Crucified

As Christians we tend to only read about and study the death and resurrection of Christ on the week leading up to Easter. However, it’s so important that we remember and continually think about the sacrifice that was made for us and what we need to do to fulfill God’s command. I love the following verse that the Apostle Paul wrote to us in Galatians 2:20, 

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

What did Paul mean when he said we had been crucified and resurrected with Christ?

1. “I have been crucified with Christ.”

- Christ was crucified "for" us and we are crucified "with" Him. 

• Christ was crucified “for” us. We know for a fact that 2000 years ago a man named Jesus was crucified. (1 Corinthians 15:3 "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.") There's concrete evidence that Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life and was nailed to that cross for each of our transgressions.

• We are crucified “with” Him. We understand that Jesus died for our sins, but sometimes we fail to realize that we died with him. When Paul says "I am crucified with Christ.." we know he wasn’t physically crucified that same day as him because he lived 30-40 years after the death of Jesus. He is saying that the life you see is not of my own, it is Christ living in me. We must die to ourselves daily and pick up the cross that Jesus left us. (Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”)

2. “Nevertheless I live!”

- Basically Paul is saying--we died with Christ; we were buried with Christ; we were raised from the dead with Christ. 

• Dying with Christ: Baptism is the most important form of this. We know that only thing that can wash away our sins is the blood of Christ but baptism is such an important and sacred symbol of that. The purpose of baptism is taking on the identity of that into which it is baptized. 
• Buried with Christ: You bury a body because it is dead. Jesus’ burial meant that one: he was dead and two: his work in his body is done. But we are buried in Christ because we are dead to sin. Our old ways are done away with. 
• Raised with Christ: We die with Christ and are buried with Christ so that we might be raised with Him to walk in the newness of life. 

3. “Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

- That does not mean we will no longer sin. There will always be sin. But as long as Christ lives within us, we can do our best to resist that sin. It is so important we try our best to be dead unto sin and alive unto God. Because until you do that, you will continue to serve sin. All it takes is confessing your sin, asking Christ for forgiveness, and turning to Him for guidance.

Starting right now, die to yourself and pick up that cross…follow Jesus and watch Him work in major ways in your life.