The Way Down

The Way Down

Christ ascended on high and led away captives . . . and gave gifts. “‘Now this, He ascended”—‘what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.” Eph. 4:8-10.

Jesus renounced being like God, that is, being in the form of God; but He did not renounce being holy, pure, and undefiled by sin. In that sense of the word He continued to be like God, “taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:6-8.

He humbled Himself and came in the likeness of man; after that He humbled Himself and was obedient to the point of death. First, He left heaven and came down to earth, then He forsook being human and descended to the lower parts of the earth—despised, hated, mocked, viewed with suspicion, misunderstood, reviled, reproached, and considered to be a fool, a transgressor, etc. Obedience to the Father led Jesus to the lower parts of the earth. That is where He suffered death in the flesh but was made alive in the spirit. 1 Pet. 3:18.

Jesus invites us to this downward path when He says, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matt. 16:24. And in verse 27: “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.” As we can see, not just according to Jesus’ work, as many people assert, but according to our works done in the faith of Jesus.

“For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake . . . We are weak . . . we are dishonored . . . . Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure it; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.” 1 Cor. 4:9-13. It was Jesus’ obedience to God and complete submission to God’s will that brought the apostles down to the lower parts of the earth. There they had blessed fellowship with their Savior. This was different from being an important public figure in this world.

This way of death to the flesh is the way of Christ which embodies two essential directives to salvation:

1. It leads us personally through death to life; it becomes true in us just as it is true in Christ. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

2. The way down unites us in Christ and makes us one. We learn to love one another as Christ loved us even while we acted against His will. We are set free from the chains around our neck. No one stands in our way; we can go either to the right or to the left if no one likes us or does not want to associate with us. We believe in God’s blessings and not in what this earth can give us. We receive a father’s mind that binds together, for we become nothing in our own eyes.

However, many view this way as an abyss where they lose everything they love. He who loses his life shall find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36.

People fight for their honor and their existence; they fight for their rights, but they do not realize that Jesus will grant us our right, which is to die to our own in order to live for God in Christ Jesus.

At that point we become heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ; then everything belongs to us. Everything that is saved from Satan’s clutches, even if it is ever so small, is ours. May the mind of Christ be in us, so that we are willing to be led on the way He walked.