Jesus died that I may be truly alive - part 1

Devotions during Lent...
Jesus died that I may be truly alive - part 1
Galatians 2: 19 21: For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 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. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

There is a song based on Gal 2: 20 that we love to sing:

It is no longer I that liveth
But Christ that liveth in me.
He lives, He lives,
Jesus is alive in me.
It is no longer I that liveth
But Christ that liveth in me.

The life that I live in the body,
I live by faith in the Son.
He loves, He loves,
Jesus gave Himself to me.
The life that I live in the body,
I live by faith in the Son.

All of us want to be alive. More than that, we want to know that we are really living and enjoying the complete joy of those who truly live.

We need to learn what real living is. We need to be taught what really brings joy, contentment and satisfaction. Many are convinced that to truly live, you need to be wealthy, so they give up time, energy, relationships and worship - and probably a lot more - to acquire wealth. Others think they will be truly alive when their lives are lived for the sake of pleasure, so they live to indulge themselves. Then we find people who believe their lives would be meaningful as a result of successful career, or if they improve their social standing, but this sadly often results in becoming slaves of their jobs, or of greed and arrogance.

One thing that all these philosophies lead to is a relentless, desperate and anxious pursuit of things. Sadly, all the effort, even when much of this is achieved, often leads to disappointment, depression, burn out, anger and the frustration of the unfulfilled.

Christians know what it means to be alive and fulfilled. Being Christians, we have answered the question about the meaning of life, at least intellectually. We know that the meaning of life centres around Jesus, our love for him and our commitment to him. Do we only know how to exist in Christ, or do we know the abundance when we really live as disciples of Jesus and as children of our heavenly Father?

In Galatians 2:20 we find the secret of how to really be alive. We find that only by dying, can we become alive. In order to be truly alive, we have to understand that, as people who belong to Jesus, we are truly dead. This Scripture says, "I have been crucified with Christ." This is one of the greatest paradoxes of Scripture and the mystery of God’s Kingdom: In order to truly live, the old person that we were, need to die.

The Bible says that the old me, with all my limitations and problems, and disastrous goals and desires, has been put to death. This Scripture says, "I have been crucified with Christ."

This is the key to understanding who we really are, now that we are in Christ. It is key to releasing us from the struggle of trying to live the Christian life by our own strength and power. To come to true life by ourselves, our old selves, is more than we can do, and it is more than God asked us to do. When the old “me” has been crucified with Christ, the new “me” will come alive in the risen Lord.
(In part 2 and 3 of this devotion, during the next 2 weeks, we will learn the “How to become alive by being crucified with Christ”).