I Am Crucified with Christ %

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20, KJV)

If you think Jesus died for you but forget He also died as you, you’re only seeing half the Gospel.

Many believers know Christ’s death paid for their sins, but few realize that something far more radical happened at Calvary: they died there too. What does it mean that you were crucified with Christ? And how does this truth completely transform the way you live today? Let’s dive into a truth that could change your walk with God forever.

Let’s begin with a dilemma. When Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ,” was this literal or figurative? Was it just symbolic language, or was he describing something tangible that took place spiritually? It should be immediately obvious that Paul was not physically crucified with Jesus. Two thieves were crucified beside Christ, and Paul was not one of them—nor were we there.

So, was this merely poetic or symbolic? Not at all. Paul’s death on the cross with Jesus was as real spiritually—and especially in God’s eyes—as Jesus’s own death. Why? Because Paul received a new life, which was only possible after death. For that new life to be real and tangible, the death that preceded it had to be real as well.

But how could this be possible? The secret lies in the mystery of substitution and our union with Christ. Christ came and died for our sins, but even more remarkably, He took our place and gave us His. He died as us—as you and me. When He suffered and endured the brutal crucifixion, we were the ones who suffered and died.

Please pause and reflect on this: Jesus willfully endured such a painful death in our place so that we would not suffer the same fate, but instead receive and enjoy the rewards of His suffering.

Here is the Biblical path: Jesus suffered at the cross alone, but then brings us into the glory of God to share in His victory. This is what the Bible calls the grace that is in Christ—Christ suffering the horrors of crucifixion to make sinners into saints, to transform rebels into God’s children, and to bring criminals back home to God.

In God’s eyes, you have been crucified with Christ—you died when Christ died, and you were raised with Him. See yourself as God sees you—the old you is dead, and the new you is now alive.

Meditate

Ponder this truth: do you see your old self dead with Christ, as God sees you?

Act on the Word

Today, consciously reject the temptation to act from the old nature. Remember, it is the old man who commits sin, who is oppressed by Satan, and who is bound by the past. That old man is dead! Live in the reality that the old is gone and the new you is alive!