What does it mean to be “crucified with Christ” or to “die with Christ”?
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Colossians 2:20 “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world…”
Paul writes to churches of Rome, Galatia and Colossae and states that we, as believers in Christ, have been crucified with Christ and have died with Christ, and the life we now live we live through Him and He lives through us. This is an area with scripture that I’ve understood from the conceptual standpoint, but a shallow understanding at best. I have struggled to understand what it means to be crucified with Christ, outside of simply a “solidarity” statement.
For the last two years, I have felt that the person I was before losing Alex is a different person than I am today. It’s like there is a semi-transparent wall of glass between the life and person prior and the life and person today. It’s transparent enough that I can vaguely see things on the other side, the life, the memories, the life of prior. Of course I still have the same memories and the same flesh and body as before. But on the other hand, the wall of separation is still there. And I think that anyone who has lost a child will tell you that. But there is some Biblical truth to this.
I was driving home one evening, thinking about this and thinking about Alex. I said to myself, “I drowned with Alex that day, I died with her that day.” Then immediately after I said that, the Lord said to me “That is what it’s like to die with Christ and be crucified with Christ.” When I got home, I immediately began to write this down and work through scripture with the Lord.
You love someone so much, that when that person dies, you die with them. You don’t want to be here without them and you’re devastated. You crave the presence of that person increasingly. You’ll never be the same person again, and that is what it’s like to die with Christ. Just as I drowned with Alex that night, I was crucified with Christ in the same way. You must be so invested in Jesus, that His death is your death. You cannot be the same person you were before. It’s a spiritual, emotional, and psychological death and a new creation in Christ. Philippians 3:10 states, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death”.
My greatest desire is to know Him, to be real and genuine friends with Him. Moses spoke face to face with the Lord, “as a man speaks with a friend.” – Exodus 33:11, one of my favorite verses of all time.
Likewise, in Luke 24, after His death and resurrection, a couple of Jesus’ disciples were walking down the road talking and discussing, “they stood still and looked sad…” and they said “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” The disciples had become friends with Him, their hearts burned within them, they craved His presence. When we have a true and real relationship with God, our hearts burn within us, we crave his presence and nothing else will satisfy. They were never the same, they were crucified with Christ and died with Him.
Paul states to the church in Philippi in Philippians 1:21-25 “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain, but if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.” I know this desire Paul talks about here. I feel it in my core. My daughter is there in Heaven with Jesus now, and my desire to be friends face to face with Jesus outweigh any desire to remain in this world. It’s difficult to remain here, focusing on normal day to day things when your eyes and heart have an eternal focus. But yet I know I must remain.
Are you so invested in Jesus that when you learned of His death, believed in Him and you are now a new creation in Christ, the old has passed away, the new has come and you are no longer the same person you used to be?
Romans 6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Colossians 1:22 “He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”
Colossians 2:12 “Having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
Roman’s 6:6 “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin”
Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away ; Behold, new things have come.
Exodus 33:11 “Thus the Lord use to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend”
Philippians 1:21-25 “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain, but if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and i do not know which to choose. But i am hard pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. Convinced of this, i know i will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,”
Luke 24:13-35 “And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.”
