April 20, 2023: The Crucified Life

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20, ESV)

Living the crucified life is living a life that identifies both with the cross and the resurrection of Christ. We identify with His death in this: He carried our sin, shame, and guilt to the cross. We were guilty and deserving of the cross, but Jesus took our place. When He took our place, it empowered us to say, "I have been crucified with Him!" We identify with His death, for He took our place.

We now live not our lives but His to be lived through us. Therefore, as we now live in this body of ours, we live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us. We are not living to impress God or anyone else. We are allowing Him to live and express the Kingdom through us. What He has said about us regarding this life of faith is what we intend to live. We are now bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. We are His expression in the earth.

We live this way, honored and humbled by the fact that He loved us and gave Himself for us. It is not we who live but Christ who lives in us. The crucified life identifies both with the cross and the resurrection.