I know it's chic these days to bag on contemporary Christian music. It certainly is wrought with positivity, and sometimes that positivity comes across as incredibly trite. But it's that positivity that I especially like about the song that I have typed out below. It's called Crucified With Christ, by Phillips, Craig, and Dean.
Maybe I like the song because it conjures up for me thoughts of warm summer days when I was twelve years old and being much more carefree and naive and easily impressed by new things than I am now. But even when I lay those idyllic memories aside, I am still enraptured by this song. The melody is very compelling. But the words draw me, every time I listen to it, to the fact that I know that God wants me to pursue Him, and He is pursuing me.
I especially love two thoughts the song presents. The first is contained in the line, "When I finally reach the point of giving in / I found the cross was calling even then..." I've experienced some pretty dark moments in my life, but in those moments I realized that God - through the work Jesus Christ did on the cross - was calling out to me saying, "I'm still here, and I'm going get you out of this mess."
The second line I love comes from the last line of the second verse: "And by His resurrection power I am alive!" The truth of that line and how it has played out in my life gives me chills even now. I remember very vividly sitting in this olive green 30-year-old Lazyboy recliner that I'm sitting in now, asking God to make himself real to me. I understood with utter clarity that Jesus' existence is as real now as it was those 2000 years ago when He was physically, bodily on earth. And I realized then that because He is so real now that the very power that raised Him from the dead was the very power He was going to employ in my life to make me the man He wants me to be. And I can say that since that moment, God has been faithful to that promise. His resurrection power continues to make me more alive than I was - indeed, more alive than I could imagine that I would be now.
So, I encourage you to buy this song on iTunes. And below you will find the words. Is it sappy? Yeah. Impact? To an even greater degree than I have described here or ever could. Enjoy, and be blessed.
[verse 1]
When I look back at what I thought was livin'
I'm amazed at the price I chose to pay
And to think that I ignored what really mattered
'Cause I thought the sacrifice would be to great
When I finally reached point of giving in
I found the cross was calling even then
And even though it took dying to survive
I've never felt so much alive
[chorus]
For I am crucified with Christ, and yet I live.
Not I but Christ that lives within me
His cross will never ask for more than I can give
For it's not my strength but His
There's no greater sacrifice
For I've been crucified with Christ, and yet I live
[verse 2]
As I hear the Savior call for daily dying
I will bow beneath the weight of Calvary
Let my hands surrender to his piercing purpose
That holds me to the cross, yet sets me free
I will glory in the power of the cross
The things I thought were gain I count as loss
And with His sufferings I identify
And by His resurrection power I am alive
[repeat chorus]
[bridge]
And I will offer all I have so that His cross is not in vain
For I've found to live is Christ, and to die is truly gain
[repeat chorus 2x]
