The death and resurrection of Christ Jesus reveals to us the power of the cross and the message of the cross. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.” (I Corinthians 1:18) Furthermore, for those who believe in Christ, we are no longer attached to the world with all its pleasures, glitter, and lusts for the things of this world. We have been crucified from the love of the world.
“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14) We have been transported from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of His Son. “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of His Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)
The power of the world which held us in bondage has been destroyed by the power of the cross. The love of the world which once ruled our soul has been severed. Because of Christ in us, we are no longer in bondage to our sins, no longer under the burden of our sins, and no longer in love with our sins. The place where our burden of sin was removed was at the cross and there the joy of the Lord entered our souls. We have become new creations in Christ Jesus. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)
Consider the experience illustrated in the great classic of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress when Christian comes to the cross. “He ran thus till he came to a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross, his burden loosed from his shoulders and fell off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do so until it came to the mouth of the sepulcher, where it fell in and I saw it no more. Shortly thereafter, Christian sang his song of deliverance.” At that moment, —“the world has been crucified to him, and him to the world.” He becomes a follower and disciple of Jesus. Obedience to His word is a delight. It is his nature. It is well with his soul as he does this.
Having been baptized in Christ, crucified to the world, the need of a habitual mindset of crucifixion is necessary in our walk with Christ. As Dr. Vance Havner profoundly said, “I’m shipwrecked on God and stranded on omnipotence.” There must be a mindset of spirituality on the way to the celestial city. The admonition to Timothy by the apostle Paul has all the elements of good advice. “But you, O man of God, flee these things (men of corrupt minds and destitute of truth) and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight, lay hold of eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Since the world has been crucified to us, man yourself with a ready sword when the tempter uses worldly men to allure you back into the kingdom of darkness. Confront them with firmness and steadfastness. “What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? As God has said; I will dwell with them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (II Corinthians 6:14-18)
Beware of the wiles of the devil. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem warned the Children of Light besieged then by the Arian darkness engulfing the fourth century concerning the Dragon. He wrote to the catechists of Jerusalem; “The Dragon is by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of souls, bit it is necessary to pass by the Dragon.”
Lastly, George McDonald writes in his novel Warlock o’ Glenwarlock: “To him that obeys well, the truth comes easy; to him that does not obey, it comes not — The true, that is the obedient man, cannot help seeing the truth, for it is the very business of his being.” This is like a man who boasts in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. _“the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Let us examine ourselves concerning being crucified to the world.
