Crucifixion of one’s flesh first requires the voluntary crucifixion of our will, which as we all know, does not die easily, but leads to the life everyone longs for. It’s why Jesus recognized that “difficult is the way that leads to life.”
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
Broad roads are easy to travel. It’s going along to get along. It’s blending into the surroundings in order to avoid standing out. It’s not only sins of commission, but also sins of omission. But broad roads of all kinds lead to a wrecked life.
As Christians, we are called instead walk a narrow path, and to live surrendered to the will of God.
“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24).
Crucifixion of one’s flesh first requires the voluntary crucifixion of our will, which as we all know, does not die easily, but leads to the life everyone longs for. It’s why Jesus recognized that “difficult is the way that leads to life.”
Crucify the Flesh at Gethsemane
There is perhaps nowhere else in the Bible where we get a more penetrating look at Jesus’ inner life and motivation than what He experienced at the end of His earthly life:
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go and pray over there.’ And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.’ He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’ Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.’ And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand’” (Matthew 26:36-46).
Even though Jesus knew this was His destiny, His final hours were marked by an epic struggle of putting His will into submission to the Father. His agony was caused by having a certain foreknowledge that He was facing a different death than anyone had ever faced before. He was going to be required to drink the full measure of God’s judicial wrath against injustice and evil.
God’s wrath was a cup spoken of, and prophesied about, by both Ezekiel and Isaiah:
“You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of ruin and desolation” (Ezekiel 23:33).
“…you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger” (Isaiah 51:17).
We can’t fathom what it would be like for a mountain of divine wrath to come down on us. The mental struggle to submit His will in the face of the torture before Him caused the capillaries to burst near the surface of his skin, so that blood came out along with perspiration. This death would be unlike any other, and Jesus’ humanity staggered under the immense weight of it.
It Isn’t Easy to Put the Human Will to Death
Although we will never experience that kind of agony in killing our human will and surrendering to the will of the Father, there is truth here for all of us to learn—it isn’t easy to crucify the will.
But spoiler alert – it leads to life!
“Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25).
Submitting to God’s will leads to the life that we all long for, according to the promise of John 10:10. It leads to a life of peace and fulfillment, with an inner sense of meaning and purpose.
And as Jesus made His way through Gethsemane, He left us an enduring example of how to kill our will, submit it to God, and follow Him as He leads us into the destiny planned for each of us.
1. Push Past People
Whenever Jesus had a special mission, He would take Peter, James and John with Him. Have you ever noticed the message proclaimed by their names?
Peter means stone or rock – that which the Law was written upon
James is the Gentile version of Jacob, which means supplanter or replacer
John means grace
The presence of these men prophetically proclaimed Jesus’ life message — that He came to replace the Law with grace; to replace what we could never do in our own righteousness with what He has done for us, and to provide a way to the Father through this grace.
Even so, as Jesus was wrestling to surrender His will to the Father, He kept going back and forth between His friends Peter, James and John, and His Father.
Yes, it’s scriptural to seek godly advice and support. Yes, there is safety in a multitude of counselors (Proverbs 11:14). But at the end of the day, it’s God’s counsel that matters most. We must push past the concerns of people, even our friends and our family.
Don’t ignore what they have to say, but ultimately, killing our will requires that we step out in faith, trust, and submit to what God is saying — regardless of anyone else.
2. Press Through in Prayer
Some people have the mistaken understanding that prayer should always be a peaceful process. It must be a kind, polite, and easy-going conversation with God, like an exchange of social pleasantries.
Father, I love you. I’m so glad to have this opportunity to talk with You. It’s always the highlight of my day! You’ve been on my heart all day and I couldn’t wait to have some down time so that I could come and commune with You.
Yes I know, My child. I’ve been waiting here all day, longing for the moments when I could whisper blessings over you, tell you how proud I am of you and what a great job you are doing walking out your daily Christian life.
Although we’ll experience some of these elements in our prayer time with God, the Bible paints a different kind of picture of “prayers that avail much.” (James 5:16) For example, in Genesis, Jacob wrestled with God for hours on end until the breaking of dawn, and refused to let God go until he received God’s blessing (Genesis 32:22-32).
In Exodus, Israel was doing battle against the Amalekites. Moses was on top of the mountain struggling to keep his arms raised over his head as a supernatural sign to the enemy, so that Israel could win the battle. Aaron and Hur had to steady his hands by holding them up and resting them on stones (Exodus 17:11-13).
In 1 Samuel, Hannah prayed with so much weeping that Eli the High Priest thought she was drunk (1 Samuel 1:13).
All throughout Psalms, David expressed a rollercoaster of emotions during his prayer-time: anger at his enemies, frustration with God, questioning God about delayed answers, even revealing trust and faith issues that God would come through for him.
In 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul spoke of praying to God three times about a messenger of Satan who kept trying to stop him from advancing the Gospel (2 Corinthians 12:7-8).
And as we have seen here, in the garden, Jesus sweat drops of blood in prayer, crying out, even praying the same thing over and over in human agony.
It’s far from the picture that many of us have of the Christian prayer life.
Prayer is meant to be a place where we process through our issues; it is rarely a linear conversation, and much like a battlefield. It’s where we do war against the forces of darkness opposing us, and it’s where we do war against our own will which opposes God’s will.
Many call it “praying through,” which means praying over an issue until a release is felt, or the breakthrough is actually seen. But in our microwave minute and social media sound bite society, many Christians have grown up not knowing how to grab hold of the horns of the altar and refusing to let go until the breakthrough answer comes.
But that kind of prayer is the place where we process every emotion and desire, in order to come to a place where we voluntarily kill our will. And maybe the reason why we find it so difficult to submit, is because we don’t pray like we should.
3. Plan to Experience the Promise
Years ago, after I finally submitted to God’s will and walked away from my professional career path for full-time ministry position paying $400 a month, I remember reading this promise in Scripture:
“So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30).
And I felt God say to me, it’s not going to be easy, but plan to experience the promises of fulfilling My will!
What does that mean? God wants to us to kill our own will so we can be positioned to experience His will for our lives instead. And His will for us is always so much better than anything our wills can come up with.
Experiencing the promises of God doesn’t have anything to do with whether we deserve it, rather it has everything to do with Him.
In the garden, Jesus said yes to the Father’s will and took the penalty we deserved, dying the death we should have so we wouldn’t have to.
This gives us wonderful assurance that God won’t punish us when we are in Christ. But it says nothing of why God should bless us.
Think of it! Prior to the cross, Jesus lived 33 years on earth with a life deserving of the highest reward. His pursuit of doing good towards others merits every good thing Heaven and the Father has to offer.
And therein lays the magnitude of our salvation!
When we are in Christ, we not only get the benefits of His death — which is judgment withheld – but we also get the benefits of His life, including every good thing that Heaven and God the Father have to offer. Meaning, both the death and the life of Christ are credited to our account, so that God not only withholds judgment from us but gladly lavishes us with rewards!
It’s grace piled upon grace, and it’s the reason why we can expect to experience the promise.
What issue in your life have you still not submitted to the will of God? I encourage you to press through in prayer until you see real breakthrough. When you do, you can expect to experience God’s perfect will for your life — which is guaranteed to be so much better than you have ever imagined!
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Zbynek Pospisil
