I Am Crucified with Christ

An elementary school principal spoke to his teachers. “Let’s each make New Year’s Resolution about how to be a better teacher. I’ll post them on the bulletin board so we can help each other keep them.” The teachers agreed. When he posted them, teachers crowded around to read them. But one young teacher flew into a rage. “He didn’t put mine up. It was the 1st one in. He doesn’t care about me. That’s how it is here.” She raged on & on. Principal overheard & was mortified. He rummaged through papers on his desk, found her resolution, & tacked it up. It read: “I resolve not to let little things upset me.” Her real problem? Bondage to sin. How can we get free? Learn to live a crucified life. But how? Let’s start with Gal 2:20. 20aI’ve been crucified with Christ. Faith starts there. So does freedom. Want to be free from sin? Free from slavery to our flesh? Start with trust. Faith. Trust that we’ve been crucified with Christ. Trust that our “old man,” our sin nature (the flesh), is dead. How does that help now? English crucified is past tense. But the Greek tense is past action with ongoing result. The point? Trust Christ that death of our “old man” means our death to sin’s bondage is ongoing. Once saved, we can say, ‘No!’ to sin. As soon as we do, we come face-to face with the next problem. Alone, we’re still powerless. The good news is this. His power is ours to help. Just trust. Have faith that 20bI no longer live, but Christ lives in me. His life in us. His Spirit in us. His power in us. And He enables us to say ‘No’ to sin. All by faith! Thus, 20cThe life I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me & gave himself for me. Flesh is the sphere of influence we live in. It’s also the domain of power that sin operates in. Yet through faith in Christ, if we’re crucified with Him we die to that sphere. Through faith, we’re freed from whatever held us. Freedom is what Christ purchased for us on the cross. What does it mean to be crucified with Christ? Is it symbolic? No, though the church has been tempted for 2,000 to see it that way. Is it a metaphor for being baptized? Plunging under the waters as a sacramental act—something we do? No. If we trust Christ, we trust that His death was effective for us. In Him, it becomes a fact we can experience. It also means sharing the way of life that led Jesus to the cross. We live by His purposes. We are impelled by His motives. Is it optional for us to gain freedom? Gal 5:24 answers. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions & desires. We belong to Christ if we’re saved. And freedom comes with salvation. Is our freedom automatic? No. We have to live into it. Keep on choosing freedom. Every place Christ frees us, live into it, moment by moment. The power to do so? It’s Christ’s. And v. 20 says Christ lives in us. By His Spirit, He’s in us. So’s the power. Is our freedom perfect? No. We dwell in sin’s realm. Sin pulls us down as surely as gravity. We won’t enjoy perfect freedom in this life. But we can keep getting closer to perfect freedom. How? Keep on crucifying our flesh. Keep on denying ourselves. Keep on choosing Christ. Keep on seeking 1st His Kingdom & His righteousness. As we do, we’ll get closer to perfect freedom. The power to do that? It’s in Christ. So, live in the Spirit. Not in the flesh. Is there anything else? Look at Gal 6:14. 14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, & I to the world. Since we can’t be perfect in this realm, where’s any ground to boast? All my worldly birthrights? Achievements? Prestige? Authority? Etc. Garbage. It isn’t going to heaven. Boast instead in Christ’s cross. Not even about what the cross has done in my life. Only in the cross. If we’re in Christ, on His cross we were crucified to the world. The world was crucified to us. The point? Let go of worldly, outward standards & symbols of honor & success. Treat them as God’s enemies. Being crucified with Christ changes us in 3 ways. Legally, our sins died with Christ. With no sin to condemn us, we’re no longer condemned. Relationally, we’ve become one with Christ. We’ve identified ourselves with him. His experiences are ours, including His crucifixion. And in daily life, we keep on crucifying sinful desires that keep us from following Christ. In the Prussian army, Chaplain La Fountain once preached on the sin of anger. Major Minor was there. He was infamous for his fierce temper. The next day, Major was all up in Chaplain’s face. “You aimed that sermon right at me.” Chaplain admitted. “I did think about you in preparing that sermon. But I didn’t mean to attack you.” At that, Major got defensive. “I know I have a hasty temper. But I can’t help it. I’ve tried to control it. It’s just impossible.” Next Sunday, La Fountain preached on self-deception & the excuses we make. He concluded this way. “We may say it’s impossible to control our temper. But we know it’d be different in the presence of our King. We not only could, we would control ourselves. Yet we think the continual presence of the King of kings-imposes no restraint or fear on us!” In our verses, isn’t that what is Paul telling us? God’s Spirit in us is the “continual presence” of Jesus & His Father. Our King of kings dwells within us. The Spirit is there to remind us who we are. Who our King really is. The Good News is that the Spirit is also the power He puts in us to help us live the way He calls us to live.