January 24

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. — 2 Cor 4:10 BSB

The two essential aspects of our gracious Lord, which encompass all our faith, hope, and love, are a dying Jesus and a risen Jesus—Christ in His suffering and death, and Christ in His resurrection and life. This is the Christ in whom we believe for eternal life, as He is revealed to us in the Scriptures and through the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit. If you do not believe in both the dying and the risen Christ, your faith is not the faith of a Christian. Now, let’s consider how this truth relates to our text.

Why do we bear the dying of the Lord Jesus in our bodies? It is so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in us. As we suffer with Christ, die with Christ, and by faith enter into the mystery of His crucifixion—being mystically and spiritually crucified with Him—we rise out of this death into union with the risen, living Christ. From Him, we draw life, strength, grace, and power out of His glorious fullness. He is no longer in the tomb where He lay in death’s weakness but is risen and declared the Son of God with power. He has ascended on high, now sitting at the right hand of God in the highest heavens, as our High Priest and King. As we carry the dying of the Lord Jesus in our bodies, being crucified with Him and conformed to His death, we also experience, even now, the manifestation of His risen life within us.