Crucified & Risen with Christ
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
When Jesus died on Calvary's Cross, He bore the entire load of your sin and took the ignominious suffering, pain, punishment, and darkness that were all part of the rightful penalty that we should have borne. He died in our place. Paul tells us that having received Christ as Savior, he was crucified with Christ. Can you say that? Do you understand what that means? It’s more than just saying “He died for me”. It means so much more.
I. Crucified with Christ
A. Crucifixion- the death Christ died
1. The Roman historian Seneca, describing the horror of crucifixion, argued that it would be better to commit suicide than endure such a tortured death. "Can anyone be found who would prefer wasting away in pain dying limb by limb, or letting out his life drop by drop, rather than expiring once for all? Can any man be found willing to be fastened to the accursed tree, long sickly, already deformed, swelling with ugly welts on shoulders and chest, and drawing the breath of life amid long-drawn-out agony? He would have many excuses for dying even before mounting the cross" (David Noel Freedman, editor-in-chief, 1992, Vol. 1, p. 1209).
2. The Bible says Jesus was beaten before He was crucified, a common prelude to the execution. The Romans often would use a whip that had lashes that were studded with either bones, iron pellets, or both. And the Romans were not limited to 40 strokes—the maximum allowed by Jewish law. In fact, it was not uncommon to beat the victim to the very brink of death. The grisly whipping left the victim with deep cuts in the back, buttocks, and legs. Blood loss would have been considerable. Many died beneath the whip. Others lost their sanity. Few remained conscious. Next came the march to the execution ground. It was in this march to Golgotha that Christ was to carry the crossbeam that would be placed a little below the top of the upright post. This crossbeam was the top timber of the cross. The crossbeam was about 5 to 6 feet long and weighed 75 to 125 pounds. Before nailing the prisoner to the cross, the executioners stripped the victim of all or nearly all his clothing. The discarded clothes became the fringe benefits of the soldiers. A Roman soldier would then have felt for the depression in the wrist, a bony area connecting the wrist to the hand. He would then have driven a heavy, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. one nail was driven through a wooden plaque and then through both heels. With the feet pinned between the post and the plaque, the victim could not pull free of the nail. The suffering of crucifixion came in many forms. Probably of least concern to any victim was the public disgrace. More immediate concerns were the pain of the nails, along with the persistence of gnats, flies, and birds the victim could not ward off. As the hours, and often days, dragged on, the victim suffered thirst, hunger, exhaustion, congestion, and difficulty in breathing. – adapted from Stephen Miller, The Horrors of Roman Crucifixion;
B. Christ went to Calvary in my stead
1. Hebrews 9:27 "It is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment."
2. Jesus died a shameful death of a convicted criminal, put to death by execution in the most painful and shameful way man could devise in our stead.
3. Christ took our place, bore, and suffered our punishment.
4. Isaiah 53:4-5 “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
5. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
6. We should have been nailed on the cross but Jesus took our place.
C. Because of the suffering Savior’s finished work on the cross salvation is all of grace and is freely offered to all sinners.
D. Those who receive so great a salvation must demonstrate the genuineness of their faith and there acceptance of His vicarious sacrifice in identification with Him by dying with Him on the cross.
E. Mark 8:34-35 “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, ‘Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.’”
F. In order for us to know the power of Christ’s resurrection we must die with Him. The problem is that most professing Christians want Easter without Calvary. We must be crucified with Christ.
G. Believer must die to the law
1. The law has never saved anyone. The law has never made a man righteous. The law shows us our inability to meet God’s standards on our own merits. The law convicts and condemns the violator.
2. Romans 3:19 "Now we know that whatever things the law saith it saith to them that under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God, therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified."
3. Galatians 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
4. We come to Christ by faith having died to the law, the penalty having been exacted and paid for by Christ, receiving our justification and standing before God through Him.
5. We frustrate the grace when we try to establish our righteousness through religious ritual or deeds.
6. Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
H. Believer must die to sin
1. Romans 6:1-2, 6-12 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ...knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”
2. Dying daily to old habits, passions, lusts, association with sin and worldliness.
3. Our association with Christ necessitates our death to the old life.
4. 1 John 1:5-10 “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
5. Charles Haddon Spurgeon warned, “There is no repentance where a man can talk lightly of sin, much less where he can speak tenderly and lovingly of it.” – copied
6. Galatians 6:14 “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
I. Believer must die to self
1. We must die to self in order for His life to flow through us.
2. Mark 8:34 “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
3. We must die to that which is self-centered, self-serving and self-motivated, self-gratifying in order to live life in the Spirit.
4. There was a story in the Nashville, Tennessee Newspaper of a lady name Lila Craig who hadn’t missed attending church for 1,040 Sundays. The editor commented, “It makes one wonder what’s the matter with Mrs. Craig. Doesn’t it ever rain or snow in her town on Sunday? Doesn’t she ever go anywhere on Saturday night so she’s too tired to get up on Sunday morning? Doesn’t she ever attend family picnics or reunions on the weekend? Doesn’t she ever have headaches, a cold, nervous spells, or read the Sunday paper? Hasn’t she ever become angry at the minister or had her feelings hurt by a member of the church or felt justified staying home to hear a good sermon on television or radio? What’s the matter with Mrs. Craig? What’s the matter? Mrs. Craig had learned and believed in accepting her God given responsibility that the `buck stopped here’ she wasn’t about to pass it on to anyone else. ” – copied. She was living not for self but for Christ.
II. Risen to live
A. Paul does not stop at the fact that he was crucified with Christ.
B. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
C. Paul is saying that as Christ died so He died and as Christ arose so Paul has risen to a resurrected life in Christ.
D. As believers Christ is living in us! Living in us 24/7.
E. Note that Pau says “the life which I now live in the flesh” – the new life is not pie in the sky by and by, it is NOW! I have eternal life and I will live with Christ forever.
F. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
G. In Christ we have new lives as new men. We need to walk like it.
H. Romans 6:4 “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
I. When the wife of missionary Adoniram Judson told him that a newspaper article likened him to some of the apostles, Judson replied, “I do not want to be like a Paul or any mere man. I want to be like Christ. I want to follow Him only, copy His teachings, drink in His Spirit, and place my feet in His footprints. Oh, to be more like Christ!” - copied
J. Saving faith expresses itself in obedience. It is faith in action. It is not just a mental assent; it is trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as the person who died in our place and turning from our sin and unbelief to follow Him. It is a commitment that begins in simple faith and continues throughout your entire life.
K. A little girl named Carol had received Christ as her Savior when she was very young. When she was ten years old she longed to be a good Christian. Her father spent much time with her, teaching her from the Bible. He showed her that the one way of victory over sin and SELF was by accepting our death with Christ and letting Christ live His life in us. Then Carol made her decision. It was a decision that changed her life forever. She wrote in her Bible: "I truly died with Jesus, and I put away my old Carol on the cross with Him on the 4th day of October. I mean to live by His life, and for Him, all my life. Not I, but Christ." - copied
