Surrender. This is a topic that as humans, none of us like to think about. Especially in today’s age.

Today, the cry beat into our beings is, “My life, my way, my choice, my right.” We live and breathe our convictions. And in most cases, today’s convictions are a nice concoction of what we think we deserve. 

I hate to break to you, but we don’t deserve God’s goodness. Sounds unfair, and outright cruel, but you know what? It is actually perfectly fair. In Romans, Paul addresses this issue.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 3:23

In case you haven’t noticed, we live in a pretty broken world. We have all sinned.

We all fall short of God’s glory and grace.

It is Human Nature to Desire Control and Not Surrender

Yet, we go on thinking, “It is my life, my way, my choice, my right.” WE DO NOT HAVE ANY RIGHTS.

The word “right” can be defined as, “The power or privilege to which one is justly entitled.” 

Let’s just rest on the word “entitled” for a second. Entitled means that we deserve what we are getting. We are oh-so-confident that we are entitled to the things we fight for.

To be justly entitled means that we deserve what we are getting based upon what is morally right and fair, aka based on the fact that justice is being done. Paul was really on a roll in Romans though. I am going to skip ahead two chapters, to Romans 6:23. Let’s take a look at what we are truly justly entitled to, according to God’s word, which is absolute and eternal.

When reading this, keep in mind that “all have sinned and fall short.”

“For the wages of sin is death…” 

Romans 6:23

Alright, let’s break this down…

What is a wage? It is something we earn; we work for it. By sinning, we earn death.

This is what we are entitled to. Death to this world, and in turn, eternal separation from God.

What does a life without surrender look like?

What does this eternal separation from God look like? Well, my friends, theologians and scholars have disputed what this literal separation looks like since the dawn of time. I am no theologian, nor do I make any claims to be a scholar, but I do know that God gives insight to those who seek him.  

And let me tell you this: Just by reading His word, it is made plain to everyone that eternal separation from Christ is not the way anyone wants to go.

People may think they want this separation, that they can do fine without God; unsurrendered to His love, but I promise, they will weep bitterly upon the realization of what they could have gained in this world, but lost. 

So me, in my untheologian-but-still-seeking-God’s-word-and-ways-self can think to describe eternal separation from God as this… Actually… Let’s practice seeking God’s word and go to something that Jesus once told His followers so we can get the right imagery.

In Luke 16, Jesus talks of a rich man who lived for himself and the world. He never came to the point of surrendering his life to God and therefore died without the knowledge of who God is.

The truth of who God is was made plain to him, but he made the conscious choice to not listen. Much like today, his beliefs were a concoction of what he thought he was justly entitled to. 

So the story goes on that this man died. From there the passage goes as follows…

“In Hades (Hell), where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

‘But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.” 

Luke 16:19-26

I choose this solemn passage because it sets the scene for my illustration of what eternal separation from Christ looks like. I am not going to say literally what hell (death and eternal separation from Christ) looks like, because unless one of us has been there, no one can truly know.

I kind of like to picture this separation as a dark, fiery, eternal, agonizing chasm. Imagine barely being able to look over, into the light; just like this rich man. Imagine having the knowledge that your whole life, you could have had what all the people on the side of light have.

They are free. They have a personal relationship with the God of the universe who created them and see them as  glorious and pure treasures.

Yet, you are trapped on the other side of an unending abyss. There is no escape. You are a prisoner; a result of lusting after your own passions and the things you thought you were entitled to.

You can see what eternal life in Christs looks like, and you know that it is too late. You are forever separated. You receive what you were justly entitled to. I think, with the knowledge that I have, this is the best way I can describe what eternal separation from Christ looks like. 

So all that to say… let’s jump back into Romans 6:23, because thank you Jesus, that is not the end of the story!

The passage goes on to say…

“but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:23b

Amen!! Need I say more?! This verse is so beautiful. It starts out so hopeless, but ends with such hope. 

So, what is a gift?

It is something we receive.

We don’t work for it. It is just something someone gives us simply because they love us.

What a gift this is. God knows that what we are entitled to is death and eternal separation from Him. Yet, he wants to give us this special gift of “eternal life in Christ Jesus.”

And what does this incredible gift of eternal life look like?!! Well my friend, the closest I can come to describing it is based on another man’s vision of it. Let’s see what John says about it in the final chapter of Revelation. 

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.

On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”

Revelation 22:1-4

Beautiful, isn’t it? Absolutely, purely beautiful. This is what Paul is talking about when he says, “but the gift of God is ETERNAL LIFE.”

God uses John here to give us a glimpse of what that eternal life will look like. The curse of sin and death is lifted, and we are made anew with the earth. And this is what we, as humans, think we are entitled to.

We want a free pass into a fulfilled life where there is no sorrow and no pain. We think we are entitled to glory and honor for the things that WE do. 

Yet, we do none of it.

A fulfilled life is one completely surrendered to God.

It’s acknowledging the truth that we are not entitled to any of the gifts which God ever so freely bestows upon us.

This means choosing to trust that He is in control when the waves come crashing down on us. Even as life throws storm after storm at us, we live completely surrendered to the one who is Lord over all of those storms.

It has nothing to do with us thinking we deserve a good and easy life full of pleasure and temporary wonder.

It has everything to do with lifting our hands to heaven, and clinging to the promises that God has made. The ones that will come to pass no matter what life holds in store for us. All we must do is trust in Him.

His promises will come to pass.

We only need to be surrendered to His beautiful glory.