Today we enter into the sixth week of Lent
and we consider Jesus’ sixth statement from the cross.

Week 6
Word of Triumph:

When he had received the drink, Jesus said,
“It is finished.”
With that,
he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 19:30

Triumph: to gain a victory, to prevail
to win, to conquer

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin….I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20

   Christ wasn’t the only one crucified on that Friday at Golgotha. And I’m not referring to the two thieves on either side of the Savior. I’m talking about you. And me.

   When Jesus died, He took part of us with Him. The Apostle Paul called it “the sinful nature” or “the flesh”. Jesus took that person we used to be and gave us a new spirit to take its place. As believers in the resurrected Savior, we now have power to resist the sin that always tried to enslave us. Although we will never be “sinless”, we can sin less because of the power of the Holy Spirit within us.

  In Roman times, if a person was convicted of murder, the punishment was to strap the body of the victim onto the back of the murderer. He was sentenced to carry that dead body around for the rest of his life. Without going into detail, I think we can imagine how gross that would be. By His crucifixion, Jesus untied that old dead weight of our sinful nature and carried it with Him to the cross. It’s dead.

  If we have been crucified with Christ, then that means His victory is our victory. As Paul said, “If we have been united with him in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5) “In the same way look upon yourselves as dead to the appeal and power of sin but alive and sensitive to the call of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:11, JB Phillips)
 
Dear Lord, before I came to saving faith, I had no power within myself to resist sin. Thank You for taking that part of me to the cross and putting it to death. I don’t want to carry that dead body around anymore. Give me Your Spirit — breathe Your life into me and make me sensitive to Your call.