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Crucified and Resurrected

When we begin our Christian walk we trust that God is going to save us and we will spend eternity in a mansion in Heaven. We are not certain what our life in Heaven will be like, but at least there will be no more pain, sickness, worries, or death. Our general idea is correct, but what God actually is after may not as yet be known to us.

(4/26/2009) I do not know whether or not it is because we all do not have the same calling, or whether some of us are more diligent than others. But it is a fact that some reap Christ to a hundredfold extent, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold, some bring forth Christ for a season and then the Seed perishes, and in some the Word never germinates.

You are correct. My mind this morning is on the Parable of the Sower. Our Lord Jesus pointed it out as the central parable of the Kingdom of God. I have preached on the Parable of the Sower on many occasions. We all understand that the Seed that is sown is the Word of God, which is Christ. I have taught also concerning the rest of God, in which we cease from our own works and obey Christ.

I have held forth also on the crucified, resurrected life. I would like to probe a bit deeper on this topic.

I may not be too far amiss if I referred to the basic salvation experience as a thirtyfold reaping of Christ. The baptism with the holy Spirit as a sixtyfold reaping of Christ. And what we are pressing toward now as a hundredfold reaping of Christ.

No doubt there are additional factors that must be considered before we can make such a simple interpretation. We must beware of interpretations of the Bible that are too "neat." However, I do believe it is true that after we have received Christ we may live for a while in this realm of Divine fellowship. Then we may receive the Holy Spirit as a separate experience with God and live for a while in this realm.

But for some of us, at least, there is a yearning for more of Christ. The goal of the Apostle Paul as expressed in the third chapter of the Book of Philippians becomes specially meaningful to us. We want to press forward to attain to the out-resurrection which is from among the dead.

What exactly is that third realm, that "first resurrection"? How do we get there? What are some signs that we are making progress? What does it mean to reap Christ a hundredfold? Many of us are asking that question today. We are not content with anything less than the fullness of Christ.

Notice how the Apostle Paul described his experience as he lived in the rest of God, in the fullness of Christ:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

This is Paul’s answer to those who question whether or not we should move from Moses to Christ. It is the answer to all who are entangled in any religion, including the Christian religion. A religion is useful only to the extent it brings us to the point where we let go of our own life in favor of living by and in the Life of Jesus Christ.

"I have been crucified with Christ." What does it mean to be crucified? It means that with our diligent, cheerful cooperation, the Spirit of God has put to death the motivations of our spirit, soul, and body.

The Spirit begins with the outermost, grossest aspects of our personality. Then, as we press forward in Christ, the Spirit digs ever deeper until it appears that all that we are is brought up for examination and put to the sword.

Our love of the world is dealt with until we turn away from our trust in the world spirit. Our bodily and soulish lusts are dealt with until we turn away from them.

But there is a citadel that prevents our entering the fullness of the Life of Christ. That citadel, that fortress, is our self-will. Actually, our self-will is our life. When we say we are giving our life to Christ, we mean we are giving our will to Christ.

Many years ago a public-school teacher told me her rabbi teaches that God has given us a mind so we could apply it to the problems of life. I think the rabbi meant by this that God has given us a will that can operate freely as we attempt to use our experience and wisdom to make our way through life successfully.

There is a saying that man is a "free moral agent." The American Declaration of Independence states as follows:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,"

These words are a protest against the political and ecclesiastical tyrants of Europe. They support the concept of the philosophy of Humanism, which holds that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are more important than man’s service to God. Democracy is a form of government supportive of Humanism Humanistic and democratic ideals are entrenched deeply in the consciousness of American people. Consequently the death necessary to accomplish the fullness of the Life of Christ is not acceptable readily to numerous Christian people.

The believer striving to attend the fullness of the Life of Christ must recognize that God did not give him a mind in order that he may plan his life, weighing alternatives, choosing among options based on his inclinations, ambitions, and experience. The person does in fact apply these when he decides to die in Christ and to live by the resurrection Life of Christ.

But even the desire to make the right choice at this point is a gift of God. (The philosophy of Humanism does not permit us to accept fully how sovereign the Lord is in the life of every person.)

Now that the individual has placed his faith in Jesus, the new covenant begins its eternal work in his personality. The Word of God, Christ, is being formed in his mind and carved in his soul. He must make decisions constantly, but these decisions are not options concerning how his life should proceed. They are decisions concerning obeying the Spirit of God.

Make no mistake: as the believer presses toward the fullness of the Life of Christ, toward the rest of God, the Holy Spirit continues to be living and active. The Spirit is a sharp sword. He penetrates our personality until he divides our soul and spirit and the joints and marrow of our bones. He judges the thoughts and attitudes of our heart. He brings everything in our personality out into the Light of God. Everything in us is laid bare before Christ.

We Americans, who love our independence, must yield it to total dependence upon Christ for every thought, every word, every action. We must live by His body and blood just as He lives by the Father. Christ can think, speak, and act only according to the will of the Father. We are to think, speak, and act, only according to the will of Christ.

You can understand at this point why devout believers draw back from the final death and life. They wish to preserve at least some opportunity to express their own will, their own inclinations, their own ambitions, their own decisions concerning right and wrong. God does not remove these at once, for they serve to keep us going just as a shuck preserves the developing peanut.

But for those who would go all the way to the hundredfold experience, please listen to me: As the Spirit guides you, all that composes "you" must give way that all that composes "Him" may take its place. All that is not of Him, by Him, through Him must be viewed as destructive garbage.

"I no longer live," Paul declares. Do you wish to go that far? It is your "will" that is your life and must die that His perfect, complete will may be exercised in all that you think, speak, and do.

"Christ lives in me." When you walk this road there will come times when you feel forsaken. If you actually were forsaken, this would indicate that God had abandoned His integrity and faithfulness. No, He, who is the Personification of integrity and faithfulness, has declared, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

You may walk alone at times. Yet you never are alone. Your food is to do God’s will. God never forsakes those who do His will. Never! Never! Never! God will never leave you to your foes, as Martin Luther declared.

"The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God." "By faith in the Son of God" Paul does not mean, as is taught today, that we maintain a correct theological position. It means we have left our own life, our own wisdom and inclinations, at every point of decision throughout every day and night, and look to Jesus continually for the way we should go; what we should think; what we should desire; what we should say; what we should do.

We choose continual dependence on Christ rather than the independence of free moral agency. We choose the pursuit of righteousness rather than the pursuit of happiness.

In all our ways we acknowledge Him, and He directs our paths and makes them straight.

Is the hundredfold experience for you? If it is, let nothing deter you. Let us both press forward to the rest of God where it is no longer we who are living but Christ who is living in us.


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