Crucified With Christ

This is a sermon that was given during a service in which the Lord's Supper was served.

Galatians 2:15-20

Introduction:

A few years ago I gave a sermon to describe the meaning of the word “communion.” It was given on a Sunday in which we were celebrating communion and the purpose of the message was to explain the word “communion” and why the word is used in conjunction with the Lord’s Table.

The message I want to share today is somewhat related to that previous message on the meaning of communion.

I want to focus our thoughts for a while on the words found in v. 20 (KJV) 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.

Before we share the emblems of communion this morning I want to take a little time to talk about how the celebration of the Lord’s Supper together can be a reminder of our participation in His crucifixion.

I.    The Meaning of “Communion”

First of all, let’s do a little review of the ideas that are included with the word “communion.”

Some of the words that are used to define “communion” include: fellowship; participation; partaking; and communicating.

Paul’s discussion on eating food offered to idols (1 Cor. 10), for example, reminds us that doing so makes one a participant and partaker of the “devils” to whom the sacrifice was made.

He goes on to say, “We cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and the table of devils at the same time.”

The idea of fellowship, communion, and participation is a mystical and spiritual union with another. For the Christian, that union is with Jesus Christ by faith.

II.     Participating in His Death

The second point I want to express today is this:

I am participating in the crucifixion of Christ in the sense that His death was a vicarious one. He was my substitute…

When Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ,” he is probably not explicitly talking about Christ’s substitution for him, but we may apply his words to the fact that we appropriate His death as our own, through faith.

Jesus did not die for His own sins, He died for the sins of the whole world. He died in my place and in your place. His death is credited to me.

When anyone places his/her faith in Jesus Christ and the “work” of atonement He did on the cross, then His death and bloodshed is credited to our account.

So, in a practical and spiritual sense, we are “crucified with Christ.”

III.     Extending His Death to My Self

The next point of this lesson today is this:

I am participating in the crucifixion of Christ in the sense that my self-centered life is put to death. This point actually appears to be the primary emphasis that Paul is intending to present to the Galatians.

If you read the context, he is reviewing an incident that happened some time earlier at the city of Antioch when Peter stopped eating with Gentiles after some of the Jewish Christian leaders arrived from Jerusalem.

Paul reminded Peter at the time, and he’s reminding the Galatians through this writing, that Christian believers died to the law so they could live through faith in Christ.

This “death to the law” was effectively carried out by his participation in the death of Christ.

One writer (Lenski), says Paul is not using symbolic language here (i.e. “crucified with Christ”), but this is factually true in a spiritual and mystical sense. Through faith, Paul has died with Christ.

Now, rather than trying to achieve righteousness by his own efforts of goodness and righteousness, he is relying on the work of Christ.

He is no longer striving to accomplish it his own way, but he has submitted to Christ’s way.

So, in a very real sense, he has died to his self-centered, ego-promoting life (a life that can boast about how well he has kept the law and obeyed the law) and, instead, he has submitted to a humble acceptance of Christ’s atonement in his behalf.

This principle of death to our typical self-exalting and self-boasting ways can have implications in every area of life. Because we are “crucified with Christ” we humbly submit our will to His will and our ways to His ways.

Why? Because we understand that He receives all the glory; not us. It’s not about us at all, it’s all about Him!

IV.      Living My Life in Connection with His Life

I am participating in the life of Christ in the sense that He lives His life through me.

Notice this phrase, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”

The blessing and benefit of being crucified with Christ is that from now on, I can experience the resurrected Christ living in me and through me in a way that I’ve never experienced before.

Oh, dear friends, I confess that I can’t fully comprehend what it must mean and what it must involve to say, “Christ lives in me!”

It certainly may mean more, but it seems like it would at least include this much: “When anyone looks at my life it reminds them of what they know of Jesus.”

If Christ is living in me, then others should be able to see Christ in me.

If Christ is living in me, then others around me should always be reminded of Him when they watch my life.

Conclusion:

Are You Jesus?

By Brett Denman, community blogger

on May 11, 2012 at 4:00 AM

How do you reflect the character of Jesus in your life?

I received an email that I would like to share with you. It is probably a story of fiction but the moral of the story is very real.

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner.

In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding...

ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.

He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.

He was glad he did.

The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"

She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.

She continued, "Are you Jesus?"

He stopped in mid-stride ... and he wondered. He gently went back and said, "No, I am nothing like Jesus - He is good, kind, caring, loving, and would never have bumped into your display in the first place."

The girl gently nodded: "I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples. He sent you to help me, so you are like Him - only He knows who will do His will. Thank you for hearing His call, Mister."

Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?"

Do people mistake you for Jesus?....

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The Southern Gospel group, The Neilons, have recorded a song that seems to be based on this story, and it is titled, “Excuse Me, Are You Jesus?”

When I am crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that lives. It is no longer I that is in control. It is no longer I having my own way; but Christ lives in me.

Have you experienced the spiritual and mystical communion with Christ to the extent that you know you’ve been crucified with Christ? Is your connection and communion with Him so real that your self-centered life is crucified and you are completely surrendered to His will? Is your connection so real that Christ lives in you?

As we share together today in the emblems of the Lord’s Supper, let us meditate on the connection we have in His crucifixion along with how it has affected our lives already, and how it will continue to affect us more and more each day we live in that communion.

We’re going to sing a communion hymn in the red hymnals: “Here at Thy Table, Lord”