God forbid that I should glory in anything or anyone, except the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I heard (Dr. Stanley) ask a question which lingered with me and triggered a flood of thoughts. His question was “When you see a cross on a church, on a wall or around someone’s neck, what does the Cross mean to you?” At such times what do you think? God so loved (John 3:16) every individual human being just as they are with undeserved, unconditional, unlimited love, love which does not diminish according to our behaviour. God wounded His own precious Son and put our iniquity and guilt on Him (Isaiah 53:5-6) so that flagrantly guilty sinners could be made whole. Jesus descended into hell and (Hebrews 2:9) tasted death for every person, the death and hell I deserve, but will never experience.
God will discipline and chasten believers (Proverbs 3:11, Hebrews 12:5-6) in loving correction. But for holy, just God it is impossible to punish us for sin. Why? Because He has already punished Jesus. We are not yet perfect and we will sin but ALL our sin was paid for more than 2000 years ago on the Cross. We see that (1 John 1:9) our sin can never break our relationship and standing with God. But it does break our fellowship and communion with Him. We must confess in order to receive restoration of our precious fellowship and sweet communion with our loving Lord. No penalty, no punishment because Jesus has already paid in full for ALL our past, present and future sin.
This is definitely not a licence to sin but a deep motivation of gratitude to pursue holiness. Oh, what a Saviour is our God! Terrifyingly, unreachable transcendent - and yet – and yet intimately precious, so near and dear.
What is the greatest proof of God’s love for ungodly, vile, rebellious enemies? The lash cut deeply and hurt, the thorns pressed down hard and hurt, the long nails were hammered in and hurt, pushing up on the rough cross to take a breath shredded the torn flesh and hurt, all of these with agonizing pain. But none of these nor all of them was the greatest proof of God’s beyond understanding love for us. Then what was the soul-wrenching proof? Listen, oh listen! (How can my heart keep on beating?) It was that God the Father turned His back on His beloved, only begotten Son, and utterly abandoned Him - FOR YOU AND ME! Do we have any sense at all of the depth of His anguish when the heart of Jesus was broken and those preposterous words were wrung out of Him - - - “My God, why?” I am beginning to understand what (Oswald Chambers) meant by saying that we’ll be held as in a vice when we realize what it cost God to save us. What Jesus endured was the very real hell that God spared us from. How could God love us so much that He chose to sacrifice the Son of His love and in so doing broke His own heart also?
- - - WHAT DOES THE CROSS MEAN TO YOU? - - -
I’ve often asked God the same question Jesus asked – my God, why? I could never fathom how God could love us as He does but actually we do know why. For His own plan and purpose to restore to us what we lost in Adam. Because of the Fall, God’s image in us was horribly defaced but not completely erased. God has begun in us, who are no longer in Adam but now in Christ, His building project to restore the Divine Image. This takes place gradually during our lifetime process of sanctification. What words can we search out to even begin to describe the unspeakable magnificence and unearthly quality of God’s love? I`m straining but I can’t find them. I can only bow low before Him. If we can even begin to grasp the depths and scope of God’s very personal love for us, there is nobody we will ever write off. We will see fellow Christians not with their faults but with their potential (as God sees us) and pray accordingly. We will never forget the Words of Jesus (Matthew 9:12) “only sick people need a doctor”. If God’s love in us replaces criticisms and snap judgments with loving compassion, we will be near to the heart of God,
Many preachers try to draw huge crowds and then manipulate them to win a big following. Jesus saw the multitude and (Matthew 14:23) sent them away. Why? It’s called discernment. Jesus knew their superficial motives; maybe the thrill of seeing another miracle, maybe another free lunch or . . ?
(Dr. Swindoll) “Jesus was not looking for FOLLOWINGS, He was looking for FOLLOWERS”. What does it mean to follow Jesus? It means obedience certainly. But let’s ask Paul if he can give us any further insight. Yes, he can and here is what he said. God forbid (Galatians 6:14) that I should glory in anything or anyone, except the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The rest of the verse makes it plain that the Cross of Christ means more than forgiveness of sin. Dig deep into these words – “By Whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” Have we embraced the Cross and all it means to that extent? The Cross means death, death to self and to the world’s gaudy, deceptive allurements, but the Cross is the gateway to new Life in Resurrection victory. What does the Cross of Christ mean to you and to me? What it means to us will continue to reveal whether or not we are truly followers of Jesus.
Search your heart, mind, and soul diligently - - What does the Cross mean to you?
Hear the unchanging Words of our unchanging God concerning His unchanging love for us. Though the mountains depart (Isaiah 54:10) and the hills be shaken or removed, My love and kindness shall not depart from you.