"....to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect." (1 Corinthians 1:17)
It's obvious, not just from today's text, but from the Bible in its entirety that the Cross of Jesus is the central theme, the focus of God's Word to humanity. And if I preach or teach, if I write a devotional, or even if just in the course of daily life someone walks away from me and says, "My, how wise he is," or, "how clever he is," or, "how eloquent he is," I have failed as a witness to Jesus Christ.
When we read the Gospels, there is no doubt that the whole narrative reveals Jesus' ultimate goal was Jerusalem and the cross. Too much in Christendom today is a me-centered gospel, a gospel of you can do anything, just believe for it, you are wonderful, etc. Of course, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners," but Jesus did not save us by making you and me the focus. He called people to, "Follow Me," not, "I'll follow you." And where does the, "Follow Me," lead us?--- to the cross. It is well deserving of repetition, and if he was not the originator of it, nevertheless I first heard it from my Dad: "The Cross was in the Heart of God from eternity." What an absolutely marvelous reality, even though I cannot fully grasp the dept of its meaning. The Cross of Jesus was in the Heart of the Blessed Trinity from eternity.
The song writer said, "At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light...." And we not only "first [see] the light" at the cross of Christ, there is a real sense in which we can say that we "first" see Jesus Himself. If I see a "Jesus" other than Jesus of the Cross, I am not seeing Jesus. Our salvation, which includes healing, deliverance, preservation, peace, joy and so much more is a salvation only from the Cross of Jesus. All that we see Jesus doing in the Gospels is in the shadow of His Cross. It is only in what some call "the Christ Event," in the Cross of Jesus that the Living Triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit came to you and me---- to all humanity, and can I say?- Still comes to us. When our Lord said, "take up the cross," He was commanding us to die to everything in my life that was before Him, and everything in my life which still tries to rule in me "after" Him. It is a glorious invitation to total identity with and in Him.
Father, in Jesus' Name, "bring it's scenes before me." Amen.
It's obvious, not just from today's text, but from the Bible in its entirety that the Cross of Jesus is the central theme, the focus of God's Word to humanity. And if I preach or teach, if I write a devotional, or even if just in the course of daily life someone walks away from me and says, "My, how wise he is," or, "how clever he is," or, "how eloquent he is," I have failed as a witness to Jesus Christ.
When we read the Gospels, there is no doubt that the whole narrative reveals Jesus' ultimate goal was Jerusalem and the cross. Too much in Christendom today is a me-centered gospel, a gospel of you can do anything, just believe for it, you are wonderful, etc. Of course, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners," but Jesus did not save us by making you and me the focus. He called people to, "Follow Me," not, "I'll follow you." And where does the, "Follow Me," lead us?--- to the cross. It is well deserving of repetition, and if he was not the originator of it, nevertheless I first heard it from my Dad: "The Cross was in the Heart of God from eternity." What an absolutely marvelous reality, even though I cannot fully grasp the dept of its meaning. The Cross of Jesus was in the Heart of the Blessed Trinity from eternity.
The song writer said, "At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light...." And we not only "first [see] the light" at the cross of Christ, there is a real sense in which we can say that we "first" see Jesus Himself. If I see a "Jesus" other than Jesus of the Cross, I am not seeing Jesus. Our salvation, which includes healing, deliverance, preservation, peace, joy and so much more is a salvation only from the Cross of Jesus. All that we see Jesus doing in the Gospels is in the shadow of His Cross. It is only in what some call "the Christ Event," in the Cross of Jesus that the Living Triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit came to you and me---- to all humanity, and can I say?- Still comes to us. When our Lord said, "take up the cross," He was commanding us to die to everything in my life that was before Him, and everything in my life which still tries to rule in me "after" Him. It is a glorious invitation to total identity with and in Him.
Father, in Jesus' Name, "bring it's scenes before me." Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
