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An Agent of Change The Cross
Galatians 2:20
Looking around us we see all sorts of agents of change. By that I mean things that are happening around us and in us that totally change our way of life.
Think about computers and how they have changed life around us and in us. You may or may not own a computer and maybe you do not like them. Regardless how we feel about them they are agents of change in all our lives.
I can remember one of the most powerful agents of change in my life, as well as my wife's life. It is called a baby (children). Why I remember when it was just Val and I in the household. We could come and go on a moments notice. But when that first baby arrived we could no longer think of just ourselves, we had to think of the baby and what was best for him. The main word around the house became "Shhhhh!" That word is still used around our house, but only now it is us saying it to our children! These three (3 boys) agents of change impacted and continue to impact our lives today.
Have you ever stopped to think of the cross as an agent of change in your life? The Cross of Christ is intended to be an agent of change in all our lives. Unfortunately we have romanticized, socialized and theologized the cross to the point it has little bearing on our lives. Why we have even categorized the cross thinking it is only an Easter happening. However I want to suggest today that the cross must be an ongoing influential agent of change in our lives.
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.
This verse acts as the center piece of the gospel containing four elements.
- Christ
- Cross
- Crucifixion
- I
It states the case of the cross as being an agent of change in the life of the Christian. The mere reading of this verse ought to cause us to lift our heads and hearts to heaven in praise. For without the cross and the crucifixion we are in a world of hurt. Amen!
This verse is more than a theological sound good statement that gets my hand stamped for entrance into heaven. No this verse speaks the truth of the cross and its direct and intentional work in our lives. And that is … to impale and impact our lives at that blessed event called Calvary, but also today, this day! You see the cross and its message is to pierce (impale) our hearts as well as forcibly change (impact) the way we live.
I Have Been Crucified …
This agent of change impaled and impacted the apostle Paul to the point he was able to pen, as led by the Spirit, "I have been crucified."
What was crucified on the cross with Jesus? We can easily say the thieves and even my sin. But can we say as Paul said, "I" have been crucified with Christ? Paul is speaking of his total being … hopes, dreams, aspirations, failures, background, position and power.
Paul was not speaking of a past tense happening of "been there, done that cross thing!" No Paul uses the tense called perfect that states a past action that continues to have results in his life today. In other words, Paul was saying he could not get over the impact of the cross in his life. It was still impacting and impaling his life as he penned these words for you and I to read.
Paul shares with us these continuing results from the cross as that agent of change.
I No Longer Live …
Isn't this an interesting statement in light of what we are taught today? Think about how we are challenged with little slogans that say …
"Go for all the gusto!"
"You only go around once in life."
"Get all you can while the getting is good!"
Paul viewed the cross as a brutal and final reality. His dreams, desires, aspiration, plans, power, prestige, shame, guilt, insecurities were all pronounced "DOA" … Dead On Arrival at the Cross.
"We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is a blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life … if sin rules in me, God's life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed." - Oswald Chambers
The whole message of the cross is that you and I must die!
Matthew 16:25 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Christ Lives In Me …
Paul was totally and fully consumed with Christ. Christ had filled his existence. He lost his life for the sake of Christ and found his life in Christ.
His being was now Christ living in him. With assurance of life he pens in this letter concerning the fruit, the life bearing aspects of the Christ life.
Galatians 5:22-24 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
The key to letting go of our life and letting Christ indwell and become our life is to see the One who gave up His life and took it up again. It is then we lose our life to Christ, and we can have it back forever with Him living in us.
- The Life I Now Live
Take note of what Paul says … "and the life I now live …" The assumption is "I am living a different life than I use to live." This is where we often fall and move away from God and the Cross of Christ.
Remember at the cross we dumped the things, the garbage of our lives (in comparison with Christ), dreams, hopes, aspirations, bitterness, guilt, hatred and stepped past the cross, as those things were pronounced dead. And in looking to the Cross we see in Christ all we will need for this life and eternity to come. He is our life, our all!
Philippians 3:7-8 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Our tendency is to look back and reach for the things that are pronounced dead in our lives. We keep trying to resuscitate dead things that profit us nothing!
- Gossip / Backbiting = Dead Man's Talk
- Go to Old Places = Dead Man's Walk
- Thoughts that Linger = Dead Man's Thinking
All of this leads to fruit of the flesh that is rotten. And you know what happens when dead fruit lays around it touches and rots everything around it, unless it is gotten rid of.
The cross is to impale and impact our lives today. That is why Paul could write of his life ….
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Today we want to reverse the verse and say, "For to me, to live is gain, and to die is Christ." Meaning, "I want my desires, wishes, way! I want it all now and when I die, then I will take Christ."
Joseph Stowell says, "The Church has become the church of the walking dead. And it is not a pretty sight." Take the challenge of the cross and ask, "The life I now live … what does it look like? Christ's life or my old life?"
- I Live By Faith
By faith … have we made faith a glib answer to those who are struggling in life … "just have faith!" we like to say.
Paul's faith to live by was not a platitude but a power. His faith triggered the life of Christ in him. In other words when Paul says, "I live by faith" he is stating "I am willing to lose control of my life and trust, and depend as I submit my life to God through Jesus Christ."
Each episode of our lives is a crossroads to ask, "Am I crucified with Christ?" And it can only be answered in the realm of faith, for you will never reason out the crucified life.It is a life of faith in the One who died for you!
To live by faith says Christ is actually living in me. Are you living by faith?
Conclusion:
A man who is always on the cross, just piece after piece, cannot be happy in that process. But when that man takes his place on the cross with Jesus Christ once and for all, and commends his spirit to God, lets go of everything and ceases to defend himself-sure, he has died, but there is a resurrection that follows! - A. W. Tozer
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.
Wow! What an agent of change the Cross of Christ is!
Amen!
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NEW CHRISTIAN RESOURCE
