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The cross is not for perfect people. It is where the best of God came and met the worst of mankind. God on a cross. Humanity at its worst. Divinity at its best. God's message of love. The cross is God's message that He would give anything; pay any price to save His children. The cross was intentional. It was never a surprise for Jesus. Jesus said, "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." (John 10:17-18 from The Holy Bible: NIV). God intentionally planted the seed that became the tree that was used to make the cross. God willingly placed the ore into the earth that was used to fashion the spikes. God voluntarily formed Judas in his mother's womb. The cross was not an accident. The cross means God is for you! Many say that they have a cross to bear. Often they are referring to a particular difficulty. Yes, the way of the cross can be difficult. But, the cross is always a sacrifice that brings redemption. To take up your cross means you are for God. It is to be identified with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. To take up the cross is to take up His message. The cross meant death. To take up your cross means that you are going to the place of death. Not necessarily, physical death. But the death of a dream, the death of our reputation, or rights. The cross is the place of ultimate vulnerability and exposure. You cannot defend or protect yourself on the cross. It is the ultimate form of self-denial. It means you have no more rights -- dead men have no rights. The cross is the only way to a resurrection (John 21:18). Some Quotes about the Cross "Then
He called the crowd to Him along with his disciples and said: "If
anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross
and follow Me.
"And anyone who does
not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple."
"For
the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but
to us who are being saved it is the power of God." "For
I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and
Him crucified." "May
I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which
the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." "I
simply argue that the cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace
as well as on the steeple of the Church. I am recovering the claim that
Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross
between two thieves; on the town's garbage heap; at a crossroads so cosmopolitan
they had to write His title in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek...at the kind
of place where cynics talk smut and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble.
Because that is where He died, and that is what He died for, and that
is what He died about...that is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen
ought to be about." "We
know Jesus became fruitful, not by bearing His cross only, but by dying
on it. Fruit bearing involves cross bearing." "Is
not the cross Christ's message of love? ... Yes, the cross is the first
letter of God's alphabet ... The cross is inscribed in the life of every
person. Wanting to exclude it from our lives is like wanting to ignore
the reality of the human condition. ... Take up the cross and carry it
as a message of love and forgiveness..."
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