He was a fellow brother in Christ. He came up and told me that we shouldn't be glorying in "a cross" but the Christ of the cross. He spoke of certain songs he refused to sing because they seem to glorify this cross. Verses were quoted like, "For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord..." (II Cor. 4:5) and "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." (I Cor. 2:2) The explanations began to flow and the more intently I listened, I realized someone had put these ideas in his head either through reading books or personal conversation. Then I asked him, "What are you going to do with Paul speaking in Galatians 6:14?" "But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
People seem to squabble over the wrong things. I read other books but it seems more and more people are accepting someones view on the Lord Jesus Christ rather than listening more carefully to His word. The cross is central in our faith and our heart. The cross of Christ is what should impact us because it is through that cross that reveals His love and heart for mankind. The cross of our Lord Jesus cries out that our sins have been dealt with, punished and put away by His death. The cross is about life itself! It is not an end in itself but a means to an end and that end is sharing in the holiness and fullness of the life with God! The cross of our Lord and Savior is about life! It's not the last thing we hear about our Lord, it is the death destroying, sin conquering and glorious living Jesus! It was about His complete overcoming every spiritual power that exists and He being placed as Lord over all with a name above every name.
The cross is our life and about God making us alive. It was through this cross that God was reconciling us to Himself. It means we are to live NOW! It's not about some time in the future (even though it is coming) but sharing and living in the power and life of our heavenly Father here now! Was it not Jesus who said, "...I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)
The cross reaches beyond our sins and brings us into the life of God. The Almighty wants us to live and that's the message from the cross. Too many are preaching/teaching a health and wealth gospel while we just pain-stakingly trudge through this life just waiting to be free sometime in the future. What have we missed?
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