Sermon Notes: Crucified with Love

Crucified with Love 

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.

·        We have been on a journey to go deeper into our walk with Jesus. The goal is to become a follower of the Lord and be more like Him. I believe that there are steps we can take that will help along the way.

·        What use is it to the average Christian if he feels that following Jesus is too hard?

·        It’s been said that it’s impossible to follow Him! Well that is true in the sense that we cannot do it in our own strength, we must allow the Holy Spirit to do His work, this work… within us.

·        Paul gives us some critical information in his letter to the Galatians; he says he’s been crucified with Christ!

·        His old man and old ways of doing things are dead to him and this new “Christ life” is living inside of him. He’s put off the old and put on the new… he’s now living his new life fully. Unfortunately the “old man” does not go easily.

·        Hmmm, still very difficult to understand because it seems easier to say than to do! Ok, you’re right let’s look deeper into this verse because there’s more…there’s a key that we need. It’s right there!

·        “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.”

·        This new life is a “crucified life,” and I can only live it by “faith” knowing that Jesus loves me and gave Himself for me.

·        If I’m going to be crucified with Christ then there’s going to be some suffering to “self” in the process. But know that it is a “grace process.”

·        Self doesn’t want to be “denied” anything,

·        Self wants to be comfortable,

·        Self wants to be exalted and complimented,

·        Self wants to be strong, do things its way.

·        Self is selfish!

·        It’s important to understand that the cross in Christianity was not just for Jesus, it’s for us too.

·        Therefore this process is for me because the Holy Spirit is doing this in me because He loves me!

·        I was CREATED to be loved by Him-- I am empowered by His love!

Galatians 3:1-2: O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 

·        The “legalist Jews” telling the Christians in Galatia that under the Law of Moses for God, they were to “earn and deserve” God’s love and blessing.

·        Paul points to the cross of Christ, the cross is the evidence that they were loved, (don’t have to wonder about it), and it’s not because of the things they did…but for the things Christ did for them.

·        We begin our new life by grace; we need to continue our new life in grace. This is a New Covenant life in the Spirit, not an Old Covenant life under the Law of Moses.

·        The “old” was a life based on good deeds or works, it was a self-righteous life.

·        The “new” is a life based on His finished work and His love for us.

Galatians 5:4-6: You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

·        The letter to the Galatians is about Moses’ law (doing things in your own strength) versus grace (letting power of the Holy Spirit work within you).

·        Paul says that the only way to stop grace working in us is by trying to “earn blessings” in your own might…he calls this “falling from grace.” Grace is above the law!

·        You are not mighty or strong… so you “might as well” come to this conclusion!

·        BUT… He is mighty within you by faith when you focus on His love for you.

·        He loves you so much He died for you! He will never stop loving you for all eternity. His love is unconditional. His love is perfect love. His love empowers you!

·        He will never leave you or forsake you as others have done. His love is all you need. You were created to be loved…by Him. So quit looking for love in all the wrong places!

Galatians 5:16-18: I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

·        Paul calls this “crucified life,” walking in the Spirit.

·        The Holy Spirit’s job is applying the cross to our flesh (our selfish old man). He does this by allowing trials and storms in your life.

·        Our fleshly “self” will rebel against Spirit working in us… that’s why we need to stay in faith working through love! Storms are going to come, one way or the other…expect it!

·        The key to storms is finding Jesus in the boat with you! He never leaves you…because He loves you!

Luke 9:23-24:  Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

·        Jesus tells us the “only way,” if we want to follow Him we must do what he did.

·        Self is the leftover part of you from your sin nature…it’s got to go.

·        You aren’t called to  be nailed to a cross like He was…at least I hope not, but we are called to daily pick up our own cross to deny our lustful selves. If you really want to live this Christian life, there is no other way.

·        There’s no shortcut.  There’s no having the world and eternal life. There’s no such thing as the deeper crucified life, and the worldly selfish life mixed. It will just make you lukewarm. It will make you useless and miserable.

·        There are difficult times coming if you want to follow Jesus, so you better learn this before you whine and complain and wonder where God is in the middle of your trials.

·        Jesus is calling us to go all in! Let’s see this in Jesus’ life.

Matthew 4:16-17: When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

·        Jesus began His ministry by being filled with the Holy Spirit, and the voice of the Father expressing His love and approval for Him.

·        Jesus would soon be tempted by the devil and the devil would question Him.

·        “If you are the Son of God…” The enemy will always tempt us in this area of being a child of God, therefore, making us question if we are loved. He did the same to Jesus, so he’ll do the same to you, because faith works through love!

·        The world will always try to get you to settle for something other than the love of God… the love of men, the love of the crowd, or romantic love. These will always fall short, cause disappointment, and fade away.

·        These are the wrong places to look for the love that changes you from the inside out.

2 Peter 1:16-18: For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

·        Peter is writing from prison, about to be executed on a cross, upside down, and he describes what he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration.

·        He saw the majesty and glory of the Lord. But he also heard the voice from heaven telling Jesus again, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 

·        Jesus was going to descend from this mountain and go to His death on a cross and take the sin of the world upon Himself.

·        The Father told Him again, He was loved and He was pleasing to the Father. It’s what Jesus needed to know… to continue His journey to the cross… so you need to know it too. I believe Peter was reminding himself of the Father’s love, too!

·        So therefore, it’s what you need to constantly remind yourself as you pick up your cross to follow Him.

Ephesians 3:16-19: that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

·        Paul tells the Ephesians that his hope for them is that God would “grant them” (grace) to be strengthened with the might of the Spirit—to be bold and not lose heart—in their inner man (the new man) so they would not fall away when things get difficult.

·        He says that we can be “rooted and grounded.”

·        The picture is of a great tree with deep roots so when the storms come they will not easily be blown over. It’s His love that roots us and grounds us.

·        His love is so far beyond our ability to understand—that we can only comprehend it through experience. This is the “knowing” Paul is talking about.

·        I must move “from knowing about” Christ’s love for me to actually experiencing it.

·        I can read about it, I can hear about it, but that will not strengthen me with might in my inner man.

·        I must move into the “intimate knowledge,” because it is only there that I get filled up with ALL the fullness of God.

·        I must move beyond not feeling worthy of His love.

·        I must move beyond my failures in love.

·        I must move beyond the things that have been done to me.

·        I must move beyond looking for love everywhere else.

·        I can come to Him and He will grant this “knowing that surpasses knowledge” but I must set aside all my previous disappointments and look to the cross ONLY to have the evidence that can move me into “knowing.”

·        If I don’t come to this “knowing His love” I will never be able to love others with His love.

·        His love can so “fill me up” that my cup “runneth over” to everyone I meet.

·        Then I can let go of my bitterness and unforgiveness.

·        I can let go of all the toxic experiences and emotions that so easily bind me to them.

·         I can finally be free.