I AM CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST + Daily Devotional + Friday, March 9, 2012

FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

Galatians 2:20 “…I am crucified with Christ…”

SCRIPTURE READING: PHILIPPIANS 2:9-11

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.

REFLECTION:  We began these DAILY DEVOTIONALS by speaking of THE CENTRALITY OF THE CROSS. Next we delved into the Old Testament PROPHECIES OF THE CROSS.  We are now examining the IMPLICATIONS OF THE CROSS.  In a few days we will begin our JOURNEY WITH CHRIST TO THE CROSS.

The Apostle Paul came to the place in his spiritual life that he could honestly say, “I am crucified with Christ.”  It was settled in his heart. He prayed and meant it--“not my will but thine be done.” 

One may doubt that many, or any, make it to this point, but the fact that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle to make such a specific claim is confirmation that it is possible. 

Paul was never physically nailed to a cross.  (He was beheaded for his testimony.)  But he was spiritually crucified.  He died to his will, his wisdom, and his works.  The old “I” no longer remained.  He was dead to sin. To the Christians at Rome he wrote: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.”  (Romans 6:6-8)

Oswald Chambers, a great holiness teacher of the last century, saw clearly the implications of this passage.  He asked his students, “Has that breaking up of… [our] independence come?”  He then pressed the point:

“All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .”

Only when we die, wholly surrendering our will to God’s will, can we truly live by faith in the Son of God.  You can be sure that faith in the Son is never misplaced.  He loves us more than anyone ever has or ever will. “Love so amazing so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!” (Isaac Watts) 

PRAYER:  Our Father, We Praise you for your love and your holiness, your grace and truth, your mercy and your judgment.  We pray that we would see ourselves as you see us.  We are grieved when we disobey, and convicted when we refuse to surrender. We give up.  We surrender all.  Our will is no longer ours, it is yours. We surrender our heart, soul, mind, and strength to you.  And may we so live this day, and every day, so that in the world to come we would have life everlasting.  In Jesus name, Amen.  Our Father, &c.