God forbid the cross and it's crossequences
It’s “Good Friday.” And it's ironic that a day to remember the horrific crucifixion of Jesus Christ is called “Good.” But when you understand that Jesus went to the Cross for your sins and mine, you understand that what He did on our behalf is beyond “Good” – it is amazingingly good!
Even so...believing and accepting the cross of Christ and his resurrection is deeply personal and difficult for many. Many struggle with a dynamic and sincere faith because truly believing demands becoming. A sincere faith, a transforming faith in Christ, demands asking oneself; "what's preventing me from becoming a Christian." And so for that reason in particular, many resist. I think for many if they were being completely honest they'd confess, “I don't want to believe the evidence for the resurrection because if I do, it would change who I am. Everything about me would change, I want to have no part of that. I'm not ready for that." They might even admit; "I can intellectually assent to the truth of the evidence, but to embrace it would be too much for me to handle."
The most common objections are personal and emotional. Many put demands on their ability to believe that make acceptance nearly impossible. Most objections demand seeing...not seeing the evidence of Christ's resurrection, but of seeing universal Christian love and kindness being shown before they are even ready to deal honestly with the evidence. Never mind the point of the cross actually being about unbelievers and the ugly truths of humanity's inhumane treatment of the truth. And nevertheless Christ is risen, and he continues even now among so much unbelief to call out "Father Forgive Them..."
This Good Friday, let's reflect upon this word from God.
Galatians 6:14
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”
The one thing we all agree upon is the cross. No matter your Christian denomination, or even if you're Jew or Muslim. Oh we have disagreements about reasons why, when, or how, but we agree it happened. For the secularists and pagans it's a warning to those who resist the authority of the state and nature idols. For many Christian's in name only the cross is symbolic of a stumbling block to faith. It represents their own struggles and fears. Most agnosticism is founded upon the fear of the cross, the fear that ALL Christians MUST take up and bear witness to it. Cheap and easy is not merely the way of the wicked, but is the way of many a churchgoer.
Friends, the fact of the matter is the cross is the point. It's the point of no return. And for many it's that reality that prevents them from coming into Christ's way.
Why does it frighten us so much?
Because-
"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree." 1 Peter 2:24-25
WE DID THAT TO HIM!
We owe it ALL to the cross. We owe HIM!
The mocking on his cross, the jeering, the spitting in his face, the laughing, the horrible beating, the cynical skeptics, the liars, the cheats, the greedy, the Priests, the lawyers and teachers, the MOB of humanity, MOCKING him and his cross. ALL of them he FORGAVE from that cross!
Did they repent?!
Did you?!
Are you indifferent to the crossequences?
At least one thief did, and he received the guarantee of salvation in Christ Jesus.
Will you finally commit and come to his cross?