Crucified…
I have been crucified with Christ, 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me... (Galatians 2.19-20)
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5.24)
What does the way of the cross mean for us today when the majority of us will probably not be faced with crucifixion or any other form of martyrdom? What does it mean for us to be “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2.20) in 2023?
First, the women and men crucified with Christ are facing only one direction; they are not looking back. The call of Jesus is to follow Him— this means forward, out, away from the lifestyle, patterns, and pursuits that do not have the honor of God as their goal. The way of the cross is the way towards the Father. It liberates us from the tyranny of our sinful past and present and brings us into the wide-open places of God’s kingdom. We can no more follow Jesus while looking back than you can drive a car (for long) while looking in the rearview mirror! (I’ve tried it!)
Second, the women and men crucified with Christ have said goodbye to the world: they are not going back. Jesus commands us to live as resident aliens who live not to serve our self-interests nor the interests of our resident nation. We live to serve God’s kingdom interests. What does this look like? It looks like Jesus. He was not enmeshed in the ways of the world, legalistic, or aloof to the needs and joys of life. His citizenship gave Him the freedom to love, befriend, laugh, weep, serve, take action, have courage — and die because He knew where He was from and where He was going.
Third, the women and men crucified with Christ have no further plans: they are not taking back control of their own lives. We recognize that we are not little sovereigns; we are servants. Like Jesus, our sense of fulfillment and gratification will come from praying, “Not our will but Yours…” God has a plan for our lives — to abide in His love, live for His honor and multiply His Kingdom presence. The crucified soul endeavors to embrace a "single love" that leads to personal freedom rather than an enslaving "double love" -- a divided love for God and love for money, sex, and/or power.
A. W. Tozer observed:
Many of us Christians have become extremely skillful in arranging our lives so as to admit the truth of Christianity without being embarrassed by its implications... We boast in the Lord yet carefully watch out that we never get caught depending solely upon Him. The man who is crucified with Christ makes daily decisions to affirm the reality of God’s leadership by denying his right to live like the “rest of the world.”
"I have been crucified with Christ" is the startling and graphic language of a soul whose prior life has been ruined by grace and radically transformed by Jesus. I am challenged by the recognition that it is one thing to be "born again," but it is quite another to be "crucified."
I wonder what impact a generation of disciples with cruciform souls might have upon our communities, nation and world? But before I can reflect on this question, I must answer a far more personal one: what needs to die in my life that I might testify: "I have been crucified with Christ?"
