Matthew 16:24-25 (NIV) 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. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
As Resurrection Sunday is just around the corner, my heart and mind have continually been drawn back to the cross. I am reminded of Tozers words:
"The cross of Christ is the most revolutionary thing ever to appear among men. The cross of old Roman times knew no compromise; it never made concessions. It won all its arguments by killing its opponent and silencing him for good. It spared not Christ, but slew Him the same as the rest. He was alive when they hung Him on that cross and completely dead when they took Him down six hours later. That was the cross the first time it appeared in Christian history.
After Christ was risen from the dead the apostles went out to preach His message, and what they preached was the cross. And wherever they went into the wide world they carried the cross, and the same revolutionary power went with them. The radical message of the cross transformed Saul of Tarsus and changed him from a persecutor of Christians to a tender believer and an apostle of the faith. Its power changed bad men into good ones. It shook off the long bondage of paganism and altered completely the whole moral and mental outlook of the Western world."
— Radical Cross, The
Today, howerver, the cross isn't viewed as an insturment of death, but rather an emblem or thing of beauty to be worn around our necks. Has the cross lost it's power in our live, in the life of the church? Yes it is revered by many but do they know of the power it holds? What does it mean to take up our cross and follow Him.
It speaks of a radical commitment, a willingness to deny ourselves, to lay down our very lives and existance for the cause of Christ. The cross will cost us. We can choose to ignore it or better, to lay our lives down. When we do, the cross will win. The old pattern of sin in our lives will die and just as Christ rose, we will rise in newness of life. Listen to these words of Tozer.
"The cross will cut into our lives where it hurts worst, sparing neither us nor our carefully cultivated reputations. It will defeat us and bring our selfish lives to an end. Only then can we rise in fullness of life to establish a pattern of living wholly new and free and full of good works."
— Radical Cross, The
How about you? Are you willing to lay it all down at the cross? It is there you will truly find life.
As Resurrection Sunday is just around the corner, my heart and mind have continually been drawn back to the cross. I am reminded of Tozers words:
"The cross of Christ is the most revolutionary thing ever to appear among men. The cross of old Roman times knew no compromise; it never made concessions. It won all its arguments by killing its opponent and silencing him for good. It spared not Christ, but slew Him the same as the rest. He was alive when they hung Him on that cross and completely dead when they took Him down six hours later. That was the cross the first time it appeared in Christian history.
After Christ was risen from the dead the apostles went out to preach His message, and what they preached was the cross. And wherever they went into the wide world they carried the cross, and the same revolutionary power went with them. The radical message of the cross transformed Saul of Tarsus and changed him from a persecutor of Christians to a tender believer and an apostle of the faith. Its power changed bad men into good ones. It shook off the long bondage of paganism and altered completely the whole moral and mental outlook of the Western world."
— Radical Cross, The
Today, howerver, the cross isn't viewed as an insturment of death, but rather an emblem or thing of beauty to be worn around our necks. Has the cross lost it's power in our live, in the life of the church? Yes it is revered by many but do they know of the power it holds? What does it mean to take up our cross and follow Him.
It speaks of a radical commitment, a willingness to deny ourselves, to lay down our very lives and existance for the cause of Christ. The cross will cost us. We can choose to ignore it or better, to lay our lives down. When we do, the cross will win. The old pattern of sin in our lives will die and just as Christ rose, we will rise in newness of life. Listen to these words of Tozer.
"The cross will cut into our lives where it hurts worst, sparing neither us nor our carefully cultivated reputations. It will defeat us and bring our selfish lives to an end. Only then can we rise in fullness of life to establish a pattern of living wholly new and free and full of good works."
— Radical Cross, The
How about you? Are you willing to lay it all down at the cross? It is there you will truly find life.
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