LETTING GO TO BE LIFTED UP

Galatians 2:19-21 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 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. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
 
Many years ago, the pastor of my home church in Holland encouraged me with this passage, Galatians 2:20, and prescribed it as a life verse when I did my profession of faith.
This can be a confusing passage. What does Paul really mean when he writes “I no longer live”? We want to be able to say that we truly live by faith. That since Christ lives in us and our old self has passed away, we behave as perfect Christians. Yet we struggle with fear and anxieties caused by trying to control our circumstances, our relationships, and our future. We continue to struggle with sin and bad habits that feel impossible to shake. How does this passage apply when our old, sinful self seems far more real than the new identity of Christ that God has given us?
 
Every day we must make the decision to either elevate ourselves to the throne, or to step aside and let Christ take his rightful place in our hearts and minds. It is a daily battle.
When Christ sacrificed himself to pay for our sin, He did so willingly -John 10:17-18. In the same way, we must be willing to die to self, by surrender and submission. The heartbeat of surrender and submission is trust.
This truth reminds me of the Google Maps app. When navigating somewhere new, I prefer reviewing the entire route in advance rather than only relying on the step-by-step directions.  
Trusting in times of struggle would be easy if we could just see the whole plan straight through the finish line. However, that wouldn’t be trust at all. In fact, that assumes that we know what is best for ourselves and also, the best way to get there.   
The reality is that God is the only One Who is trustworthy and faithful, He loves us unconditionally, He cares for us, He gave Himself up for us and He sees the whole picture. Trusting means that we hold on to verse 21. “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” We hold on to the truth that because of Christ, God sees us as we are, His beloved children, a new creation in Christ! We can live our life in this body, still struggling with sin, but by faith in Christ, we are set free from sin. This is how God, the perfect Judge, sees us. We are crucified and have our new identity in Christ. We are chosen, made for a purpose, we are precious in His sight and loved forever. If God, who knows everything about us and is perfectly just, sees us this way, then we ought to see ourselves this way too. Only when we accept that can we live in the freedom that Christ offers and keep from sliding back into the ways of our old selves.
 
Because of Christ living in us we can deny ourselves and take up our cross. And this is not for us to be brought down, but truly to be lifted up. We hold onto so many things that rob us of our peace and joy. We try to get control over bad habits and addictions when Jesus is waiting for us to come to the end of ourselves and come to Him. We want to cling to what is familiar, but God wants us to release the things leading us away from Him.
 
Do we trust Him to see what we can’t? That He in His love leads us through trials only to bring us closer to Him? Do we trust that His love for us is so deep that He closes doors sometimes or tells us to wait?  Are we willing to be crucified with Christ and experience His true peace and find rest for our souls?
 
I just want to leave you with a link to this beautiful song from Philip, Craig & Dean,
 "I Am Crucified with Christ."