Born Crucified

I’m going to begin a series of posts on the cross.  The book Born Crucified  by L. E. Maxwell made a big impact on me.  There is no spiritual life in Christ without participation in His spiritual death.  We must die to sin before we are born again to the resurrection power of Christ.  We must continue to live out our Christian walk being crucified to sin.  When we are born again, we are "Born Crucified".  Sometimes my post will be a quote from the book, or perhaps an insight that I received in reading it.  I would encourage everyone to read this book.  The following is the opening paragraph from the book.

 

During the Civil War a man by the name of George Wyatt was drawn by lot to go to the front. He  had a wife and six children. A young man named Richard Pratt offered to go in his stead. He was  accepted and joined the ranks, bearing the name and number of George Wyatt. Before long Pratt was killed in action. The authorities later sought again to draft George Wyatt into service. He protested, entering the plea that he had died in the person of Pratt. He insisted that the authorities consult their own records as to the fact of his having died in identification with Pratt, his substitute.  Wyatt was thereby exempted as beyond the claims of law and further service. He had died in the person of his representative. There we have the truth of identification in a nutshell. God’s way of deliverance is through death–through identification with our Substitute in His death and resurrection.

This is an excellent example of our identification with the death of Christ.  He died in our place.  Maxwell continues later with this.

George Wyatt did not find deliverance by fighting the law or endeavoring to please the authorities.  He took his death-position according to the Government record. He acted on the basis of "It is written." He had died in the person of his representative. Even so, I, too, have a Substitute and Representative. He entered a deadly combat and died my death. I have been "crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20). That is a great fact. No amount of struggling on my part can make it more true. I am an actual partaker of Christ, and, therefore, of His death and resurrection. Christ actually liveth in me. His is a life of death to sin and aliveness to God; it is mine to yield my all to Him–to believe and rejoice and rest in Christ.

What a relief it was to finally realize that I cannot please God.  Only Christ’s death can satisfy what God required of me.  What a relief when I was finally born again, or should I write, Born Crucified?

Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman