Died With......

If we have died with Christ we believe that we shall also live with Him

One day I was pondering on the death of Christ and it came over me that Jesus really died.  I know that sounds obvious since we have been schooled on that from the very beginning.  But it hit me that the statement "He died" means that His brain, heart, vital organs, and blood stopped living.  There was no more pulse or brain activity. Jesus for the first time in His existence stopped being.  This Son of God who was before the foundations of the world cease to live anymore. I had never thought of it like that; I sat down and cried.  He who knew no death; who had conquered it in His lifetime, gave into to it.  The Son of God tasted death for everyman.  Wow!
What does this mean in regard to our salvation?  It means that when Christ died I died with Him.  The old man ceased to breathe, bleed, live, and sin.  The old Joel died. Death is a final affair for the one who has died.  Now that is hard to accept when I examine my experience and still do the things I once did.  It is hard to believe that when I crave the old things that I once loved to do; and say the things that I once said.  The truth of this is severly challenged as I look in the mirror and see the old visage looking back at me.  But the truth is the truth.  We need to start believing the word of God over what we see, smell, touch, taste, and hear. The old person died with Christ.
Joseph Prince always says "right believing leads to right living."  I believe that to be true.  If we start believing we are dead to sin we could stop sinning because of our death.  Remember death is a final thing for the dead.  Paul said "reckon yourselves to be dead to sin; but alive to God in Christ Jesus."  Okay you Ozarkians it is time to reckon yourselves to be DEAD to sin. I mean dead!!