Dead To Me

"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."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

I woke up this morning and for a minute I found myself praising God that I was still alive and breathing.  Then, I thought better of it.  Yes, I feel good and like I am still alive, but in my heart I know I have died.  There is no grave stone to mark this death I have died, just confirmation that it has happened.  I know that this sounds wierd to some.  Trust me, I struggled accepting this fact as well.  However, if we are to believe that Gods word is true and infallible, then we must therefore accept as fact that which is written therein.  This is where Galations 2:20 comes into play.  I believe it to be one of the most difficult scriptures to grasp, but also one of the most freeing also.  For the message from the pulpits of our pastors each and every Sunday continues to be that we are none other than "Sinners saved by our Lords grace."  Yes, it is the love and grace of our God that has saved us and delivered us from our sins, but there is more to that story.  For not only did Christ willingly give Himself up as a sin sacrafice for all, but He now lives in the body once occupied by our former self.  THIS, as the apostle Paul tells it, is that part of me that died on that cross with Jesus that day.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bbought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are Gods.
1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 NKJV

Ok, so I am not my own?  Pauls bold statement here in 1 Corinthians should be wake up call to everyone who ever thought they were in charge of their own destiny!  The price that was paid for us was the very life of Jesus!  His life, His blood, given willingly for you.  A good friend of mine has broached the idea lately that there is only one independent self in all of the universe, which is our Lord God.  This idea was also floated by the author Norman P. Grubb in his book No Independent Self.  I do tend to agree with this thought, for if we were truly independent, then we would have no need of a creator.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7 NKJV

Anyone see where I'm going with this?  For if we were truly independent, would we truly have need for a creator?  It doesn't work too well the other way around.  If we trust that the scriptures are Gods true and faithful word without error, then we can only assume that we are not as we once were.  But there is one piece that is missing, that old spirit, the OLD Scott.

"For God knows that inn the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to  the eyes, and a tree desireable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.  She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3: 5-6 NKJV

There it is!  That moment where, as Gods creation, we all fell into sin.  I wasn't there, you weren't there, but this is what made necessary the blood sacrafice of our Lord Jesus.  THIS was the old Scott that died with Jesus on that cross.  For this is the Scott who is now dead to me!

~Scott~