A Crucified Life

"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. ¹⁵ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation."

Galatians 6:14-15

The triumph of Jesus was culminated by His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection.  Not only was the blood of Jesus shed to atone for the sins of the world, but the Law which condemned all men was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14).  The death of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world provided the killing blow to the power of the enemy to condemn or destroy all who repent and receive the Gospel.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul draws upon the imagery of the cross to reveal another accomplishment of Christ for all who trust in Him.  The world had been crucified to Paul, and Paul had been crucified to the world.  The world under the sway of Satan was rendered powerless by the death of Jesus on the cross.  The world which used to influence our minds and hearts, the things which once held us in bondage, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lure of the lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life had been dealt a death blow.  When a cruel tyrant is killed, the people once oppressed rejoice and shout for joy.  The one who once exerted power over them is now powerless in death.  This is the case for all who have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus.  The power of sin to control, addict, and oppress us has been conquered by Christ's victory, and we can walk in newness of life and freedom.

Christ accomplished much more than ending sin's reign of terror in our lives.  He has transformed us into new creations, and is now enabled to live His life through His redeemed by the Holy Spirit.  This world has been crucified to us, and we have been crucified to this world.  The spiritual reality of Christ's death and resurrection is our flesh has been stricken of power to dominate and control us for evil.  Satan, the world, and our flesh only have the amount of power we allow or give them.  The truth is, we don't need to give a place to the devil or let the demands of the flesh rule our lives any more.  This is the reality for all who are in Christ, not something we say to convince ourselves.  "Positive thinking" has nothing to do with walking in victory.  Knowledge of our identity in Christ and the reality of what He has accomplished must impact our minds and hearts.  Once we are convinced of the reality of Christ's victory at the cross and our new nature free from the power of sin apart from our works, knowledge mixed with faith and obedience paves the way for us to walk in absolute victory.

The early church struggled with legalism, as many do to this day.  Paul's emphasis was not on touting circumcision or justifying uncircumcision, but our need to be "in Christ Jesus."  Through Him the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  If you are in Christ, the world has been crucified to you and you to the world.  Does your life demonstrate this reality?  The rule of Satan, the world, and the flesh has been forever vanquished by grace through faith in Christ.  If we have been freed from bondage, why should we return to bondage?  The efforts of the flesh could not save, perfect, empower, or deliver us.  Only Jesus can do that!  it is not what we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved, is saving, and will save us!

Jesus Satisfies

When the Rolling Stones hit "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" rocketed to number one on the charts in 1965, it struck a nerve which has continued to twang.  Few people have obtained the fame, money, and notoriety of the Rolling Stones, and they still play the same song at nearly every show to this day.  The issues the song speaks of - useless information on the radio, having the whitest shirts, and sexual frustration - can be interchanged with anything this world has to offer, but the grain of truth remains static:  this world cannot deliver on true, lasting, genuine satisfaction.

Reality never seems to scratch the itch of fantasy.  It always beckons alluringly, tantilisingly just out of reach.  The lie it perpetuates is if the conditions were altered slightly according to our desire, we would achieve satisfaction that seemingly eludes our grasp.  It is an exercise in futility because this world cannot possibly deliver all it promises without the negative side effects it doesn't talk about.  The bait always has a hook which makes us wish in retrospect we never went for it in the first place!  The pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment of an the activity, experience, or thing was supposed to provide never measures up and doesn't last.  It is not that our standards are too high, but it is an issue of this world and our hearts.  Think of it this way:  how many times have you obtained your desire only to realise it wasn't what you thought it would be?  Say you designed your house and even chose the colours and hardware, but in retrospect you would have changed something.  Or perhaps you chose a concrete finish and you weren't happy with how parts of it turned out.  Or there was more maintenance than your originally thought.  The list goes on and on!

This world has never delivered on any promise.  We can be "satisfied" with our purchase, in that we believe we have been provided a good product at a fair price.  We can experience something which we romanticise in our minds and at great expense we labour to experience it again.  No matter how hard we try, no matter the cost, it never delivers quite like we hoped it would.  All our problems would be solved with a different job, career, spouse, or if we won the lottery.  Yet even when we obtain our desire, dissatisfaction only seems to increase.  King Solomon was a man of wealth, fame, and power few have ever obtained.  He pointed out the objective reality in Ecclesiastes 5:10-11:  "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. ¹¹ When goods increase, they increase who eat them; so what profit have the owners except to see them with their eyes?"  This points to the heart problem of every person on earth.  The things we love cannot satisfy us, and do not profit.  We think perhaps if we were able to obtain more of the thing we love it would do the trick.  But it doesn't work, and it never has.  Yet like mythical lemmings or sheep without a shepherd, people keep futilely following after the same things thinking it will satisfy their desire for love, significance, acceptance, and satisfaction.

In our natural state, we all have idols we worship and value.  But no man can offer his life as a sacrifice to an idol out of a pure heart:  we always have an self-serving angle.  Even if we worship self and try to satisfy our every whim, we find ourselves increasing empty and dissatisfied.  All our consuming only consumes us.  We desire riches and wealth because of the things we could buy, the things money would allow us to do, or places we could go.  We pursue relationships with other people to obtain our own desires.  We want a particular career because of the money, status, or influence we would gain.  In many eastern cultures idols are worshiped to promote health, become wealthy, or to drive away evil.  People sacrifice not because they love the deities they worship or are loved by those same deities, but because they hope to somehow benefit themselves.  The world is packed with users:  people using others whilst being used themselves.  It provides a narcissistic recipe for envy, bitterness, cynicism, and disillusionment.  The world cannot deliver anything that truly satisfies.

Contrast the reality of this world's inability and futility to save or satisfy with the life of Jesus Christ freely offered to all who repent and trust in Him.  Proverbs 21:21 says, "He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness and honour."  1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us Jesus Christ has been made for us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and wisdom.  As long as we are following the dictates of our deceitful hearts, we trust a blind guide which cannot lead us to what our souls long for.  Jesus Christ delivers exactly what we are looking for.  It is in following Jesus Christ our righteousness which enables all we who seek with their whole hearts to be satisfied - and more still!  Notice in the Proverbs passage how following righteousness and mercy opens the door to life, righteousness, and honour!  In Christ alone are all our desires perfectly satisfied.  Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  Jesus came to this world with the express purpose to provide abundant life.  It is a life obtained through being born again through faith in Jesus.  There is always more for us as we follow Jesus, a more abundant life by God's grace.

Would you use a delivery service which never actually delivered anything like you hoped it would?  Would you support a politician who has not delivered on a single promise ever?  Then why do we keep going back to this world in a vain attempt to satisfy our souls?  Look to God and trust in Him, for in Christ we find all our desire and more than we could have ever imagined.  I can't get no satisfaction, but Jesus gives satisfaction to all who repent and trust in Him!  You will never be satisfied apart from Jesus.  Will you receive Him today?

Be With Jesus

"And He [Jesus] went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. ¹⁴ Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons..." 

Mark 3:13-15

I love Jesus.  I love everything about Him:  the way He spoke, the things He said, what He did, and how He interacted with others.  Everything about Jesus Christ is unfathomably significant, and as we walk with Jesus in faith day by day our eyes are increasingly opened to His goodness, love, majesty, and power.

The God who said "Let there be light!" and there was light, the Creator of all the universe, put on human flesh in the person of Jesus.  As a man He called people to follow Him, even though He could have done everything by Himself.  In doing this Jesus not only provided us an example, but revealed how deeply personal He wants our relationship to be with Him.  Unfortunately for some people, a relationship with God is merely a connection to benefits they desire for themselves.  They can be so fixated on their calling, gifting, abilities, and authority through Jesus they miss out on the most fundamental aspect of following Jesus in the first place:  being with Him.

After Jesus went up the mountain, He called His disciples to Him.  He had found them caught up in the busyness of life mending their nets, even sitting behind a desk in the tax office.  Jesus walked up to some and said as He passed by, "Follow me."  As time progressed Jesus called some to be His intimate associates, twelve disciples who committed their life to follow and "be with Him."  This is a small phrase found in verse 14 which is easy to gloss over, overshadowed by the preaching, power to heal, and casting out demons.  Jesus desired for these men to be with Him continually, and everything else was a natural outflow of that relationship.

God spoke through the prophet in Isaiah 7:14:  "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel."  Immanuel means, "God with us."  Mary conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit and brought forth a son named Jesus, and He would save His people from their sins.  All who have repented and trusted in Christ have received Him through the Gospel by faith.  After His death and resurrection, Jesus ascended to the Father and has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within and empower every one of His disciples.  God will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), yet familiarity does not mean we intentionally set time aside to spend with Jesus.  He bids us even now to come away from the pursuits of this life and be with Him.  I recently heard a pastor say it is tragic when our talks with God have been reduced to "necessary conversation."  It is also tragic when we are so focused on our calling or gifting that we forget who has called us and why:  Jesus wants us, and wants us to spend time with Him!

I encourage you to answer the call to spend time with Jesus today - not just for a set amount of time, but purpose to abide continually in His presence and love.  What sort of healthy relationship could you possibly cultivate with strict time limits over your social interaction?  Do you have to juggle your routine to squeeze a little time in with God?  "First thing in the morning I spend an hour in prayer and Bible reading," you might say, perhaps even pleased with your level of devotion.  Is this the extent of a quality, loving relationship - time meted out by the hour?  That sounds more like a prison visit, speaking to someone behind glass at your convenience!  No my friends, this will never do.  Jesus called us to be with Him, and we need to abide in Him throughout the day.  Have conversations with Jesus, tell Him how you feel, thank Him for what He has done, and meditate on His Word.  Drop what you might normally do or feel like doing and spend time with Jesus today.  He loves you and wants you to be with Him!

The Cake Cycle

Motive often determines outcome.  Even in something like exercise, our motives for why we spend time and effort to intentionally exercise shapes our results - for good or bad.  I have been cycling a bit of late to rehabilitate my surgically repaired right knee.  As an added bonus it has improved my cardiovascular fitness, as well as being a fun challenge to tackle new routes.  The other day I offered the mum of one of my son's friends a slice of carrot cake I had baked.  She had just walked in after a long ride.  "Oh no, but thank you," she said.  "You see, I'm riding my bike to be fit and so I really shouldn't eat any cake today."  I quickly retorted, "Well, I cycle so I can eat cake!"

Do you see the difference?  Because Sally (not her real name) rides her bike to be fit, she viewed eating cake as inconsistent with that activity.  Her concern was indulging her taste buds would "undo" all the benefits she laboured to gain.  In the interaction with Sally I discovered my desire is to eat cake, and so my motive for exercise is primarily to work off any bonus calories I put in.  In thinking this over, I see my way of thinking is problematic - problematic that is, if my primary motive for riding my bike is to be fit.  If I want to be fit, why would I hinder my progress by eating too much dessert?  Why would I make riding harder for myself by putting junk in my tank?

It occurred to me the same issue with motive can play out concerning our spiritual walk with Jesus Christ.  Are spiritual disciplines something we do so we can justify doing what we want when we want?  After of long day of Bible study, a counseling session, meetings, teaching, writing, and prayer, I can feel very much like numbing myself with some television, gaming, scrolling, or swiping.  But wouldn't it be better that we limit or cease certain activities because our lives are so caught up in loving and seeking God?  Because we are seeking God, we refuse to give into the demands of the flesh.  Obeying God, denying self, and serving others shouldn't become a justification for "me time."  The result is spiritual stagnation and a cycle of works, labouring to "earn" the right to a reward we have picked out for ourselves - which isn't always good for us.

Now don't misunderstand:  God has given us hobbies, interests, and everything to richly enjoy.  We do have freedom in Christ, yet not everything we can do is helpful or beneficial.  It's a good thing to consider our motive concerning why we read our Bibles, go to church, or pray.  Is it something to "get out of the way" so we can do the thing we are really looking forward to - like working hard on that bike to earn a frosty root beer float after dinner?  When it comes to the deeds of the flesh Sally's perspective is best:  "I'm not going to indulge the flesh because I have sought, am seeking, and will continue to seek God today."  The flesh is happy to make deals to indulge itself, but our new lives given us by faith in Christ ought to be invested to please God.  By God's grace, by the Holy Spirit, according to His Word we can!