…I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:19-20
In his usual, touching style, St. Augustine of Hippo (A. D. 354-430) said that “God loves each of us as though there were only one of us.” In today’s text, the Apostle Paul revels in this love of Christ for each one of us as it is demonstrated at the cross, where he loved us and gave himself for us.
Paul tells us that Christ so identified himself with us on the cross that when he died, we died there with him. Paul further reveals that Christ’s identification with us is so complete that Christ is now living his life in us and through us. What Christ has done has resulted in a change so radical for us, so fundamental that “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”
We now embark on the grand adventure of life lived together with Christ. We are no longer to live in our own power but in Christ’s supernatural power. That means that the problems we face today have become Christ’s to share. The burdens we labor under, he wants to take from us. Christ is our life. Believe it!
That Christ can be trusted with our lives today is proven in that he loved us and gave himself for us. In laying down his life for us Christ has done the most. Whatever else we will need today will surely follow.
Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was the brother of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, and was the author of over 6,000 hymns. In this fine hymn, “And Can It Be,” Wesley writes in wonderment of God’s love for each of us as though there were only one of us:
“He left his Father’s throne above;
So free, so infinite his grace.
Emptied himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race.
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For, O my God it found out me.
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!”
MEDITATION
Soaking in Scripture…
Today’s Andy Moments…
