West Greeley Baptist Church
July 1st 2001
Galatians 2:20
“ Life, Love and Liberty”
By Pastor Mark Hensley
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Introduction: Ruth is a 44 year old stay at home mother of five from Pennsylvania when asked why don’t you attend church she replied:
“ I’m active in Scouts with my daughters, and my husband and I both coach teams for our kids. I feel if we were involved in a Church that would mean other commitments. And I can’t say that the activities we have now model anything other than moral, uplifting behavior. So I don’t see how church could add much to our lives.”
Transition: When a relationship with all mighty God and service to the institution he established is compared to athletic teams or boy scouts something is wrong at the core of ones value system! Today we will be reminded that God desires a relationship with us and when that is established every other organization on the planet with be of secondary importance to those who have experienced “Life, Love and Liberty” Galatians 2: 20
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
In Christ I have:
A new life
A Love that endures
A liberty that I celebrate
I. A new life
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”
The Apostle Paul has been crucified with Christ that is Christ has lovingly enveloped his life! The personality of Paul the essence of who he was, did not evaporate or fade in meeting Christ, no it was enhanced! Just as any life that has been touched by God is!
When Paul say’s “I no longer live” *He is stating that Paul the self- righteous Pharisee, died, but Paul the great Apostle remained! *Kenneth Wuest Word studies in the Greek New Testament pg 81
To think that God would die for us is a remarkable thought! To know that Jesus would allow sin to be placed on him, the sin of the world in order to pay a debt we owed is incredible!
“ If you were to ask Jesus today the one reason for his coming to earth, He would sum up his entire ministry in one statement: He came to seek and to save that which was lost” Dr. James Merritt President of the S.B.C. 2001
Paul is teaching us an invaluable truth that through his death we live! Christ lives in me! He became our substitute taking our place.
History records that during the Civil War, many acts of violence were committed by both the armies of the north and the south. Once such act occurred in October of 1862 in the town of Palmyra, Missouri. According to W. E. Sutterfield, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Palmyra, the town was under military law at the time....occupied by one of the armies involved in this conflict.
The commander of the army ordered ten men shot in reprisal for the work of an informer in the town who leaked information to the enemy. Several men were being detained in Palmyra jail as prisoners of war at that time, and ten were selected from among them. One of the number was William T. Humphrey, the father of several children. His wife pleaded for his release because of the children and her poor physical condition. Because of this, the commanding officer struck Humphrey’s name from the list and chose the name of Hiram Smith, a young man without a family. Hiram agreed to take the place of Humphrey, stating that perhaps it was better for a single man to die than a man with a family.
The ten men were shot on October 17, 1862 in what has come to be known as the “Palmyra massacre.” At the Mount Pleasant Church cemetery, there is a stone erected at the grave of Hiram Smith by G. W. Humphrey, the son of the reprieved man. It reads: “This monument is dedicated to the memory of HIRAM SMITH, the hero who sleeps beneath the sod here, who was shot at Palmyra, October 17, 1862 as a substitute for William T. Humphrey, my father.”
In a very real way your life and mine becomes a living-breathing monument to the one who rescued us from imminent danger the Lord Jesus Christ!
That’s why Independence Day reminds believers that liberty is costly and none more so that what our heroic Savior accomplished on a hill called Calvary!
And that’s why Christians bristle and our saddened when Ruth a 44-year-old stay at home mom says:
“ I’m active in Scouts with my daughters, and my husband and I both coach teams for our kids. I feel if we were involved in a Church that would mean other commitments. And I can’t say that the activities we have now model anything other than moral, uplifting behavior. So I don’t see how church could add much to our lives.”
Loyalty to the cause of Christ and his church is of paramount importance to a redeemed life!
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me"
Other organizations have their place, and were to support them and our children’s athletics, but when they take precedent over God’s work and his church then I will go with the church!
You see it’s the response of gratitude the priority of a believer’s life is God and what God has established! Anything less is a blatant insult to the one who lives in us, the one who gives a new life!
A wife who is 85% faithful to her husband is not faithful at all. There is no such thing as part-time loyalty to Jesus Christ. Vance Havner.
In Christ I have a new life, In Christ I have a love that endures.
II. A Love that endures:
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me”
Out of love came the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
*Out of death comes life. But it is not our life. It is the life of Jesus Christ being lived in us. Someone has called this the exchanged life. We exchange our life for His. What a deal! Now we can quit struggling to live by our own strength and begin to learn how to depend on His life in us.
This is what Paul meant in Philippians 1:21, when he said, "For to me, to live is Christ." He meant that now Christ was living in him and through him. In other words, the meaning of life for me is that Jesus Christ is now my life. He lives His life in me.
It is like a glove, for example. A glove cannot do anything by itself. It needs a hand to fill it. When the glove has a hand inside, it is enabled to do all sorts of things. We are like a glove. What we need is the Lord to fill us with His power. Then we will be able to do all things through Christ, who is living in us. And that is precisely what we have now in Christ. Colossians 2:9-10 says, "For in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete." In Christ we have all sufficiency.
In Christ we have all we need. And the good news is that we have Christ living within us now. We must come to see that truth. *J. David Hoke from the sermon “Dying to live”
We live we trust we follow the one who has loved us with an incredible love! His is a love that lasts!
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me”
In the December 4, 1989 issue of Newsweek magazine, there was an article about a little known mental disorder called erotomania. It is a mental illness in which a person has the delusion that he or she is the object of someone’s love.
Some imagine love affairs that continue for years, yet it all exists only in the imagination of the sufferer. The title of the article was "The Delusions of Love." While romantic love may have many delusions, there is no delusion about God’s love. Mark Beaird
The Apostle Paul, is reminding us of the matchless love of God, that includes us! His reminder challenges us to stay close to the Lord, to refuse to relegate devotion to God as simply a good thing to do. It’s the only thing to do, in response to our rescue!
The Ruth’s of this world see church attendance as a good thing a moral thing but not any more important than a den meeting for a local boy scout troop! The Ruth’s of this world and there are many, see devotion to God as a good thing but not necessarily the best thing and certainly not as important as spending every weekend coaching a little league team!
What is our response? The Apostle makes clear where his allegiance is: 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
In the light of our Saviors sacrifice, his great love there is to be unwavering devotion!
*The motto of every missionary, whether preacher, printer, or schoolmaster, ought to be "Devoted for life." Adoniram Judson in To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson. Why? Because…..
In Christ I have:
A new life
A Love that endures…and.
A liberty that I celebrate
III. A liberty that I celebrate:
”I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
When Paul declares that: “I have been crucified with Christ” The verb is in the perfect tense which speaks of a past completed action having present finished results” Kenneth Wuest Word studies in the Greek New Testament pg 81
In essence the Apostle is stating that because of Christ’s horrific death, he and all those who follow the Lord have present benefits that are incredible! Life becomes a celebration! Our lives surrendered to the one who surrendered his for us, leads to fulfillment not confinement!
And that beats any scout meeting or athletic event hands down!
It’s not that spending time volunteering for community groups are wrong, not at all. We need to get involved in helping our community when we can.
When that involvement takes the place of Worshiping God and celebrating the rescue He accomplished on our behalf on the cross, then it becomes not only wrong but High treason!
“ I’m active in Scouts with my daughters, and my husband and I both coach teams for our kids. I feel if we were involved in a Church that would mean other commitments. And I can’t say that the activities we have now model anything other than moral, uplifting behavior. So I don’t see how church could add much to our lives.”
I want to say to Ruth: The Church can’t add anything to your life! Until you come to the one who established the Church the Lord Jesus Christ!
When He becomes your heart your passion you will be drawn to Him and what He love’s and Jesus loved the Church and died for it!
D.M. Stearns was preaching in Philadelphia. At the close of the service a stranger came up to him and said, "I don’t like the way you spoke about the cross. I think that instead of emphasizing the death of Christ, it would be far better to preach Jesus, the teacher and example."
Stearns replied, "If I presented Christ in that way, would you be willing to follow Him?" "I certainly would," said the stranger without hesitation. "All right then," said the preacher, "let’s take the first step. He did no sin. Can you claim that for yourself?"
The man looked confused and somewhat surprised. "Why, no," he said. "I acknowledge that I do sin." Stearns replied, "Then your greatest need is to have a Savior, not an example!" Source Unknown.
Ruth needs a Savior and so do we!
In Christ she can have:
A new life
A Love that endures
A liberty to celebrate
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
