Three Crucifixions
Galatians 6:14
"God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Here Paul speaks of three
crucifixions:
THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST FOR HIS PEOPLE
Paul's constant theme
in preaching was the doctrine of the cross, effectual, blood atonement by Jesus
Christ, the God-man Mediator. He never tired of hearing it, meditating upon it,
or preaching it. He saw and interpreted everything in the light of
substitutionary redemption. But he saw more in the gospel than the death of
Christ for him. He also saw –
THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE WORLD TO THE BELIEVER
What does Paul mean
when he says, by Christ "the world is crucified unto me"? "As the
result of seeing all things in the light of the cross, he saw the world to be
like a felon executed upon a cross" - (C. H. Spurgeon). He had no more
fear of the world than he would of a dead corpse. Paul's "faith in a
crucified Christ overcame the world, so that he looked upon it as the
Israelites saw the Egyptians, dead on the sea shore" - (John Gill). He had
no more regard for the judgment of the world than he would for the opinions of
an executed murderer (I Cor. 4:3). Certainly, the context suggests that Paul
looked upon the religion of this world with as much contempt as the Jews did
upon the crucified Christ (Gal.
THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE BELIEVER TO THE WORLD
"The world is
crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Two things are intended: (1.) By
faith in Christ crucified we are as dead to the law as
the law is to us (Gal.
Don Fortner