Submitting for Christ and the Tapout

When a fighter can no longer continue in an Ultimate Fight Championship bout he taps his opponent. As soon as that signal is given, the fight is over. For a UFC combatant, the tapout is the last resort, to be utilized only if every possible means of going on has failed. It is the grudging acknowledgement that the other fighter is superior.

For many people, submission is just another word for tapping out. If there is no other alternative, then they submit; but if there is the least little hope of showing themselves equal, if not better than the other person, they carry on the fight for victory. Unfortunately, their idea of victory often is, in reality, a loss--especially when it has to do with the way people get along. It is a tragedy to think of how many families have disintegrated because one person or the other had to have their way, had to be right, had to show their superiority. What happened was people confused winning with pride. And pride is usually a potently destructive force.

When it comes to real winning, the greatest victory in the history of the world came as a result of submission. Jesus Christ could have torn the nails which had been pounded through his hands and feet right out of the wooden cross on which he hung. He did not stay there because he had no other choice. He stayed because he chose to stay. He was submitting.

Jesus Christ is God. He created the world. He can do whatever he wants and no one, no one, can make him do otherwise. But he chose to give up that glory to rescue human beings from an eternity separated from him. He chose to submit himself not only to the indignity of becoming a man, but to a death of excruciating pain. His submission, however, was all about strength. It had nothing to do with weakness.

And now he calls his followers to submit, to follow his example. If you want to go on the journey of life insisting you are too strong, too smart, too capable to submit, you'll eventually have to tapout when death comes knocking. But if you submit to Christ, you've got the One who has beaten even death on your side. You see, submitting for Christ is about supernatural strength. And as you live your life in gratitude to Christ, submitting when he requires, you will experience that supernatural strength in your life.

Join us at 10:00 am this Sunday (September 12th) for a supernatural strength supplement!