The mention of the cross which our dear Jesus Christ died on is often quickly associated with His death, resurrection, and the remission of our sins which in fact is an essence of our faith walk with Him. But a deep and close look at the message of the cross would reveal the depths of the cross which goes beyond just our salvation.Yes! It marks the beginning of our freedom from bondage but it does not stop there, it embodies, shapes and points us to the direction in which our faith walk should take. The disciples of old saw this, understood this,and pressed through with it; that is why you would hear Apostle Paul make statements like – I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me – Galatians 2:20. This with all indication meant that Apostle Paul was living from a standpoint of the cross and he did valiantly well!
With that said, I am writing to all the disciples anew, are you living from the standpoint of the cross? Do you live with your focus on the cross? our focus and gaze at the cross would do for us what it did for men and women of God who had their gaze on the cross – it will keep revealing the essence and the vigor of what Jesus Christ did for us and what He expects us to do through the power of the cross. Therefore, in this blog post, we shall attempt to have a close up look at the cross, shall we?
The Cross reveals the Power of God:
Before our Lord Jesus Christ died on that cross, so many young men and perhaps women had been sentenced to the kind of death Jesus suffered. I am almost sure that a good number of men and women died the same way even after the death of Jesus. But only our dear Jesus looked such brutality in the face and came back to life from it three good days after. The power of God which lives for evermore brought Jesus back to life. This is indication for all of us who believe that every dead thing in our lives can come back to life as long as we believe in Jesus Christ who did it before. He sure can do it again and again!
The Cross reveals the Love of Jesus
Our eyes still fixed on the cross, let us picture this- we are the ones with the fault; living lives filled with lies, anger, bitterness, stirfe and so on. We by all means deserve to be sentenced to do some time in jail or be sentenced to death because of the reckless way we live but Jesus Christ bore all of our judgements on his body, went to the cross and nailed it all there. What Jesus Christ is the greatest exemplification of love that ever existed, that there is, or that would ever be. Jesus Christ had a choice, at the garden of Gethsemane when He cried for strength to go through with His act of love, He could have decided to call it quits there and then and God would perhaps not hold it against Him. But with all determination, selflessness, humility and love He went all the way to the cross. Jesus did it and He has passed the baton to us to carry our cross daily while we die on it daily – so that God’s perfect will may be revealed through us daily. This leads me to the main focus of today’s blog post, can we for a moment shift our focus from what Jesus Christ did for us while we focus on what Jesus Christ wants us to do through the power of the cross?
The Cross means selflessness, discipline and followership.
In Mark 8:34, Jesus addressed the people around Him and also people who may read His words from the same chapter. He said, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me”. I love how Jesus opens His address, making it clear that it is not a mandatory sojourn, it is a choice we make and take. And so therefore, if you and I decide to take this path to life with Jesus, it entails denying ourselves and carrying the same kind of cross Jesus Carried. Carrying our own cross here may not mean a physical cross but may be a pointer to those things that God would have us do which are humanly and logically impossible. What does it mean to deny yourself? Look closely at your life through the lens of the cross, what are those things you see detering you from carrying your cross wholeheartedly- there you’d find your answer.
And lastly, carrying our cross means following the same path Jesus Christ walked, it means following His prompting and leading. And you know the beautiful thing about it all is that as much as we deny ourselves daily of those things, the clearer and better we are able to hear Jesus’ speaking and leading.
The Cross means death to the desires and passions of the flesh
Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires – Galatians 5:24. Apostle Paul could not have said it any better! With all indication, He wrote this from a place of revelation and experential knowldege of Jesus Christ. Jesus was flesh and blood just like every one of us, He must have desired to do things that satisfied His flesh but He chose to follow the path that led to the cross daily. For example, when He woke up early in the morning to go commune with the father in solitary places- that was definitely dying to the desires and passions of the flesh. He could have decided to do other things with His time.
So to you and I who are have chosen to live this life of faith in Jesus Christ; we are called to a life where our desires and passions are slain on the cross daily- that only God’s will and desires be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
The cross means death to the Love of this world:
Apostle spoke so much about the cross and its power, see what he has to say in Galatians 6:24 – But God forbid I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. He is saying to us that while he lived his new life in Christ, the world and the things in it meant nothing to Him. He was all about the kingdom of God and the things there. On a close look at things, every single thing in this world would pass away, everything! Therefore, does it really make so much sense to be so consumed about amassing the unstable and fickle things that exist on this earth?
Through the lives of Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ we can deduce that they were not exactly consumed with the wealth and riches of this world. They went all about their father’s business with so much zeal and they were blessed in the process. Ultimately, their legacy and the lives they lived still lives on, through their lives, generations have been blessed and librated. Through their lives, generations to come would still be librated and blessed. Therefore, the cross means to you and I a life dead to the love of this world but alive to the love of God and His kingdom.
May the good Lord give us understanding in Jesus name.
The cross reveals endurance and death to fame:
Although, Jesus’ act on the cross would make Him the most famous man that ever lived the earth, He did not chase after it. Multiple times, Jesus Christ did marvelous miracles for people and the bible tells us that He would gently slip away so as not to be noticed. Other times He would tell the recepients of the miracle not to say a word and other times when He could not escape the fame, He would ascribe all glory to His father in heaven.
Moreso, Hebrews 12:2 tells us about the enduring Jesus had to do as He journeyed and died on the cross. – looking unto Jesus, the author, and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So as His followers,it should not surprise us when we have to go through some enduring in our lives. This is the life we have been called to, more beautiful is that endurance works out character which in turn works out hope in our lives – Romans 5:3-5
The Cross reveals humility at its peak:
Ultimately, when Jesus went to the cross to die naked and a shameful death – that was the height of it all. He did not care so much for His kingship or royalty. He Humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on the cross – Philippians 2:8. And this is His expectation for all of us who choose to follow Him, deny ourselves and carry our cross daily.
May we be divenley helped in Jesus name,
Amen.