In the most graphic way we were reminded last Sunday of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus: A young man who had become a Christian had asked to be baptised in obedience to the Lord Jesus’ command.
It was moving to hear his testimony which included the description: “I tried to fix my brokenness on my own and I couldn’t, but Jesus goes ‘I’ll fix it’ and he does”.
Yet what did he mean? How can ‘dying to myself’ fix me? Surely there’s a basic contradiction? How can it possibly be true?
The answer is that it all depends on what you mean by ‘fix me’!
The Bible is clear that as people born to sinful humanity in a broken world, we are already very broken indeed. Our desires, aspirations and attitudes exclude God who made us. Trying to be the people we were designed to be could never work, any more than pulling ourselves up by our shoelaces! We desperately need our Creator’s help and that’s what Jesus has done by dying on the cross and rising again.
He told His disciples:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23,24)
Only by admitting that we are broken and need Him to re-make us can we begin to be the people we were designed to be. By dying to ourselves we can live for God, dependent on His grace in the Lord Jesus and being shaped by His Word in the Bible as the Holy Spirit applies it to our lives.
Praise God who ‘fixes’ broken people in Jesus!
Spencer Shaw