If worship is a call to joy, how is dying with Christ related to it?

In the Old Testament, a believer could not reconcile dying to oneself with worship, because death at the time was understood as being a result of humanity’s disobedience to God and separation from Him who is the Source of life. Nonetheless, there were still a few people who did not fear death because they hoped to meet God and were determined to strive — whether in their worship or in their behavior — even unto death. For this reason, the psalmist says, “For Your sake we are killed all day long” (Ps. 44:22).

In the New Testament, Christ gave Himself up to crucifixion out of His love and desire for the salvation of humanity. Thus, being crucified, buried, and dying with Christ became an inseparable part of a believer’s life, his communion with the Lord, and worship. Therefore, the believer sings with the apostle Paul saying, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no

452 Gregory of Nyssa: Homilies on The Song of Songs , ed., Brian E. Daley S.J. and John T. Fitzgerald, trans., Richard A. Norris Jr. (Society of Biblical Literature, 2012) 6: p. 173.

longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

The apostle Paul does not see the Lord Christ as a model that we can perfectly imitate, since no one can redeem humanity but Him. But Christ is nonetheless an example for us that we can imitate by offering our lives and everything we have for the sake of the salvation of the world through the blood of Christ. That is one aspect, but another aspect is that my crucifixion, death, and burial for the sake of the salvation of others instills in my soul joy and gladness in Christ Jesus our Savior.