THE CROSS

 

THE CROSS

Matt. 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

The cross means a lot of things to people. For those who deny Jesus died on it for our sins, it is an object of scorn and meaningless to their lives. For those who embrace it as the place where Jesus died for our sns, it is the the most important event in all of history.

The cross means a denial of sin. It is meaningless without an acknowledgment of sin. Rom. 3:23 If you deny you have a sin problem, or that sin even exists, the cross means nothing to you. However, sin is the one thing every human being who has ever lived has in common. All of us are by nature sinners, and no one is immune to the consequences of sin. The end result of a life of sin is eternal separation of God, a life spent in the depths of hell.

In order for the cross to mean something to you, you must want to get rid of your sins. You must want a new life free from the filth and ugliness of sin. Gal. 5:19-23. You must want what Jesus came to give you. You must want peace with God. You must want to be loved and accepted by God. You must want a better life, a better version of you than you have ever known.

The cross means a denial of self. Matt. 16:24-25 When you believe and accept what Jesus did for you on the cross, everything changes. Your desires change. You no longer want to live for you. You live to serve and please God. You want to reach out to others with compassion. You change your perspective on life. You begin to understand that life is not confined to this world, that heaven is real and your goal in life. You change what you life for and what you are willing to die for. You cannot live in Christ without Christ changing you, and you never stop changing until you die.

The cross means a denial of sweetness. What I mean by that is that the cross is a place of pain and suffering. When Jesus said we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him, He was forewarning us that following Him is not a bed of roses. We will go through a lot of struggles personally as we are being transformed into godliness, and we will face a lot of opposition in the world because of our faith. There is no such thing as an easy road to heaven. If your faith walk is easy for you, you are not on the right path to heaven.

If you are living in Christ, you are changing. You cannot coast your way into heaven. You are growing and becoming the person God created you to be. If nothing is happening for you, you need to bow before the Lord and ask Him to change you. Ask Him to change your way of thinking, your desires, your living. Do it now, you will be so glad you did.