I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST, AND I NO LONGER LIVE…

Close your eyes and imagine being crucified with Jesus on the cross. Somehow, God has taken your body and infused it with the body of Jesus on the cross. However, even though your hands and feet are stretched out with Jesus, you don’t feel pain or suffering. It just seems like you are infused with him spiritually and not physically. You are “in Christ.” You look out to the crowd and see some people with angry faces with their fists shaking, others crying and weeping, and still others smiling, laughing, and mocking as they talk to one another. You see Jewish rabbis and Pharisees, Roman soldiers, women and children, and even a few who used to follow Jesus. You look beyond them and are amazed to discover that your eyes can see people in the distance, in other cities, nations, and to the ends of the earth. You can even see people in the distance, even in the past and future. You have been crucified with Christ and are given the ability to see everything from God’s perspective. You are seeing the world’s perspective from the cross.

You can also see yourself doing your daily things in detail when you focus your eyes. You see yourself living at home, sleeping, eating, working, being with your family, attending church, doing good deeds, and having dreams, plans, and goals. You can see others doing the same thing. You also see yourself struggling to live according to God’s will. Then you say aloud, “Lord, I wish you would go and help me do the right things!” It is at this time Jesus speaks to you and says, “If you want, I can go and help you do the right things.” You say to him, “Yes, Lord, please do it.” However, he tells you, “If you want me to go and help you, you must stay here on the cross. Both of us cannot go at the same time. Only one of us can go at a time.” Now, if that were the case, how do you think you would answer him?

Of course, I made up the scenario above. However, isn’t this the spiritual scenario the Bible is trying to portray for those crucified with Christ through faith? Listen to the words of Apostle Paul:

“I 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.” (Gal.2:20, NIV)

“But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal.6:14, NASB)

The idea of being “crucified” is that you are dead, and being “crucified with Christ” means you have died with Christ on the cross. Notice that the verb “crucified” is in the past tense, as if we are hanging there with Jesus. According to the gospel, God does this for everyone who believes. At the moment of believing, He places us on the cross with Christ so that we can die with him and be resurrected, ascended into heaven, and seated with him at the right hand of God (Eph.2:4-6). This is done all based on faith. On the other hand, you are still living on Earth in your body because God wants to use it to accomplish His purpose. Therefore, as Christians, we have a choice of either letting our flesh live the way it wants or letting Christ live through us. You can only let one person take control of your life moment by moment, and it’s not placed on cruise control. You can control your life and leave Christ on the cross, or leave yourself on the cross and ask Jesus to live for you.

Thus, living the Christian life is not necessarily a changed life but an exchanged life. And it takes a daily practice of considering yourself crucified with Christ and intentionally asking Jesus to live through you. Sometimes, I can see that what Jesus wants to say and do is the same as me, but other times, they are different or even opposite. For me, I intentionally seek to remind myself of this truth as I wake up, throughout the day, and before I sleep. Whenever I am reminded, I ask the Lord to live through me by saying, “Lord, please go and live through me, and I’m just going to hang here for a while.” Here are some basic thoughts that helps me let Christ live through me.

BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME. THE LIFE I NOW LIVE IN THE BODY, I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD…

1. By faith, let Christ act through you – You can pray, “What would Jesus do?” Then, let the Spirit of Christ lead you to use your body, hands, feet, and fingers to do God’s will.

2. By faith, let Christ see through you – You can pray, “What would Jesus see?” Then, let the Spirit of Christ enable you to see “wonderful things” from the Word (Ps.119:18) and show you “the things that the Father is doing” (Jn.5:19-20).

3. By faith, let Christ speak through you – You can pray, “What would Jesus say?” Then, let the Spirit of Christ remind you of the Word or wisdom of God and teach you what to say with the right words, at the right time, and even in the right tone (Lk.12:11-12). Remember, one of the manifestations of being filled with the Spirit is “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Eph.5:18-20).

4. By faith, let Christ pray through you – You can pray, “What would Jesus pray?” Then, let the Spirit of Christ intercede through you with the right words, even with “groanings too deep for words” (Rom.8:26-27).

5. By faith, let Christ feel through you – You can pray, “What would Jesus feel?” Then, let the Spirit of Christ enable you to feel “compassion,” “mercy,” “courage,” “boldness,” “holy anger,” “joy,” or “confidence” in doing the right things (2 Cor.5:14).

6. By faith, let Christ think through you – You can pray, “What would Jesus think?” Then, let the Spirit of Christ enable you to have the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor.2:14-16) and give you true knowledge, wisdom, and principles to live by (Ja.1:5).

7. By faith, let Christ go places through you – You can pray, “Where would Jesus go?” Then, let the Spirit of Christ guide you in your steps to go places—by the well, by the gate, in the street, in the marketplace, visiting people, in the park, in the workplace, or even by the phone. At the same time, recognize that the Spirit of Christ may prevent or hinder you from going to certain places (Acts 16:6-10).

8. Can you think of other ways to let Christ live through you by faith?