The Wonderful Cross
We are now just a couple days out from Easter. It is a time when many gather together in remembrance of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for the sake of the whole world. While this year may still look a little different than previous years, there is an aspect of the Christian life that remains the same for the majority of believers. This post is not meant to remind the reader of the actions that Jesus Christ did. That He was crucified on a cross, died, and was raised to life again should be a well-known fact for anyone who claims to be a born-again believer. What I am asking you is what have you done since accepting these facts?
The majority of Christians after accepting Jesus as their Savior will have made some changes, after all sin holds no joy for those who are filled with the Holy Spirit. We now feel conviction when we are faced with sin in our lives, but beyond this many Christians don’t truly understand what the cross meant. We fail to see that there is more that God would want for us, other than just to rectify us to Him through the blood of His Son.
To understand more deeply what the cross means, not only for those who profess to be born-again believers but also for the unsaved, we need to look at why the Son of God had to be slain. The Old Testament is filled with examples that all point to a coming savior, Jesus Christ. Perhaps the most obvious is the Passover Lamb. When Moses was trying to convince Pharaoh to let the Jews go Egypt was faced with many different plagues, the last of which was the death of the firstborn of any house that did not have the blood of a lamb over its doorway. “13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will come upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:13. But why did blood have to be used? Couldn’t it have been as simple as a carved symbol over the doorframe? Or even a clever little catch phrase to show that the house followed God and not Pharaoh? Well the answer for the need for blood is found in the New Testament. “23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 “22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22
In his book, Experiencing the Cross, Henry Blackaby describes the need for Christ to shed His blood as “That’s how the cross makes a difference in your life. Apart from the shed blood of Jesus, all of us would face an eternity in hell, without hope, without recourse, and forever banished from the presence of God. And why is this? Because there is nothing else in all the universe, in all of time, that can cleanse us from sin.” You have heard us say it before, but I will say it again. We have all fallen short of the glory of God, and there is nothing that we can do that can rectify ourselves to Him. That means there is no act that we can do, it doesn’t matter what we pray to him, what we refuse to eat, or things that we give up during this time of year that can bring us to Him. All of these are actions that we do to try and make something godly. I am going to tell you something that most pastors are shying away from right now. All of the actions that you do now claiming to do for God, are worthless. In fact, they are beyond worthless. “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.” Isaiah 64:6.
We have now reached the heart of the issue in this post. For many Christians are still trying to do things their way to make themselves righteous with God. They have accepted Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, but beyond that they have not thought what the actions of the cross truly represent. We are like Peter, we make the step of faith out into the water when we accept Christ, but we quickly get distracted and attempt to do things our way. As we saw with our post last week, this mentality will only allow for the Christian to sink.
The fact is, many Christians still think that it is their actions that can make God pleased with them. What they don’t realize is that when we behave this way, we are allowing Christ to have died in vain. “21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:21. When we believe that we can gain God’s approval through our own actions, our own religious behavior no matter how well intended, we are simply stating that the actions that Christ did on the cross mean nothing. We believe that we can put our actions over those of the Son of God who lived a perfect life and died for the sins of all who have fallen short.
This may seem like a strange post to put out right before Easter, but it is an issue that I see in many and at times have seen in myself. This weekend as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior I ask you to reflect and see what the cross really means to you. Have you accepted that Christ died for you but are still trying to do things your way? Well then I will remind you that such actions are seen by God as filthy rags. If you are someone who is reading this post and are wishing to see how the cross can mean more to you, know that if you don’t want Christ to have died in vain for you, then allow God to have full control over your life. Hold nothing back from Him. Christ has more planned for you than the life that you are living if you are not living it for Him. If you want to be everything that God intended you to be, then understand one thing. Christ is living in you! “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.” Galatians 2:20. Allow Christ to live through you, let your life be a representative of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, Jesus Christ.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex