Tuesday

Related Verses
Rom. 6:6
6 Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves;

Gal. 2:20
20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

1 Cor. 1:3-9
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God always concerning you based upon the grace of God which was given to you in Christ Jesus,
5 That in everything you were enriched in Him, in all utterance and all knowledge,
6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,
7 So that you do not lack in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 Who will also confirm you until the end unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Related Reading
In the cross of Christ we see God’s power. It takes the power of God to defeat Satan, the world, sin, fallen man, the flesh, the natural life, the old creation, and the ordinances…This power is not that of doing things by speaking, such as the power God exercised in creation. Rather, it is the power of crucifixion, the power of the wonderful death of Christ…The death of Christ has become the power of God to destroy Satan, to solve the problem of the world, to eliminate sin, and to terminate fallen man, the flesh, the natural life, and the old creation…By one death, the death of Christ, all the problems in the universe have been cleared. Thus, Christ crucified is the power of God to abolish all negative things and carry out His plan. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 72-73) 

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This crucified Christ is also the wisdom of God. In order to accomplish anything, we need both power and wisdom…Wisdom is for planning and purposing, whereas power is for carrying out and accomplishing what is planned and purposed…If we have power without wisdom, we may use our strength in a foolish way. Therefore, we need Christ as both power and wisdom. 

The crucified Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God can be applied to the problem we face with our temper…After experiencing a certain amount of growth in life, we come to hate our temper and long to be free from it…Not only in married life but in all kinds of situations in our daily life, we are troubled by our temper. 

Many Christians who love the Lord and seek Him have prayed something like this: “Lord Jesus, You know how easy it is for me to lose my temper. Lord, You are Jehovah the Savior. I ask You to save me from this sin of losing my temper. O Lord, deliver me from this.” Although many have prayed in this way, none have been delivered from their temper as a result. In ourselves we simply do not have either the power to overcome our temper or the wisdom, the way, to do it. We may think that prayer will give us power and wisdom. However, even when we pray, we still do not have power and wisdom. But when we call on the name of the Lord, enjoy Christ, and are filled with the life-giving Spirit, we have no problem with our temper. Spontaneously, we have both the power to overcome our temper and the way to deal with it. What is this power and this way? It is the death of Christ. Only the crucified Christ is the power and the wisdom to deal with our temper. 

We may also apply the crucified Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God to our need for patience. We all desire to be patient. But I have never met a person who is truly patient…However, when we experience the crucified Christ, we automatically have patience. This crucified Christ becomes to us both the power and the wisdom for patience. As a result, we have both the strength and the way to be patient. Actually, we do not try to be patient. We simply are patient through our experience of Christ crucified. 

The crucified Christ can be applied to all manner of human experiences…Within this crucified Christ there are the elements of resurrection and ascension. Thus, when we enjoy the crucified Christ, we also enjoy His resurrection and ascension. The key to experiencing the resurrection and ascension of Christ is found in Christ’s crucifixion. Crucifixion is the threshold into all the riches of Christ. The cross is the way to experience Christ with all His riches. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 73-74) 

Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 8