. 17:22–23, Mk. 9:30–32, Lk. 9:43–45).

Jesus was trying to get his followers to start meditating on His death, and also their death, if they continued to follow Him to His death. Jesus told his disciples to pick up their Cross and follow him to His Cross - to be united with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him DENY himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matt. 16:24; Mk. 8:34). Jesus said, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (Jn. 12:25). Jesus was teaching them to willingly participate in dying to themselves, freely giving up their own lives to follow Him to His death (Matt. 10:38). 

Jesus' last words to his disciples were to: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mk. 16:16). He only gave them two instructions: Believe and be Baptized. Jesus taught us to be baptized after we believe so that we could individually have a memorable experience of our DEATH with Him every day and experience our New Life with Him every day. Suppose you take away all the religious jargon from Water Baptism. In that case, it is simply like faking your own physical death by drowning so that you can remember your Spiritual death (when your Old Spirit Self died) with Christ on the Cross. 

After you first believe in Jesus, you find someone (like your pastor) to hold you down in the water long enough (without oxygen) to feel like you are dying. Then, they lift you up out of the water (as you were resurrected with Christ) to take your first breath as a newborn spiritual Baby in heaven - a New Creature in Christ. This all happened retroactively on the Cosmic Cross of Christ when you were born-again by God, who transcends time. Jesus' words encourage us to first get baptized after we believe and then to meditate on the death of our "Old Man" every day to start renewing the spirit of our (Subconscious) Mind and Put On the New Man-!

WHAT DID PAUL SAY-?

"I have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me" (Gal. 2:20)

The Apostle Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). He also said, "I die every day" (1 Cor. 15:31). In the following verses, we see Paul contemplating death: "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me" (Phil. 1:20-26).

Paul also repeatedly instructs us to PUT OFF the OLD MAN" (Eph. 4:22-23). The problem with most Religions of Christianity today is that they try to teach you to "act like the New Man" without first reckoning your Old Man to be dead. Suppose you cannot believe that God has united your Old Self with Christ in his crucifixion, death, and burial. In that case, you will not believe that God has connected you with Jesus' resurrection and his ascension into Heaven, where he created a New You that is hidden in Christ. Once again, Paul said, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). What does it mean to be baptized into Jesus's death?

For a person to be born again, God, who transcends time, must teleport their Old Man's sinful nature) back in time to A.D. 33, into the human body of Jesus Christ on the cross. Then, they are united with Christ in his crucifixion, death, and burial. So, the Old Man (the sinful nature), is crucified with Christ Jesus. Since the Old Man with his body of sin is destroyed, he can no longer serve sin. A dead man can no longer sin and is freed from sin.

"Reckon yourselves to be DEAD …" (Rom. 6:11) 

In the verses preceding this one, The Apostle Paul directly informs us that our Old Man has died in Christ: "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our OLD MAN was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once and for all; but the Life that He lives, He lives to God" (Rom. 6:5-10). Now, Paul is telling us to consider our Old Self dead. To PUT ON the New Man, Paul instructs us to Put Off the Old Man or count our OLD MAN dead daily by remembering our physical Baptism in water. 

Paul gives us the game plan to live the Victorious Life as New Creatures in Christ - in the following verses: "You were taught, about your former way of life, to Put Off your Old Self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to Put On the New Self, created to be like God in true Righteousness and Holiness" (Eph. 4:22-24). Paul said, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION; old things have passed away; behold, ALL things have become new" (2 Cor. 5:17). Being in Christ means more than just being forgiven by Christ, it means that God the Father literally killed, crucified and buried our old sinful heart (The Old Man) with Christ, and resurrected a newly created NEW MAN with a New Heart that is perfectly Holy, Righteous, sinless, and blameless. The New Man is NOT a metaphor for the Old Man to try to be good enough for God. The New Man is a New super-god-man species.

All who believe in Christ for their eternal salvation are crucified and resurrected with Christ as the New Man. We are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6), yet we walk this Earth and are charged to keep being Renewed in our Minds. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). Now, by the power of God in us, we can overcome our enemies - the world (1 Jn. 2:16), the flesh (Rom. 7:15-25), and the devil (James 4:7-10). Because of our change of standing before God as His Holy sons and daughters (The NEW MAN), we now can meet His standard of sinless perfection to be forgiven of our past, present, and future sins and receive the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-21). So how can we be dead when we still feel very much alive?

GOD'S WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM ~ To Reckon the Old Man to be DEAD-!

One of the best earthly analogies I have heard to explain this concept of putting off the Old Self-identity and putting on a New Self-identity is related to the U.S. Federal Government's Witness Protection Program. This program provides witnesses and their families protective services to ensure their health, safety, and security. It relocates individuals to other States, where they assume New identities and get jobs in the community. Over 18,000 witnesses and their families in organized crime, drug-running, and terrorism cases have been offered protection since 1971. Many Hollywood movies have portrayed the lives of those living in this witness protection program. The last movie I saw was called "The Family" and stars Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer.

The hardest part for these witnesses in the program is to consider and believe that the person that they used to be is now dead, according to the U.S. government. The witnesses and their family members are issued New birth certificates (driver's licenses) with New names and addresses. The federal government cannot charge them with any past criminal offenses that they did in their former Life because they are reckoned to be dead. The word "reckon" is an accounting term that means to establish by counting or calculation: "Likewise you also, RECKON yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:11).

These witnesses cannot be condemned for any past criminal behavior committed by their Old Man. Does this sound like something that Paul told us?: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). You can't punish a dead man. Paul also illustrates marriage: "For example, by law, a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man. So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, so that we might bear fruit for God" (Rom. 7:2-4).

So, when you become a Witness for Christ and are born from above, God, who is the supreme authority (not the U.S. government :), supernaturally executes and officially declares your Old Man (former sinful spirit) to be dead with Christ in his crucifixion and burial. God then makes you alive with Christ in his resurrection and ascension into Heaven. God then hides your New Life in the New Man in Heaven - in God's Witness Protection Program to protect you from the evil one and secure your salvation. Now, isn't that GOOD NEWS! So, we must acknowledge ourselves to be what God has made us to be and what Christ has declared us to be - Dead to sin and Alive to God.

THE PROBLEM ~ Death Denial-!

We live in a society where, most of the time, we pretend that death doesn't exist. Death is a taboo topic not spoken about much. Most people live as though they are going to live forever. Everybody wants to be a "Rock Star" (live the ultimate Life), but few are willing to pay the ultimate price with their Life to Be ONE. So, most are content with just giving 10% of their Life to the one (local professional) who may falsely promise to cover the remaining 90%. Most have no direction, guidance, or urgency to change how they live.

So, it is this attitude about death that leads them to sleepwalk through Life until it may be too late (when they face a crisis: accident, sickness, disease, trauma, natural disaster, etc.). This is why so many people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs) or have had mental/ emotional and drug problems suddenly turn to God and are reborn. During this emotional and spiritual corrective experience, they find the faith to give God 100% of their Life.

THE SOLUTION ~ Death Meditation-!

Jesus and Paul's words encourage us to first get baptized after we believe and then to meditate on the death of our Old Man daily so that we can start renewing the Spirit of our Mind to Put On the New Man. The Gospel of Christ requires believers to meditate daily on our Old Man's death. But simultaneously, we must focus on the Joy of the Lord in our New Life in the New Man who has been united with Christ in His resurrection. Before Jesus ascended back to Heaven, he gave His Church two significant sacraments: Baptism and Communion.

Baptism symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, that has made our salvation possible. Baptism also suggests that a person through faith in Christ has passed from death to Life and that this person has identified with Christ's death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12). In partaking of the bread and the cup, Christ's disciples are to remember his sacrifice on the cross of Calvary as he gave his body and shed his blood for our sins. To help us not forget, we can die before we die. We can visualize, meditate, and experience our Baptism as the death of our Old Self and resurrection with Christ into our New Higher Christ Self. 

EARTHLY BENEFITS ~ Of Death Meditation in this Life-!

By contemplating your spiritual baptismal death and the inevitability of your physical death, you will clarify what really matters in Life. It will help you to realize your God-given gifts. It will help you clarify God's plan for your Life and motivate you to pursue it. By meditating daily on your Old Man's death and your mortality in this Life, you will realize the need to take action now to live the abundant Life that Jesus promised. Daily reflection on God's execution of your old sinful heart and your temporary flesh will dispel any illusion that you have unlimited time to achieve your goals.

Contemplating death can awaken us from complacency to Life's preciousness. When you start thinking about your finite time left on Earth, you start realizing that you are going to die, and you stop taking Life and the people in your life for granted. At this time, you may begin to tap into your full spiritual potential as a "son or daughter of God' - the New Man/ New Woman-!

HEAVENLY BENEFITS ~ Of Death Meditation In this Life-!

“You have been set FREE from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Rom. 6:18)

In addition to the above earthly benefits, the ultimate heavenly benefit was “kept hidden for ages and generations, until it was revealed to the Saints” (Col. 1:26). Paul shares the greatest Mystery in the Bible - made known to him in a Revelation by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 3:3). This Mystery, “was not made known to men in other generations as it has been revealed by the Holy Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets” (Eph. 3:4-5), because it was hidden until Christ came. Through Christ, it has been made open to all. Paul prayed: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Eph. 1:17). This is not something learned in a book or an article. The Holy Spirit must reveal this to you personally because your Old Man’s brain will naturally reject it. The ultimate mysterious benefit of knowing that Almighty God killed your Old sinful Spirit is that God also simultaneously recreated you into a New Christ Spirit.

According to God’s creation, this New Creature in Christ, seated in the heavenly realms, is genuinely Holy and Righteous. Since God has already judged your past, present, and future sins in the Body of Christ on the Cosmic Cross in your Old Man, you, as the New Man or New Woman, can never sin again. Since you have been Predestined, Called, and Justified by Christ's Holy and Righteous blood, you have attained a POSITION in heaven of being perfectly JUSTIFIED, sanctified, sinless, and blameless in God's eyes: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph. 1:4). The Apostle John said, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 Jn. 3:9). Paul says, “For by one offering he (Jesus) hath PERFECTED for ever them that are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14).

My New Spirit has been born of God and can not sin. This is my POSITION in heaven. My physical body (flesh) has not yet been born of God, and so it continues to sin. But God’s New Covenant declares: “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Heb. 8:12). This is my CONDITION on Earth until I die and receive a Holy, Sinless, Glorified body. As a NEW MAN, I only have ONE “holy” nature or Spirit because God killed my Old sinful Spirit on the Cross of Christ.

This means that your New position that is Justified and Sanctified by Christ has set you totally free from ALL Sin. No matter how the Sin in your flesh reacts to the sinful programs in your Mind that were programmed by your Old Man - in God's Eyes, you are not your Old Body or your Old Mind. You are the New Spirit being that HE Created that has the power of the Holy Spirit to take control of your Mind and body. But, you are not saved based on your ability to renew your mind or put on the New Man. Your position as a New Creature in Christ, as a son or daughter of God, secures your salvation.

Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life" (Jn. 5:24). So, you can never be judged again according to the Law of Sin and Death - because you have already died and have passed from Death into Life: “Therefore, there is now No Condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you FREE from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1-2)

A PRACTICAL SUGGESTION: If you have never been Baptized or want to be Baptized again, I would recommend doing it in an "Ice Cold" water plunge (Note: if you have a health condition, clear this first with your doctor). This will give you a "Lightning-thunderstruck experience" that you won't soon forget. Visualize yourself being Baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Cold water plunging has shown the ability to increase the baseline dopamine molecules in your brain and body linked to motivation. Being immersed in cold water stimulates leukocytes, the white blood cells that help fight off sicknesses. It also causes the lymphatic system to contract, forcing fluid through the lymph nodes. This process aids in detoxing the body and strengthening your immune system. If you don't have access to a tub, then stick your face in a sink full of ice water - to remind yourself of your Old Man's dead body in Christ. In addition, to renew your Mind, it is essential to turn on the Cold Water after your daily hot shower and repeat this verse to yourself: "I Count myself 'dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6:11).

THINK ABOUT IT-!

“Fix your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the JOY set before him he endured the Cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2)

The Apostle Paul tells us that we are to fix our eyes on Jesus who endured the Cross by focusing on the JOY OF THE LORD-! Jesus’ joy was the divine blessing of his pre-incarnate life with the Father and his glory with God before the world was created. Jesus wants his disciples to focus on the JOY OF BEING THE NEW MAN (who is holy, righteous, sinless, and blameless) when meditating on their Old Man’s death. But what if your Old Self is not dead? What if your Old Sinful Nature was not executed on the Cosmic Cross of Christ? What if you have not been united with Jesus in his death and burial? Then there is no way in Heaven that you have been Born-again or resurrected as a New Creature in Christ, and the Bible says that you are still dead in your sins.

Remember, God's standard is absolute sinless perfection. There is no such thing as a person being "good enough” to meet God’s Holy standard of sinless perfection. You are either a New Man or a New Woman in Christ whom God has created perfectly Holy and Righteous right now, or you are Not. If you are not, then I would encourage you to call upon the name of the Lord: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13). Once you have an assurance of your salvation, then daily meditate on the death of your Old Self and watch how your New Self comes alive with the JOY of the Lord.

“The JOY of the Lord is our Strength” (Neh. 8:10)