A Crucified Life
Blessed be the God of heaven Who reigns forever more. Dear Christian, may your heart cry out as the apostle Paul, “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 gave Himself up for me.” How true it is, Christian, that you have been baptized in the life of Christ by the supernatural work of God upon your heart. In Christ your heart has been circumcised with a circumcision not made with human hands. You are no longer ruled by the flesh, but set free to honor God and your heart now belongs to Christ. The life of self cannot coexist in the heart where Christ is now reigning. For it was the Holy Spirit Who quickened your dead estate. It was He Who made you alive in Him. It was He Who cut you with the sword of truth and opened up your heart to see your sin, pointing you to a crucified Savior. Oh, blessed be the God Who did not leave you to die in your sins, but called you forth from your iniquity to gaze upon His Beloved Son, Jesus, hanging between heaven and earth on the cross. Blessed be Jesus Who died for your sins so that He could draw you to Himself and be saved. Is He not worthy of your all in all? Has He not given you deep desires for holiness? Has He not delivered you from death to life? Yes, he has my brother, that is, if indeed you are in Him.
Therefore follow Him in the ways of holiness and yield your entire being to Him. Discipline your heart beneath the cross of Jesus, and in the school of trial and temptation, your heart will lead you in the narrow way where few travel. Remember, a teacher is not above His master. If you truly stand upon the teachings of Christ you will be hated by this world, but rest assured your reward will be in full, for you will one day see Him face to face. You will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Oh what a grand day that will be, beloved, when sin is vanquished and all evil is done away with. Isaiah paints a wonderful picture for such a time as this, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” May God give you the strength to endure to the end and may your battle cry be, “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 gave Himself up for me.”