I hear a lot in Christian circles and across western pulpits today about Surrendering
to God.
Questions, like, “Have you surrendered your life to Jesus?” There is even a song written by, CeCe Winans, called “I Surrender All.” the first line says, “All to Jesus, I surrender all…”.
To me, there has always been something a little off about the word, surrender.
Surrender denotes defeat. Giving up to an enemy. Symboized by waving a white flag. How does that refer to God?
Surender would denote that God would be a enemy. How can that be, because He is passionately in love with us. We are the very Bride of Christ.
Did you know that the word surrender is not even in the bible, not in any form,
not surrendered,
not surrendering,
not in the King James version, nor any translation that I can find.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, Surrender means to “cease resistance to an opponent and submit to their authority.” Is Jesus our opponent? I dont think so.
Submit, on the other hand, is used several times in scripture, but only one time is the word used in reference to submitting yourself to God (James 4:7).
To be in submission to someone or something is way different than admitting defeat, it means you are ‘under the mission’ of that someone or something. To submit is to yield to a higher authority.
To surrender is giving up as though we’ve lost a battle, when actually, we know that because of what Jesus did on the cross, the battle has already been won.
To surrender admits defeat. While we who are joyfully submitted to God’s greater love can rejoice in Christ’s victory for he has declared, “It is finished.” The battle is over, and the proof, as the expression goes, is in pudding, but in this case the proof is in the resurrection. Think about it, Christ’s Resurrecting defeats surrendering, every time.
So the next time you hear someone talk about surrendering to God, remind them that God was never their enemy. And Jesus Conquered all.
