"The Cross that Reset My Life"

Foundational Scriptures

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Colossians 2:13–15 ESV

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

The Need for a Reset

Last week, we declared that we are new creations in Christ, old things have passed and behold things are new. The life we lived before Christ is nailed to the cross with Him, and now we enjoy this life in Christ. The initial zeal of new believers is unmatched because they feel they have to be at everything, do everything and become super spiritual, knowing every bible verse and inserting “The Lord told me” after everything as if that makes them more spiritual. Today, spirituality is based on whether a person speaks in tongues, speak prophetically, insert a “God said” here or there, herk and jerk. Spirituality is loving one another as we love ourselves, forgiving one another, helping one another, praying for one another, being merciful with one another, being kind to one another, bearing one another’s burdens, keeping God’s commands. Here it is: Spirituality is not about performance; it is about transformation. God should not be just transforming your tongue; He should be transforming your heart. Today, people want to practice being prophetic but they do not practice prayer. Spirituality should not just change your position; it changes your posture. Spirituality doesn’t just change our shout; it changes our surrender. Some to find their identity by keeping the “church rules” and performing for a live audience. I repeat spirituality is not about performance; it is about transformation....ITS TIME TO RESET!!!

As Christians, you do not find your identity in church rules, scripture posting on social media or through being spiritually deep. That is not your identity...Your identity is not defined by your position in church, nor the title you hold, or how much you think God speaks to you. If those things describe you, then you are not acting like a holy nation or the royal priest that God has called you to be (1 Peter 2:9-10).

1 Peter 2:9–10 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

God is not calling for the deep; He is calling for the surrendered and the available....If you try to find your identity in the rituals and the work, then you can never reach God’s standard for living like Christ. Its time for a RESET!!!!

Paul knew this truth intimately. Writing to the Galatians, who were tempted to find their identity in law and performance, he declared: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20). Writing to the Colossians, pressured by false teaching, he reminded them: “God canceled the record of debt that stood against us… nailing it to the Cross.” (Colossians 2:14). Both declarations say the same thing in different ways: the Cross is God’s reset button. At the Cross, the past was canceled, the sinner was crucified, and a new life was born. You are stuck where sin left you, the cross pressed reset.

“God is reminding us: you don’t have to stay frozen where you are. The Cross resets everything. The Cross is God’s reset button for humanity.”

So here’s the good news: You are not defined by your worst day. People will give up on you and keep you in the worst day of your life, but buyer beware when you give up on who and what God has placed in your life. The replacement may do more damage than good. You are not chained to your deepest failure because the Scripture is still true that whom the Son has set free is free indeed. You are not stuck in yesterday’s system crash. At the Cross, God says, “Let’s start over.” Grace doesn’t just reboot your life, it restores your purpose.

Sermon in a Sentence: At the Cross, God canceled my past, reset my identity, and realigned my purpose.

The Cross Cancels My Record (Colossians 2:13–14)

Text: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the Cross.”

Biblical Context: Paul wrote to the church in Colossae, a small but diverse city in Asia Minor. These believers were being pressured by false teachers to believe that Christ alone was not enough. Some said they needed additional rituals. Others argued they had to keep old laws. But Paul reminds them that Christ’s death on the Cross was final, sufficient, and complete. Remember in Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council, led by the apostles debated at great lengths as whether Gentiles should be circumcised like Jews so they too could keep the law of Moses.

He paints a courtroom scene: humanity is guilty, condemned by our record of sin. The Greek word for “record of debt” is cheirographon (χειρόγραφον) — literally, “a handwritten certificate of indebtedness.” In the Roman world, this term referred to a legal document where a debtor acknowledged what they owed. Paul is saying: our sins wrote out a debt note against us — and we could never pay it. Sin has written out a debt note for everyone, and you and I cannot pay it. It is foolish not to think that people do not keep a record whether true or not of your transgressions as if they are in a position to judge. Should we think in that manner: NO! But the reality is that what God cancels and forgives you for is not what people will cancel and forgive you for on your behalf. They continue life....but in their hearts knowing that what they discarded is actually what they need...

Matthew 7:1–3 “1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

What is Jesus saying?

This passage is Jesus teaching us to be careful about how we look at others in their faults. He isn’t telling us to throw away discernment or to abandon truth—because later in the same chapter He tells us to watch out for false prophets (v. 15). What He is addressing is a spirit of hypocrisy and harsh criticism. When Jesus says, “Judge not,” He is warning us against a self-righteous attitude that puts us in God’s seat. Only God has the full picture. We see pieces; He sees the whole. And the danger is this: the way we handle others will circle back around to us. If I deal harshly, harshness will come back. If I measure with grace, I’ll receive grace.

Verse 3 brings the picture home. Jesus uses humor and exaggeration to make His point: how can you be so focused on the tiny speck in your brother’s eye when you’ve got a log sticking out of your own? In other words, don’t be quick to magnify the faults of others while minimizing your own. Before you rush to point out someone else’s weakness, you need to pause and examine myself.

In our walk with Christ, this means cultivating humility. Instead of a judgmental spirit, we should walk with compassion. The church doesn’t need more fault-finders—it needs more grace-givers. If you learn to extend patience and forgiveness, then, you will mirror the same mercy God has extended to me. A memorable way to put it: “The measure you use on others will eventually be measured on you—so sow what you want to reap.”

Paul says God canceled it. The Greek verb exaleiphō (ἐξαλείφω) means “to wipe away, erase, obliterate.” In the ancient world, ink didn’t soak into papyrus, which meant it could be wiped clean — as if the debt never existed. And that’s exactly what Jesus did at the Cross. He wiped away, erased, obliterated our debt, and He did not need credit repair...all he needed was one body, one Friday, one hill, one cross, four nails, one crown of thorns, and one spear to pay a debt he did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. People will make you pay for things that God long wiped clean from your record. Just because God doesn’t remember your sins, does not mean that people will forget your sins.

Even more powerful, Paul adds: God “nailed it to the Cross.” In Roman crucifixions, the criminal’s charges were posted above his head for all to see. For Jesus, the Romans wrote, “King of the Jews.” But in heaven’s record, it wasn’t just that charge nailed there — it was every sin, every failure, every record of guilt from all humanity. At Calvary, Jesus absorbed them all, and with His final breath, erased them forever. When Jesus died, your charges died with him, so people can passive aggressively bring up your charges, but as far a God is concerning For those who never make mistakes, then this is not for you....but for those of us....thank God he bore our sins in his body....

The Courtroom Dismissal: Imagine standing in court with a long list of charges. The evidence is overwhelming. You know you’re guilty. The prosecutor smirks, certain of your conviction. Then the judge does something shocking: he stamps the record “Paid in Full,” tears it in half, and dismisses the case. That’s exactly what God did for us at the Cross. We stood condemned, but Christ took our charges, paid our debt, and canceled the case against us. When Jesus died, your charges died with Him. The cross doesn’t reduce your balance....it clears our credit....you may have bad credit with people but with God your credit is clear because of Christ...Stop carrying what God already canceled. If God canceled your record, why are you still carrying it? Why do you replay old mistakes in your mind like reruns of a show God already canceled from the schedule? Why do you let shame hold you hostage when heaven’s courtroom has already declared you free? To live with shame after the Cross is like trying to pay a bill that has already been stamped “Paid in Full.” At Calvary, my rap sheet became a receipt marked PAID...

The Cross Resets My Identity (Galatians 2:20)

Text: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Biblical Context: Paul wrote Galatians to believers who were slipping back into an identity shaped by law, ritual, and tradition. False teachers insisted they needed circumcision and old Jewish customs to “really belong” to God. Paul refuses. He insists that identity is not found in law or labels, but in Christ alone.

This is where Galatians 2:20 rises like a declaration of freedom. Paul recalls confronting Peter, who had been acting one way with Gentiles and another with Jews (Gal. 2:11–14). Paul says, in essence: We are not defined by law, but by love. Not by works, but by grace. Not by old identities, but by Christ.“ Galatians 2:20 is not self-improvement — it’s self-replacement. Christ lives in me.”

The phrase “I have been crucified with Christ” uses the Greek word synestaurōmai (συνεσταύρωμαι) — “to be co-crucified, to be nailed to the Cross with.” Paul isn’t saying this is symbolic — he is saying that when Christ died, our old self died with Him. The “I” that was enslaved to sin, guilt, and shame has been crucified. “Stop answering to labels that Christ already nailed to the Cross.”

Then Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” This is the divine reset. Our new identity is not “me trying harder” but “Christ living in me.” It’s not self-improvement — it’s self-replacement. The Cross is not God fixing the old me; it’s Him raising a new me.

Illustration – The New Passport: When someone becomes a citizen of another country, they are issued a new passport. That passport is more than a piece of paper — it is proof of a new identity and a new allegiance. You cannot travel under your old identity anymore, because it no longer has authority. The Cross is your passport exchange. You are no longer a citizen of sin’s kingdom — your allegiance has been transferred to the Kingdom of God. “Your old passport is canceled — your new identity is stamped in Christ.”

Application: Stop answering to old names. Stop letting sin, shame, or other people define you. If Christ lives in you, then your identity is no longer “failure,” “broken,” or “unworthy.” You are “forgiven,” “redeemed,” and “beloved.” Don’t carry an expired passport when heaven has already issued you a new one. “The Cross didn’t just forgive me — it renamed me.”

The Cross Realigns My Purpose (2 Corinthians 5:15)

Text: “And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Biblical Context: Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to a church wrestling with pride, division, and competing loyalties. Some questioned his authority; others boasted in outward success. Paul reminds them that the Cross redefines everything — including why we live.

In verse 14, he says: “The love of Christ controls us.” The Greek word synechei (συνέχει) means “to press together, to hold fast, to compel.” Paul is saying the motivating force of his life is no longer ambition or pride, but Christ’s love.

Then he declares in verse 15: “that those who live might no longer live for themselves.” The Greek phrase mēketi heautois zōsin (μηκέτι ἑαυτοῖς ζῶσιν) literally means “to stop existing for self-interest.” The word zōsin (ζῶσιν, from zaō) refers not just to biological existence but to vital, purposeful life. “Grace pulls you out of your past and pushes you into your purpose.”

In other words, Christ didn’t die and rise so you could live for yourself — He did it so you could live for Him. The Cross not only forgives sin; it redirects your purpose. The reset is not just personal but missional. Today, people are self-conscious and not God-conscious...“The Cross doesn’t just free me from sin — it frees me for service.” “You weren’t saved to sit — you were saved to serve.”

The Compass Reset: When sailors navigate, they depend on a compass. But if the compass is off by even a degree, the ship can end up hundreds of miles off course. The only way to arrive at the right destination is to reset the compass to true north. The Cross is God’s compass reset for our lives. Before, we sailed toward selfish goals, chasing our own desires. But at Calvary, God reset our direction so we now live with Christ as our true north. Check your compass. Are you living for self or for the Savior? The reset of the Cross means your career, your ministry, your dreams all point toward Christ’s glory. To live for yourself after the Cross is like trying to steer a ship with a broken compass — you will always drift. But when Christ is your true north, you can live with confidence and clarity. “If Christ is not your true north, you’ll always drift off course.”

The Cross That Resets My Life: How to apply the sermon to your life

Have you ever had your phone, your laptop, or even your smart TV freeze on you? You press the buttons, swipe the screen, or shake the remote, but nothing changes. The device is stuck. The system is locked. It won’t respond no matter what you do. In that moment, you don’t throw the device away. You don’t smash it against the wall. You hit the reset button. Because with one press, what was stuck starts moving again. What was frozen comes back to life....let me tell you that God is giving you a “reset” season...

That’s not just technology — that’s theology. Because sin froze humanity. Shame locked us down. Guilt left us spinning in place. And no matter how much we tried to “fix” ourselves — through rituals, rules, or resolutions — nothing worked. But at Calvary, God didn’t throw us away. He didn’t discard His creation. He pressed reset through the Cross.

Family, the Cross is God’s reset button. At Calvary, the Judge took the record of sin that was against us, nailed it to the Cross, and declared, “Paid in Full!” At the Cross, my past was erased, my guilt was dismissed, and my shame was silenced.

At the Cross, my identity was reset. Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” That means the “old me” — the broken me, the guilty me, the forgotten me — died on that tree. And the “new me” — the forgiven me, the redeemed me, the Spirit-filled me — walked out of that grave with Jesus on the third day!

And at the Cross, my purpose was realigned. I don’t live for me anymore; I live for the One who loved me and gave Himself for me. My direction has shifted. My compass is pointing true north. My steps are ordered by the Lord.

So here’s the good news, church:

If you came in here heavy with a past you couldn’t shake — the Cross says, “Reset.”

If you came in here unsure of who you are — the Cross says, “Reset.”

If you came in here drifting without direction — the Cross says, “Reset.”

🙌🏾 Somebody shout, “Reset!”

Don’t you know that’s what Calvary was all about? That’s what Jesus meant when He cried, “Tetelestai — It is finished.” He didn’t mean He was finished — He meant sin was finished, death was finished, guilt was finished, shame was finished, and the old life was finished!

And if it’s finished, then you can start fresh. If it’s finished, then you can start new. If it’s finished, then you can live again.

So I declare over you this week:

You are not who you used to be — your past is canceled.

You are not who people said you were — your identity is reset.

You are not who your failures tried to make you — your purpose is realigned.

You’ve been reset by the Cross, reborn by His grace, and redirected by His love. And this September, you don’t have to stay stuck in who you were — you can step into who you are in Christ.

👉🏾 “At the Cross, my past was canceled, my name was changed, and my purpose was reset.”