It starts with and ends with Christ. C.S. Lewis says, “The person who is most Christ-like is not
the one who is most gloriously fulfilled in every moment of life but the one
whose life has in it unbelievable elements of crucifixion.” (paraphrased).
The Apostle lays out five very important truths about living the
Christian life from Galatians 2:20.
1. “I have been crucified with Christ.” — It starts with crucifixion. The person I was when I was “in Adam”
is now dead. God no longer sees me
in the sea of sinful humanity.
2. “It
is no longer I who live” — the “old man” - who I was in Adam as a member of
the old humanity is now forever done away through crucifixion.
3. “The life that I now live in the flesh” — the new me in
Christ! It is the same “me” but
with a new standing and identity before Almighty God.
I stand before Him in Christ — justified (declared by God as righteous
and as a result a member of His covenant family.
4. “I live by faith in the Son of God” –
this is the new principle on how we live out our justification: by faith or
trust in the Son of God. He is the
centerpiece, the core, the source and the resource of my life! God made me to live in a deep intimate
union with Him! Why?
5. “who loved me and gave Himself up for me”
— The reason why we should trust Christ and live for Christ is, He loves us so! He has loved us with an everlasting sacrificial, radical love. His love has no limit. His love has no measure. He loves us with an everlasting love. He loves us with an unquenchable love. He loves us with a love that is incomprehensible. The vast dimensions of His love — the height, the depth, the width, the breadth are infinite. He loved us even while we were yet sinners. So, if God loved us while we were yet sinners and did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. Will He stop loving us now that we are His sons and daughters? This is the love of God, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (satisfactory sacrifice) for our sins, 1 John 4:10. ((And if we are loved so by God, then we also ought to love one another, 1 John 4:11))
This is the way to live out our new life in Christ - in love and faith with Him. I do not come to Christ by faith and then proceed to live out my new life in Christ on my terms or in independence from Him (see Galatians 3:3). The way of the Christian life is to learn to walk by faith in the Son of God. Notice we don't just walk by faith but by faith in Christ. In others words, to trust Him and to trust in Him.
Too often I have focused on living "for" Him which is of course true. But the question I have wrestled with is how do I live for Him? The answer I have found is by living "with" Him. Living for Him is my life's purpose. Living with Him is how I fulfill this life calling. What an incredible privilege - to enjoy fellowship with, as C.S. Lewis puts it, "The Three-Personal God" — The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit everyday!
