CRUCIFIED TO THE WORLD
LIBERTY AND LOVE #41
Paul wrote that Jesus “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” (Rom. 4:25). God’s “paid-in-full receipt” that payment for our sins had been offered and accepted was the resurrection of Christ from the dead. If we want to be secure in our standing before God, we should look by faith to the empty tomb.
Accepting the reality of one’s relationship with God is not always an uncomplicated thing. Everything that we have, we receive by faith, which means that we have nothing to go on except someone else’s word. That kind of trust is difficult indeed. It is contrary to the habits of the natural man. But in the case of things spiritual, the word of God is our foundation, and we should remember that God never breaks a promise and always does what he says he will do. Furthermore, when he says that something is true, it is true.
Our service to Christ is based on an understanding of our position in Christ. There are many truths in the Bible that we should seek to appropriate and learn. But it is only by having our position settled that we can move forward from where we are to where we need to be. We must rest in Christ, and then, from that position, seek to understand the remainder of Scripture. Any other approach will lead to frustration and trepidation.
Rest in Christ. What an unbelievable doctrine to the carnal faculties. Most in religion have succumbed to the bootstrap fallacy of thinking that they have something in and of themselves that will assist them in making the God of heaven take notice and adore them. What they fail to realize is that he already adores all who trust in his Son. Everything that God is and has done is for the purpose of glorifying his Son and saving all of his Son’s people.
If our trust is in Christ, if we are his disciples and we love him, then we are looked upon by the Father as those who have been joined to the Lord. How God reckons things is the only important consideration. I may think such and such about you; you may think such and such about me; but nothing that we think about each other alters the perspective of God. His perspective is through his Son. If you are in his Son, then that is all that counts.
The world has a completely different perspective from God. The world will applaud you and accept you for things for which God will condemn you and disapprove of you. On the other hand, God will applaud you for things for which man will condemn you. This is the great reverse in the matter of perspective. The ways of God and the ways of man are exact opposites. The evaluation of the world and the evaluation of God are exact opposites. If you are pleasing God, walking in intimate fellowship with God, then the only people who will speak well of you and understand you are those who are doing the same; and there will not be very many of them. This is the devil’s territory we are in. One cannot expect to be a citizen of heaven and be well thought of by those who follow the devil at the same time.
Paul said that he had been crucified to the world and that the world had been crucified to him (Gal. 6:14). Think of what that statement says: To the world, Paul was on a cross. To Paul, the world was on a cross. The one had passed judgment upon the other. The opinion of the one was not of importance to the other.
Dewayne Dunaway
