Pursuing the Heart of God – Day 19 – Crucified with Christ
Lord Jesus, Romans 6:6 concludes that I have been crucified with You and I died with You, and if I died with You, then I was raised with You and now live with You. This concept is so difficult for me to grasp. I have suffered nothing compared to the sacrifice You made for me. I do not feel worthy to claim this truth, and yet, if I do not, then You died for nothing! Lord, help me understand the meaning of being crucified with Christ.
A Message from God’s Heart to Yours:
My beloved sons and daughters, do not be confused by the concepts in My Word. The simple truth is I died for you. I died once for all the sins of all mankind, past, present, and future. When you invite Me into your heart to be your Savior and Lord, you confess that I am the Son of God, the Lamb of God, who died to take away the sins of the world. You believe in your heart that God raised Me from the dead. When you confess this and believe this, you will be saved. You become My child, and you will spend all eternity with Me.
I died for your sin, in your place, on the cross. So, in essence, your sin died with Me; your old sinful self died with Me. My Word says that you have been crucified with Christ, and you no longer live, but Christ lives in you (Galatians 2:19). But wait, there’s more! Christ did not remain in the grave. God raised Him from the dead! He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father.
Therefore, if you died with Christ, you were raised with Christ. Your old self is gone, your new self is here (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Do not spend too much time trying to grasp the depth of this concept. Keep it simple. Sometimes, you need to exercise your faith and simply believe that My Word is true. You have been crucified with Christ, and you no longer live, but Jesus Christ lives in and through you (Galatians 2:19).
Do not give in, then, to the former ways of the flesh. Those old ways were nailed to the cross and died. You are dead to sin and alive to Christ. Live your new life in step with the Spirit of the risen Jesus Christ, whom I have deposited in your heart.
I have reconciled you to Myself, and I remember your sins no more (Jeremiah 31:34). You must forget them also. Do not cling to the past, but live in your present state, alive in Christ and fully forgiven. Accept My forgiveness in full. When you do not accept My forgiveness in full, you do not accept the complete work of Christ on the cross. Now, do as I do, and remember your sins no more. You are fully forgiven; fully accept it and live in the freedom that brings.
Do not hold on to your sinful nature. That was nailed to the cross as well. You now have new life in Jesus. Live for Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and God, Himself, who sanctifies you through and through (1 Thessalonians 5:23). You are holy and righteous because I have bought you with a price and redeemed you (Psalm 103:4). You are Mine.
Prayer:
Father, Your work in me is amazing. Your Spirit in me is right. I am no longer a slave to sin (Romans 6:6), sin is not my master. I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. Thank You for your gift of saving grace through the death of Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord. I am crucified with Christ, and therefore, I am risen with Him, and He lives in me. Hallelujah! Praise You, Lord. And now will you speak to my heart about this some more. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Two-way Conversation with God:
- Father, why did You send Your Son, Jesus, to die for me? (Record what God says to you in your thoughts.)
- Jesus, I am so humbled that You would die for me and count me in on the act. I am crucified with You. Please share Your heart with me on this. (Write the words Jesus gives you in your heart and mind.)
- Holy Spirit, empower me to claim this victory over death, sin, and the grave, by the precious blood of Jesus, my risen Savior. Show me my part in this plan. (Note the impressions and thoughts you experience right now.)
Review the Holy Spirit’s thoughts and impressions you’ve sensed and written above. What Scripture comes to mind as you review your notes? Use the concordance of your Bible to look up an impression from God’s Word. Record the verse or passage here. Write all insights and encouragement the Holy Spirit illumines for you as you read God’s Word right now.
Prayer:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You all are so precious to me. Thank You for Your love and work in my life. Thank You for Your favor and Your grace. Thank You for Your unselfish acts. May You be glorified! Thank You for the words and thoughts You gave me just now. I am so blessed to be in relationship with You, to know Your heart and Your thoughts. Let me not take this for granted. You are my personal, living Lord, who lives and reigns in me. Have Your way in me, Lord. Sanctify me through and through, to make me more like You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
Supporting Scripture:
Psalm 103:2-5, Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Jeremiah 31:34, “No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins on more.”
Romans 6:5-14, 5For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. 10The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. 11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. 14For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
Galatians 2:19-21, 19“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Galatians 5:24-25, Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.
2 Thessalonians 2:13, But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
1 Peter 1:2, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
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