Sanctification vs. hyperpersonalization of the Gospel.
Jesus died for you. Get over it.
Does that seem offensive or strange?
Can I have a moment of your time to explain what I mean?
I pray that I never get over the fact that God, who is holy and good, sent Christ to suffer and die on the cross for my sin while I was His enemy. So, I’m not saying any of us needs to get over that fact at all. However, I suffer from a disease from which God is progressively curing all of the saved: ego. Because I’m here inside this earth suit of a body, I experience everything as, you guessed it… me. How about you?

In a Genesis 3 world, it’s natural, normal… familiar and easy to shift into “it’s all about me” mode… frequently. So, when I say “get over it”, I’m referring to the least important word in the sentence: you. You see, the disease “me-itis” (the swelling of a hyperactive self-importance gland), causes many of us to got over involved in what God is doing for us. This isn’t just limited to the disgusting prosperity gospel that promises far less than the true Gospel, but it also easily metastasizes when exposed to an over abundance of life application. When the gospel is constantly reduced to the how-to-apply-it, “what’s the take-away” can morph quickly into “what I can get out of this?” and progress to ”

Take-away…

Didn’t I just say “what’s the take-away” is dangerous? Only where the overinflated “me” gland touches it… Back to the point: if God is sanctifying us all – as individuals and corporately, then Paul’s mission statement in Philippians 3:10-11 (specifically in the Amplified version, below), tempered by a humble heart and well checked ego, becomes a manifesto for any blood-bought born-again believer in Christ:

[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]
That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body].