My old self has been crucified with Christ.[e] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
The story of the phoenix has become legend through the years. A bird that when it dies, rises again from the ashes and becomes young once again. There is something in all of us that longs for immortality. Even right now there are scientists around the world who are working on a cure for death, reducing aging and extending our life expectancy.
Millions are being spent to avoid death. But why? We make such a mess of the lives that we have - why would we want eternity?
How would it change the way that you lived if you knew that you would not die?
Paul did not see resurrection as a future hope that one day he would die and be born again. He saw it as a past reality. He had already died, the old Paul was dead and he had a new life in Christ. He was living a resurrected life today and for him, it changed everything.
The challenge of this verse is that to experience life, we have to allow our old nature to die. Our selfish ambitions, our vanity, our ego. They are no longer needed.
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead he commanded his disciples to clean him and remove his grave clothes. In the same way, God places us into communities where we can clean each other up and help one another to step into the new clothes of Christ that we wear now.
People long to add years to life but miss how to add life to your years. For Paul resurrected life is about quality as well as quantity. He says that it is Christ that lives in him. Every moment of his life is infused with eternal purpose and significance.
Resurrected people are no longer as concerned by the temporary as they are the eternal. They make decisions that look crazy to others whose lives are the sum of what they see and experience.
Read the whole chapter: Galatians 2
