Six Words That Make All the Difference in the World
In those waters we are nailed to his cross and washed out the door of his tomb. Within his wounds we safely hide.
When we stand east of Eden with Adam and Eve
because we didn't keep our hands off forbidden fruit,
weeping over lost loves, lost chances, lost lives...
Over and above all the voices of shame and accusation
ring these six words that make all the difference in the world:
“With Christ I have been crucified.”
He stands with us, east of Eden, to bring us back into the Father’s favor.
When we stand with Abraham and Sarah,
surrounded by enemies,
perplexed by unfulfilled promises,
wondering what the future will hold,
marring our marriages with bad decisions..
Louder than all the voices of fear and failure
roaring in our conscience,
are these six strong words:
With Christ I have been crucified.
We are baptized onto his cross. With are bound to him.
When we find ourselves on the run with Jacob,
separated from family,
plagued by the unknown...
When, like Joseph, we are stabbed in the back by brothers
left to rot in a life that feels like a prison cell
feeling abandoned even by God...
In our baptisms, we stream into the Jordan of the one baptism of Jesus.
God comes to say that
neither sin’s deceit
nor death’s despair
nor Satan’s charms
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
With Christ I have been crucified.
There has only been one baptism in the history of the world: the baptism of Jesus.
“One Lord, one faith, one baptism," Paul writes.
In our baptisms, we stream into the Jordan of the one baptism of Jesus.
In those waters we are nailed to his cross and washed out the door of his tomb. Within his wounds we safely hide. Our lives are his and his our own. It is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us. For we have died, and our lives are hidden with Christ in God. With Adam and Eve, with Abraham and Sarah, with Jacob and Joseph, we sing: With Christ I have been crucified.
With Christ I have been crucified;
Baptized onto His cross I died.
With liquid nails to Him I’m bound,
So where He is, there I am found.
Within His wounds I safely hide;
With Christ I have been crucified.
His flesh my flesh, His bone my bone,
My life is His, and His my own.
In Mary’s womb, in Bethlehem,
From cross to grave, with Him I am.
With Christ I have been crucified;
And raised with Him, in life abide.
Lest sin’s deceit, or death’s despair,
Or Satan’s charms, your soul ensnare,
Onto your heart these words inscribe:
With Christ I have been crucified!
