I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 Amplified
Why is it important to be crucified with Christ? What does it mean? This verse is familiar to many and often quoted as a means to remind ourselves of our true identity as believers in Yeshua.
If I am crucified with Christ, I share my identity with Christ. I am saying, “What Christ is–I am too.” By identifying with Christ in this way, I am saying to the world that I want to be treated as Christ was–not given any special treatment or benefits not given to Him. It means that I must share in Christ’s suffering including His rejection by His society, His peers. I must not seek to be approved by the world or its religious systems–rather I must seek only the approval of Adonai as Yeshua was approved by Him. (See Matthew 3:17, Matthew 17:5)
Without entering into His sacrificial death, I have no way to approach God. By entering into His crucifixion, I join myself to Christ–accepting His sacrifice for me–essentially making it my sacrificial offering to God for my sin–past, present and future. As a result, I can enter into the presence of the Holy One, Adonai, blessed be His name.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we are told, He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious loving kindness]. (Amplified)
This verse presents the real reason to enter into His crucifixion–either He died to deliver you and me, or He didn’t. Once I have identified with Christ–it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 5:20)
The reality is that when I am crucified with Christ, identifying with His crucifixion and sacrificial death, I am acknowledging certain truths about God and about myself (as part of the human race):
1. Adonai (the God of the Hebrew Bible, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) exists;
2. Adonai is holy and unapproachable by sinful man, or said another way, sinful man apart from shed blood cannot approach a holy God).
3. The Christ (Jesus of Nazareth), is also God. While he lived as a man, He provided a perfect (complete) sacrifice, acceptable to God for the payment for the sin of mankind–past, present and future.
4. I acknowledge that I am a sinner by Adonai’s holy and reasonable (just) standard;
5. I need and want this sacrifice of Yeshua, made on a Roman cross on a hill in a rock quarry outside the walls of the Jerusalem 2000+ years ago, to be applied to my life, my sins;
6. I accept the lordship of Adonai over my life now and for eternity. (Pictured here is the piercing of the ear of the slave who agrees to stay with his master by choice–I am the bond servant of Christ.)
That is how I die and Christ lives in me.
I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 (Amplified)
How will I know I have made this commitment–allowed these truths to bind me to Adonai? It think it will be the distinctive of love that marks my life. Yeshua said this, By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another. John 13:35 (Amplified)
Beloved, as we enter this season of preparation for our remembrance of Resurrection Sunday, let us consider what it means for each of us to be crucified with Christ, and let us live as witnesses of the truth of the risen Christ, with clean hands and pure hearts, awaiting Christ’s soon return.
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