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April 8 Daily Devotional

Christ Goes Before

Frans Bakker

He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him. —Mark 16:7

Bible Reading

Mark 16:1–8

Devotional

In self-righteousness the disciples quarreled over who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God and in zealous ambition they proclaimed that they would die for Jesus to save Him from His enemies. Maybe you also think that you can do something for the Lord in your own strength. It is true, that the Lord is pleased when we bring forth fruits for Him, but those fruits are not produced of our own power. They come forth from Christ. Fruit is a product of following the ways of the Lord. Fruit does not come forth out of our own righteousness. Apart from Christ our deeds are as filthy rags.

“He goeth before you into Galilee.” Jesus goes to Galilee to distribute the fruits of His resurrection, so that His people may dwell with Him forever. The risen Christ makes it so easy for His people. He goes before them; they need only follow. To receive His fruit they only have to deny self and follow Him. In dying to self they will find life in Him.

The way to Galilee is easy and yet difficult. On this side of eternity, we can never completely die to self. To follow Him requires a lifelong exercise. Actually, on this side of the grave we never die completely to self. Death must come in order to die to self fully and to find life in Him forever.

Nevertheless for the disciples there is a different following of Christ before His resurrection than after His resurrection, for His death lies in-between. His death must become your death and His resurrection must become your life. Because of your own sins, you must always again be humbled with Him in order to be exalted with Him.

Your life is hidden in His resurrection alone. Regeneration and the first beginnings of the new life are already fruits of His resurrection. No one would ever begin to live before God if it had never become Easter. The fact that you have risen from spiritual death is only because He arose from the dead. You cannot even follow Him unless you are drawn by the power of His own Word and Spirit. For in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. How else could you live to the Lord than only through Him?

The living Jesus went before His church into Galilee. He wanted to gather with His people. He wanted to yet seek them out. This time they would follow Him in the realization that the ability to live for God is not to be found in them. With such disciples too much has taken place to seek life in themselves. They can no longer go before Him.

This is really humiliating, but if you want to celebrate Christ’s resurrection appropriately, you must find death in yourself. When you understand this, you no longer have a desire to exalt yourself, but your desire is to magnify the living Christ, because He is the One who goes before you. He is your salvation.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.

 

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