GALATIANS 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but 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.”
THEME OF THE DAY: THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IN ONE VERSE. Today’s nugget theme might be hyperbole, but then again, not entirely. Working through the scripture of the day really does provide for us the simplicity and clarity of the Christian life. It gives us the totality of living the Christian life in three truths; our union with Christ in His death and resurrection; the present-day reality of Christ in us, His power enabling us, and the hallmark of the Christian life – love, God’s love for us.
First, the Christian life begins with our union in Christ in His death and resurrection – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” The Apostle Paul would mention over 164 times in his letters the truth that God the Father has placed us in an inseparable union with His Son – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love” (Ephesians 1:3-4). Keep this truth alive and thriving in our thinking and affections. The more we realize our union in Christ, the more we live aware of all that God has provided for us to live the Christian life through the boundless spiritual blessings in Jesus.
The next truth found in the one verse defining the Christian life is our present-day reality and experience of living by faith in the Son of God; a faith that empowers us to live through Him the Christian life – “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” Remember, the power of the Christian life is the power of Christ’s resurrection, a resurrection that is practical to defeat all the tactics of Satan, the world, and our always deceiving sinful flesh.
Finally, the one verse capturing the whole of the Christian life ends with the message of the Christian life – “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.” It is the message from Genesis to Revelation that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
So, the Christian life in one verse. Possible? Yes, I think so. If we haven’t, let’s memorize it today so we may carry it around with us each day!
PRAYER: Father, thank You for such a Gospel that provides all I need to live a life pleasing to You.
REFLECTION: We are crucified and risen with Christ, giving us His power to live a crucified and risen life.