Jesus died, that we my be truly alive – part 3 - final.

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 delivered Himself up for me."

Receiving a new life in Christ does not mean that I am perfect now. I still sin as a result of my weak human nature. But if my attitudes change, and my view of whom I am in Christ Jesus change, I will find that this new identity inspires me to seek to be obedient to my Lord. What changes, is that I now live by faith in the Son.

Even when a donkey lives its whole life in a stable with horses, it will not change into a horse. It is possible for a person to live a whole life in the Church and never become a Christian. And it is possible for a Christian to live a whole life with the knowledge of being a new creature in Christ and never enjoy the resurrection life.
Only those who have faith can be obedient, and only the obedient, have faith!
We need faith that what the Bible says about us becoming new people who are alive in Christ, to be true and in obedience seek to walk the talk. This is what God desires for us.

To be crucified with Christ and raised to live his life with him should have practical implications for everything we do.

If you understand what it means to be “crucified with Christ” and that you became a new person through his resurrection, you will not be able to forget this truth. Because you received salvation when you realized that Christ died for you and you acted upon it. Because you received salvation, you will never be the same person again. When we in faith begin to expect the Lord to live in us and through us, our lives will change and we will desire for ourselves what God always desired for us.

Expectations mean a lot. Children most often become the people their parents tell them they will become. Telling a child that he is naughty most probably will inspire disobedience, but making him understand his true potential will increase his performance and positive life choices.
In the same way, we all have seen that those who accepted God’s expectations for them change and give them the will and inspiration to grow spiritually in order to live the life that Jesus provided through his cross and resurrection.

What a joy it is to me that more and more members, often our younger members, come to see me to ask how they can grow spiritually and desire to become what Christ expects them to become and to sacrifice what God expects them to. Accepting in faith what the Word tells me the Lord thinks and dreams about me, is powerful. It is life changing and it is exciting.

How others see us is important for our self image. But how God sees us is essential. And how we see ourselves is vital. If we see ourselves as people whose old self, the disobedient person, died with Christ and that we are alive with Christ, we can never be the same again.

By faith in Jesus we see that by the grace of God the old self has been put to death. This is my daily inspiration to seek obedience to my Lord. It inspires selfless prayers to discover God’s plan for my life. It arouses a need to learn more and more about Jesus. It makes me thirsty for being truly alive in terms of God’s definition and in terms of Christ’s expectation for me. This is why we say with Paul "the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself up for me."

This is truly who we are - crucified with Christ and raised up to live and do as those who contain the living Lord, who is our life. May we discover this Lenten Season why Jesus died for us. And how we may live for him. And may we be truly ready to celebrate the Eastertide!