[Revised] We Died With Him . . . Caught in the Web (Part 2)
/“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Hebrews 10:17-18 ESV
We saw in our last post that forgiveness is achieved for us through Christ’s sacrifice FOR us.
Thank you, God!
BUT what about the power of sin within that still harasses our souls? That’s where the second side of the Cross comes in. It is a mystery, and it is incredibly exciting.
And I’d like to retell it in a very practical way, from the Scriptures as they have intersected my own life experience. I’m trusting you will be able to identify; because, you see, I knew the truth behind this for many years before I really “got it” in my life experience.
Theologically, it is called our “Identification with Christ” in death, burial, and resurrection. BUT it’s one thing to know a truth intellectually and quite another to really know it in the depths of your being and practically in your real life in the here and now.
So here is what I call. . . Caught in the Web
Look carefully! Can you see it? A perfectly formed circular spider web hanging across a path, suspended by a thread! This is the amazing sight that my friend Penny and I happened upon early one morning as we were walking down some little-traveled paths in a wooded area in my neighborhood. Here was one spider who was serious! She was ready to get a good catch that day!
There was a period of insecurity in my life when I was a good catch in a craftily constructed web—not made by earthly designs but that of the Father of Lies (John 8:44). It started out with a series of real, and perhaps imagined, rejections which then developed into a lie. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had recognized it for what it was, but I didn’t. And so I embraced it as truth and struggled for many years.
Believing the lie caused me much emotional pain, along with fear and confusion. It influenced my behavior. And it even started to poison other relationships and areas of my life. Finally, by the time I recognized it as a lie, I was so bound up in it that I couldn’t get free.
I prayed. I cried. I tried to act against it. I attempted the mental mind games. I asked my praying friends to pray. I asked my husband to pray. All in vain! Until one day, I was reading and meditating in the little book of Colossians, preparing to teach it for the third time. (I’m a slow learner!)
I read,
[Since] you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God … For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:1, 3 NASB, emphasis added
All of a sudden, the Spirit of God brought the lie to my mind, and with it came this realization:
Wait a minute! I died to that lie!
That very moment, the power of the lie was broken in my experience! Here I had been begging and pleading for the Lord to do something that he had already done through the Cross of Christ and my union with him. But I had not recognized it by faith in my particular situation. Once I did, everything changed! I was set free from the fear, confusion, and the agonizing emotions that the lie had produced in me.
You may ask me how I knew that this was true. I remembered our little scriptural word with (“sun” in Greek = united with) and the truths in the Scriptures.
When Christ died, I died with him.
When Christ was buried, I was buried with him!
When Christ was raised, I was raised with him to newness of life!
And what did I die to?
I died to sin (Rom. 6:3–14; Eph. 2:1–7; 2 Cor. 5:21; Col. 2:13).
I died to self (Rom. 6:6; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:9–10).
I died to the flesh (Rom. 6:2, 6, 11; Gal. 6:24).
I died to the world (Col. 2:8; Gal. 6:14).
I died to the Law, to-do list religion (Rom. 7:4, 6; Gal. 3:13, 24–25).
I died to the powers of Satan, whose main tactics are deception (lies) and accusation (Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14–15; Rev. 12:9; 20:3, 8).
So now when that nasty lie and other accusations and condemnations rear their ugly heads, I say,
Wait a minute! I died to that!
And I’m alive, united with my risen Savior—adequate in and through him to be what he has made me to be in this situation. (See Phil. 3:13–14.)
O child of God,
What lies, accusations, expectations, and condemnations are you struggling with today?
What besetting sin has a grip on you?
What selfish desires and self-focus harass your soul?
Why not take a few meditative moments and look at the verses above that connect to your own struggle.
You may even want to write out the verses in your journal. Read and meditate on the truth that sets you free, because I’m here to tell you, on the basis of the Word of God, you died to all of that! And now you live to walk in newness of zoe life (His eternal life right here and now) because of the One you are united with in his fullness!
Why not journal your own refections and prayer.
So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it … See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you.
—Colossians 3:1–4 MSG, emphasis added
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If you were helped by this post, you may want to take a look at my book,
The With-ness of our God: Relationship in Every Dimension.
This post is based on chapter 4. Look at the page "With-ness of our God" for a video, ordering information, a KIRKUS review, endorsements, study & teaching helps (with printable PDFs) .
