What Did Jesus Really Die For?

Have you ever wondered why people in the church are rather "lethargic" and even somewhat indifferent about their relationship with God? As much as I hate to admit it, this type of spiritual indifference isn't restricted to the pews, it's very prevalent in the pulpit as well. 

Clergy and laypeople alike, just seem to be laissez-faire about their relationship with God. Oh yes, we love the Lord. We're not really trying to "abandon" Jesus per se. But in terms of having our whole lives revolve around Him, in terms of our witness lining up with the Word stated in Colossians chapter 3, "for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God"; for many Christians, unfortunately, this is a bit extreme. But the question I raise today is, "Why?" Why is it that Jesus can give His all for us, to the point of suffering and death, and we have to negotiate our commitment to Him?

Amongst a host of reasons saints, I believe one of those reasons is that we really don't know what Jesus died for. I suspect that if you asked most Christians what they think Jesus died for, including preachers, most of them would say to die for our sins and so we could go to heaven when we die. Needless to say, both of these answers are correct, but they don't fully nor completely address "the full reason" why Jesus shed His Blood on Calvary. Also, can you see how these two responses, even though they "should," don't really muster up significant motivation to live for God and to live for Christ? 

Of course, if we're going to be "religious," everybody should be gung-ho because "Jesus died for my sins." He saved me from hell. The only challenge with this religious response is that it's too detached from the practicality of life. So even though we know it's the "right thing", we have a hard time implementing it. Thus you get lukewarm Christianity.

Saints, the real reason that Jesus died is so that you could be like Him. And who was Jesus? He was God. So Jesus died so that you could be like God. Now that may not turn some folks on. But only God turns water into wine. Only God can tell the winds and the waves to hush up. Only God can walk on water. Only God can take two fish and five loaves of bread and feed five thousand. That's God! And Jesus died so that we could manifest the Power of God and the Glory of God just like He did as the Son of God. 

Generally, when we think of being "Christ-like, we think of some type of spiritual morality couched in a brand called Christianity. This is not what Jesus died for. He died so that when people saw God, the true God, manifested in you, they'd want to have a relationship with Him, the Savior of the world. This is what Jesus really died for.