His Heart, My Home

Each year, as we approach Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, Christians around the world reflect on the mystery of the cross, and on the message of the empty tomb.

Today, we literally see the cross everywhere, but often we don’t know what it means, or how to experience its power.

That’s because the cross is a paradox; a mystery, a place of suffering, and the place of victory… simultaneously, a curse, and the source of eternal blessing!

THE CRUELTY OF ROMAN CRUCIFIXIONS

Historically, the cross was an instrument of    
horrific suffering, an excruciating method of  execution, used by the Romans for many years, even before the crucifixion of Jesus.
It is estimated by historians that up to two million people were crucified throughout the Roman empire before the practice was banned in the 4th century A.D.

According to the famous first century historian, Josephus, there were about 500 crucifixions per day on the city walls of Jerusalem during the four-month siege prior to the complete destruction of the holy city in 70 A.D. As a matter of fact, there were so many crucifixions that there was no more space left on the city walls, and no more wood available for crosses.

CO-CRUCIFIXION – AN ETERNAL TRUTH

But there is so much more to the story of the cross!

What if I told you that multiplied millions of people… “a great multitude that no one can count” (Revelation 7:9) died on a single cross… the cross of Christ!

I know! I’m one of them! And you are too, if you are a born-again child of God!

Paul said it this way in Galatians 2:20, NKJV

“I have been crucified (past tense) 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.”

Other translations help us understand more:

“My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ, and no longer lives…” (Passion)

“Christ took me to the cross with Him, and I died there with Him…” (Laubach)

“I consider myself as having died and now enjoying a second existence, which is simply Jesus using my body…” (Distilled)

Of course, we know that ours was not a physical crucifixion. But neither was it figurative, symbolic, or metaphorical.

Our crucifixion with Christ was and is a spiritual reality, an eternal truth!

WE PERSONALLY DIED WITH HIM!

The power of His death was activated in us when we accepted Jesus, by faith, as our Substitute, our Sacrifice, and our Savior. We then became forever identified with Him.

The great evangelist, T.L. Osborn, used to say this about the exchange that took place in our identification with Christ in His death, and subsequent resurrection: “Little ‘I’ moved out, and big Christ moved in!”

Please read Galatians 2:20 once more. As you do, notice that is filled with personal pronouns. Eight times the words “I” and “me” are used in this one verse.

The death of Christ on the cross cannot be seen as a dusty theological doctrine, or an abstract philosophical conception.

We must see the cross as more than the place of Jesus’ death. We must also see it as the place of our death with Him.

The passionate heart of God Himself, was torn open, not by a Roman lance, but by the spear of my sin. Whenever I look inside that gaping wound, I see myself. I was in Him… I was on His mind, and in His heart, when He died.

It is that truth, the unchangeable reality of His unconditional love and grace for me, that burns with laser-like focus into the deepest part of my being.

God’s everlasting love can’t be understood, or fully grasped by the mind. It can only be embraced by the heart.

Yes, “God so loved the world…” but in my world, God loves me… personally, uniquely, absolutely, eternally, unfailingly, and unconditionally!

Christ died FOR me… and I died WITH Him!

We must realize our personal crucifixion WITH Christ, before we can experience our personal resurrection WITH Christ.

“… knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:6)

Who is this “old man” that was crucified with Christ? He is:

● Our “sinful nature” (Weymouth)
● Our “inherited self” (Bruce)
● Our “former evil identity” (Richert)

SIN UTTERLY DEFEATED AT THE CROSS

Sin is a stubborn thing. It can’t be restrained, tamed, suppressed, governed, or overcome by human effort or by willpower. God gave us the Law to prove that neither the Law nor religion can ever overcome sin.

God’s way of dealing with sin is through spiritual-death, which is separation from the life of God. (“The wages of sin is death…”  Romans 6:23)

Jesus, as our Substitute and Savior, chose to identify with us, rebels and sinners, and to fully suffer the Father’s punishment for sin, separation from God. In the mind and heart of God, we also died with Christ, and so sin has been dealt with, once and for all.

“The old man, the unregenerate man, who had seemed so vigorous and healthy died. It had to be. He was a sinful fellow. It was useless to try to persuade him to become a little better, a shade or two less sinful. He had to be exterminated. The root of his being was corrupt. The only thing was regeneration.” (Romans 6:6, Carpenter)

“Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life – no longer captive to sin’s demands!” (Romans 6:6, The Message)

OUT WITH THE OLD! IN WITH THE NEW!

The power of the gospel is both destructive and constructive.

DESTRUCTIVE – Our death with Christ put an end to our old identity. Our old sin-loving, sin-addicted nature died on the cross. Old things passed away.

But then, we come to the pivot-point of  eternity, the resurrection of Christ! His new life is the Genesis of the new creation.

CONSTRUCTIVE- Our resurrection with Christ gave us a new identity. Our new God-loving, God-centered nature was born of the Spirit. All things have become new.

“For if a man is in Christ, he becomes a new person altogether – the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, Phillips)

ONCE DEAD, NOW ALIVE FOREVER!

So, in summation, we read:

“Let us never forget that our old selves died with Him on the cross that the tyranny of sin over us might be broken—for a dead man can safely be said to be immune to the power of sin. And if we were dead men with Him we can believe that we shall also be men newly alive with Him. We can be sure that the risen Christ never dies again—death’s power to touch Him is finished. He died, because of sin, once: He lives for God for ever. In the same way, look upon yourselves as dead to the appeal and power of sin but alive and sensitive to the call of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(Romans 6:6-11, Phillips Translation)

Questions for Reflection:

● Have you truly accepted that you died with Christ? Not just as a religious concept, but as a divine reality?

● Are you still striving to overcome sin? Or are you resting in the finished work of the cross?

Let this be the day that you STOP “TRYING” and START “TRUSTING”!

Please pray this prayer with me:

“Jesus, I want to know you. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. My old life died there with you. And I am ready now to begin a new life, a resurrected life with you!

I declare that you are my Savior and my Lord. I invite you to enter my life right now and live in me by your Holy Spirit. By the authority of your Word I declare that I am now saved! I am now born-again!

Father, thank you for your love and mercy. Thank you for the gift of eternal life you have given me. I will live my new life in union with Christ. I am your child, and you are my Father, for all eternity, beginning now! Amen!”

Welcome to God’s family! Your new life in Christ is now beginning. Please click on the tab entitled “Next Steps” on our home page, and start your adventure in faith! And please, leave us a comment, telling us about your decision.

May God bless and keep you! May He cause His face to shine upon you, and give you peace!

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