35. I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

Today we start our journey of discovery into the distinctiveness of Christlike maturity.

In doing so, we need to be mindful of the fact that (according to the Bible) the entire life of Jesus’ followers is characterised by Jesus’ cross, death and resurrection. That applies to the process of their inner transformation [renewal] as well as to the development of their relationships with others.

Moreover, we must identify in what way God’s Spirit and the individual believer himself play in this lifelong growing into Christlike maturity.

In the following meditations we want to focus on each of these characteristics.

The first question is: why is Christ’s cross, death and resurrection so central to God’s way of transforming our lives?

The answer is found in the rebellion and pride we naturally harbour against God. The prophet Jeremiah (ca. 700 BC.) wrote with divine insight: “The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Speaking about the human heart, Jesus said: “It is the thought-life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God” (Mark 7:20-23).

When the apostle John speaks about the dominant ‘laws’ that rule our rebellious humanity [the world] in its opposition to God, he writes: “All that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of [God] the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).

In one of Paul’s descriptions of the ‘vices of the heart’, he comes up with a long list of possible wrongdoings:
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.
Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
(Galatians 5:19-21)

(See also meditations 5, 19, 21, 23-27)

It is God’s intention not only to forgive us our past sins, but also to liberate us from the bondage of such rebellion. The apostle John states: “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work” (1 John 3:8).

The cross, death and resurrection of Christ play a major role in God’s liberating process in eradicating the rebellion in our hearts and the vice it produces.

To the Christians in Corinth, the apostle Paul writes that on the cross our sin was laid on the sinless Son of God: “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
(2 Corinthians 5:21)

In practical terms, that means that I - as a follower of Jesus - can see my rebellious and sinful life being crucified with Christ. That is why Paul explains to the Christians in Rome: “Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ...” (Romans 6:6).

For God and for us, the crucifixion of Jesus means the crucifixion of our own rebellious and sinful hearts. Therefore, Paul can testify to the Christians in Galatia (modern Turkey): “I have been crucified with Christ...” (Galatians 2:20)

Why is our identification with Christ’s crucifixion so important for God and for us? The apostle continues in Romans 6:6: “Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6).

Since he follows Jesus, the apostle Paul’s relationship with the world of rebellion and sin is completely changed. To the Christians in Galatia he attests: “God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).

When I come to God in remorseful repentance of my rebellious life and believe that Jesus took the punishment for all my sins, then I know that I am forgiven and saved from God’s righteous anger.

Yet, when I look at Jesus’ cross, I also know that God has nailed my obstinate heart onto that cross together with his Son. For God and for me ‘my old sinful self’ has lost its rightful existence; as a follower of Jesus, it should no longer dictate my way of life.


The Bible verses 1 John 3:8 and Galatians 2:20 are quoted from the ‘New International Version’. Galatians 6:14 and 1 John 2:16 are quotes from the New King James Version. All other texts are quotes from the ‘New Living Translation’.