Sermons - 2007 Week 38
Living By Faith
Galatians 2:20
The sermon began with a somewhat rhetorical question.
What is the meaning of life?
It can mean many things to many people. Some of these are material possessions, pleasure, career, money or social standing. However, there must be something more to it than these worldly perceptions.
Life comes from death. What does this statement mean? It may be a difficult concept to grasp unless one is thinking about a biological cycle of life. No, to the Christian, it means much more. Being alive is not the same as living a life.
The key verse upon which this sermon is centred is from Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Our authority as Christians begins at the Cross. We have died with Christ and our death is spiritual. God has given us a new provision for life. The key is understanding that the “old me” and all its limitations and problems have been put to death.
Romans 6 tells us that sin is no longer our master. Before we were saved, we had an un-regenerated Spirit. If we are not born again, we are separated from God. We are “dead to God but alive to sin”. However, the crucifixion of Christ is sufficient to free us. That is the power to free us. It is the authority to free us from the power of sin right now. We are now “dead to sin and alive to God”. His crucifixion was what freed us from our sins because he bore the burden of all our sins past, present and future upon the Cross.
The basis for the spirit-filled life is the Cross. In order for the new self to come forth, the old self must be dead. It is not to reform it but to remove it. The analogy is a pair of gloves. They are lifeless, completely unanimated. If someone puts on the gloves, they come alive in their movements and functions. In a similar manner, Christ fills us in this new life.
When Christ fills our lives, He is like a guest to our house. All too often, we limit Him to only the nicest part of the house, keeping His eyes away from things we hide in our closets, in our drawers and in dark corners of our room. Instead, we should have Him examine every nook and corner of our house so that we should never be afraid to hide anything from Him. This is the Spirit-filled life. This is to have “Christ live in me”.
The new life in Christ is not passive. One should quit trying to live the Christian life on one’s own - Jesus is the only one who could. Yield your bodies to Christ as a living sacrifice so that He can express His power through you. We cannot live a Christian life in our own strength. When we receive Christ, we receive a whole package. In Philippians 4:13, Paul says that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him. With God, all things are possible.
Romans 8:2 succinctly sums up that “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death”. The Christian life is not without sins, nor the temptations of sin. However, we can overcome them through Christ. Yet another analogy is used here. The law of gravity pulls everything down to earth. This will be analogous to sin. However, a helicopter or aeroplane defies this law of gravity by another law, the law of aerodynamics. When we are in the plane, we defy this law of gravity. In a similar manner, when Christ lives in us, we can be free from sin, if only we allow Him to take charge of our lives, giving Him the full rein of every room in our lives. The moment we step out of the plane or helicopter, we are subjected to the law of gravity and we fall. So long as Christ lives in us, we can continue to mature and become more like Him. We defy gravity, we defy sin.
The final part of Galatians 2:20 reminds us that we live our lives by faith in the Son of God. Do we not live by faith when we defy gravity and trust the laws of aerodynamics? What greater faith than to put our entire life in Christ? What more can we ask when He also loves us and gave His live for us so that we may have eternal life?
Dr and Mrs ET Chua
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