May 9, 2015
Galatians 2:20
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.
The Sixth Day Exercise
Nine words. “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
This is the stuff of the rest of the Gospel, or the second half of the Gospel, as we like to call it at Seedbed. If you haven’t seen the five minute “Seed Board” video (i.e. the Chalk Board Talk), check it out and you will see exactly what I’m talking about.
We must progress from “Christ died for me,” to “Christ lives in me.” Don’t hear me wrong, though. We never leave behind, “Christ died for me.” In fact, it is because Christ died for me that I can now die to myself. This is what the text means when it says, “I no longer live.” The secret to life is to die before you die. In the first half of the Gospel we follow Jesus to the Cross. In the second half of the Gospel we follow Jesus through the Cross. The first half of the Gospel is the power of promise. The second half of the Gospel is the promise of power.
Nine words. “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
How do you relate to this claim? Is it an ideal or a reality? Is this for an exceptional few or is it the expectation for all?
This is what the Sixth Day Exercise is all about. God created human beings on the sixth day, in his own image. Because of humanity’s tragic failure, right up to the present day, the image of God has been all but destroyed in us. When we follow Jesus to the Cross, we are reclaimed by the justifying grace of God as his image bearers. When we follow Jesus through the Cross we are restored by the sanctifying grace of God, day by day, until we reflect his image as in a mirror.
To say, “I no longer live,” means the old me; the me that was all wrapped up in myself. To say “Christ lives in me,” means the real me, the New Creation, is becoming progressively more and more alive. It means my life is being filled and fueled by His Life, which is The Life, also known as “Eternal Life.” To be “crucified with Christ,” means his death for sin becomes my death to sin. It is an ongoing crisis of surrender and a progressive process of becoming real.
THE EXERCISE
As the saying goes, you manage what you measure. Each Saturday I’m offering a completely anonymous opportunity to take stock of your soul. The Sixth Day Exercise is a simple survey designed to lead to self examination and reflection. There are only four questions along with two demographic inquiries. The questions also include an optional field in which to comment.
J.D. Walt writes daily for Seedbed’s Daily Text. He serves as Seedbed’s Sower in Chief. Follow him @jdwalt on Twitter or email him at jd.walt@seedbed.com. Get the Daily Text delivered to your inbox fresh every morning. Subscribe HERE.