“This Day Could Change Everything”
Text: Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:1
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Introduction – The Significance of August 17
Today is August 17. And throughout history, this date has been significant.
• On August 17, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote—a day of freedom and equality for millions.
• On August 17, 1807, Robert Fulton’s steamboat, the Clermont, made its first successful trip up the Hudson River, launching a whole new era of travel and commerce.
• On August 17, 1945, Indonesia declared its independence, breaking free from colonial rule and becoming a nation of its own.
• On August 17, 1862, the U.S.–Dakota War began—a reminder that not every day in history is filled with peace, but even through hardship, history is written.
Big things have happened on this date—freedom won, new eras begun, new nations born.
But here’s what I want you to hear: August 17, 2025, could be the most important day of your life.
Not because of politics, inventions, or wars. Not because of what’s written in a history book. But because today could be the day you experience the freedom and new life that only Jesus Christ gives.
That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in Galatians when he says:
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, CSB)
“…I live by trust in the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me…” (my translation)
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1. The Day of the Cross – A Historic Event
Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ.”
The cross was not just something that happened 2,000 years ago—it was the decisive moment of history. It was not an afterthought for God… not a reaction to humanity’s fall or angelic rebellion… Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). Pontus Pilate, the Jewish leaders, and Herod had no power over Jesus. They did what God had foreordained (Acts 4:28). The cross changed everything. It points in the four cardinal directions indicating that its effects are universal. The inscription on the cross declaring that Jesus is “the King of the Jews” was written in Latin, Greek, and Aramaic… the language of government, culture and philosophy, and true religion indicating that the cross is for every aspect of human life… When Jesus cried out “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” the sun was darkened, the earth quaked, and the graves of long-dead saints came out of the heart of the earth… The cross affected heaven and earth and those things under the earth! Our calendar is divided by the cross… “Before Christ” (B.C.) and A.D. (annno domini) “The Year of Our Lord…” The cross is God’s way of the second Adam undoing what the first Adam did… Art, plays, painting, sculpture… is saturated by images of the cross! The Lord took the ultimate evil of the first century Greco-Roman world and turned it for the ultimate good! When I survey the wondrous cross… It fascinates… It scandalizes… It separates the flow of human history…
And Paul makes it personal: I have been crucified with Christ.
That means when Jesus died, He wasn’t dying for His own sins—He was dying for mine, for yours. In a way, our old selves, with all their guilt and shame, were nailed there with Him. Jesus didn’t just die for the sins of the world… He died for your sins…
There is something powerful that happens when its no longer words on a page…
Not just a historical event…
But, the reason for everything…
Paul had a revelation of the cross…
Jesus died for me! Jesus died for you! God is head-over-heals in love with you! He did everything that he could to save you and to save me!
History books mark August 17 as a day of events. But the cross is the day that marks the dividing line of all human history—before Christ and after Christ.
Application: Have you tied your story to His story? Can you say with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ”?
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2. The Day of New Life – A Present Reality
Paul goes on: “…and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
Think about Robert Fulton’s steamboat. When the Clermont made its first trip up the Hudson in 1807, it launched a new way of living. People could travel faster, trade more easily, and connect in ways they couldn’t before. It was the start of a new era.
In the same way, when Christ lives in you, it launches a new way of living. The old life is gone. You’re not just improved—you’re transformed. You’re not just turning over a new leaf—you’re receiving a new life. Far too often we spend all of our time wresting with what has been… old patterns of thinking… old wounds we nurse… old habits we fall back into… But, the after effects of the cross is something that is beyond what I’ve been… It is beyond the effects of Adam’s sin… it is beyond the effects of our grandparents and parents sin… it is beyond our own sin…
The law of gravity is real… what goes up, must come down… the law of sin is real… it frustrates… it kills… it drags us down… But what Paul calls in Romans 8, “the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus” is a higher law… If sin is like gravity, the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus is like the second law of thermodynamics… its like the law that allows eagles and planes to fly… It is something more… Paul says there is more than me than meets the eye… Jesus is in me through the Spirit and I don’t even know the half of what I am capable of! In another place, he writes, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”
Paul says, “Christ lives in me.” That’s not poetry, that’s reality. It means the Spirit of God dwells in you, giving you new desires, new power, new direction. Jesus lives in the entire church, but he also lives in me… he lives in you…
Application: Some of us are still living like the old life is in charge. But the truth is, if Christ lives in you, you don’t have to go back. You can walk in the newness of life today.
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3. The Day of Faith – A Personal Decision
Paul finishes verse 20 by saying: “The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
The phrase translated “faith in the Son of God” is a tricky one. It can be translated “the faithfulness of the Son of God” or “faith in the Son of God.” So, I choose BOTH…
“The life that I now live in the body, I live by trust in the faithfulness of the Son of God…”
Notice the present tense—“the life I now live.” This isn’t just about what happened on the cross 2,000 years ago. It’s about what you will choose today. What Jesus accomplished so long ago still works today. Millions have testified to the life-changing power of encountering Christ, and what God has done for others, he will do for you. He is no respect of persons. It isn’t based on genetics, ethnicity, language group, body type, gender, socio-economic status, where you’re at in the history of the world… What Jesus did was for you and me…
Galatians 3:27-29 (CSB)
“For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.”
We can trust in what he has done… We can trust that he will complete what he has begun… He is faithful…
One of the my best days when I feel I’ve done everything right, I am still trusting int he faithfulness of Jesus for my salvation! On my worst days, when I’ve fumbled the ball, or ran towards the wrong goal line and scored for the opposing team, I am trusting in the faithfulness of Jesus to save me!
One of the arguments Paul preaches in Galatians is that we begin by trusting in Christ, being baptized in Christ’s name, being filled with Christ’s Spirit… We don’t move on to perfection by trusting in something other than Christ…
Galatians 3:3 (CSB): “Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh?”
I’m not trusting in me, I’m trusting in the One who loved me and gave himself for me! It takes a load of pressure off of my mind and allows me to move on and live!
Jesus said his yoke was easy and his burden was light!
Galatians 5:1 says: “For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Just as Indonesia declared independence on August 17, 1945, you can declare independence from sin and death on August 17, 2025. Just as nations claim freedom, you can claim the freedom Christ has already purchased for you.
This is a day of faith, a day of decision.
Application: The question is not, “Will August 17, 2025, be written in a history book?” The question is, “Will August 17, 2025, be written in heaven’s book as the day your life was changed forever?”
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Conclusion – The Day That Matters Most
August 17 has been a date of freedom, innovation, and history-making events. But what matters most is not if the world remembers this day—it’s if heaven does.
This could be the day you stop trusting in yourself and start trusting fully in Jesus. The day you discover what Paul discovered—that Christ loved you and gave Himself for you. The day you step into real freedom.
History books might never record it. But heaven will.
Invitation: Will you let today be the day your story changes forever in Christ?
