“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
My mind keeps going back to the first four words: I have been crucified. When we hear the word “crucified,” we automatically think of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. But what did it mean to the original hearers? For them, crucifixion was a part of their culture, albeit a very ugly part. Like capital punishment today, it was reserved for the worst criminals. Unlike today’s executions, it was an incredibly painful and long process.
So can I truly say that I have been crucified? In fact, do I even believe I deserve crucifixion? Do I agree that my sinful human nature ranks right up there with the worst criminals? After all, I’m not as bad as some others, right? Because we can always find others “worse” than us, it’s easy to believe we don’t really deserve the same punishment. But when I compare myself to our holy God, that’s when I know I deserve death. But how often do I compare myself to Him? It’s so much easier to compare ourselves to other people, isn’t it? There’s another way in which the Christian life can be compared to crucifixion. When God changes us from the inside out, it is often a long and painful process. Have I allowed God to make those kinds of changes in my life? Have I been willing to endure the pain and humiliation of bringing my sins to the surface? Yet it is only when we allow God to crucify us that we can die to that sinful nature and experience the freedom and fullness of life God has for us. It is a freedom and fullness like nothing we’ve ever experienced before. In fact, you could say that it’s to die for!