Following Christ
Col.1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church...
However...
Sanctification for the Church is an ongoing process: see Romans6:4; Gal 2:20; Col 2:11-15. After all, if we had already achieved perfection in this life, what need would there be for the grace of God? But hallelujah - he no longer holds our sins against us - but sees us through the veil of the blood of his Son: Through the eyes of mercy.
And, this is why Christ’s sufferings for his Church continues through us, His Body (Col 1:24). We cannot be followers of Christ, while at the same time, being friends with this world, under judgment: Quite to the contrary, Jesus promises us in the Gospel of John, that the world will hate us for following him. This is where the suffering comes. This is why we must die to this world and everything of it.
John 15:18-21
Galatians 6:14
We, like the Apostle Paul, must follow Him through death, burial and finally, into resurrection (1Peter2:21-23).
And just as when He had finished the work, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12), we who are in Him...who follow in His footsteps...who walk in His shadow...will also go from strength to strength until we each appear before God in Zion (Ps84:5-7). We know this because He said so...“To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Revelation 3:21.
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