Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Daily Identification with the Cross
Pastor Scott
Thursday, March 17, 2005
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"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."
(1 Corinthians 1:17)
Paul said he did not come with men's words or wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be made of no effect (1 Cor. 1:17). The message of the cross isn't just the historical death of Christ. We can go to what many believe is the place, the very hill in Jerusalem--Golgotha, the place of the skull--just outside the city. But it is more than that because the cross began before time. The Lamb was slain from before the foundations of the world (Rev. 13:8). So when we talk about the cross, don't limit it to the historical event; realize that we are talking about the heart of God. This was the purpose of God from the beginning. The cross includes all of God's love, mercy, compassion, and His purpose for His great creature, man. Who would have ever thought that God would become a man? Who would have thought that the innocent would become guilty so that the guilty might be spotless, righteous, restored, reconciled, and exalted to the right hand of God? What a great plan this is!
The cross is powerful, restoring evil to good, tainted to pure. The cross appearing to be an emblem of death was the instrument of life. Men who go to the cross alive are truly dead men; and men that die on the cross take their life up again. How paradoxical this great cross is to the natural mind. Be careful as you approach this subject not to approach it naturally, because it is the opposite of everything you think. Many of you are still afraid of that cross, and you need to run toward it and embrace it. It's the instrument of life and peace, the only thing that can give you your life if you will willfully lay it down there.
The denying of self is the denying of self-confidence. It's denying self-gain in position, power and control. Remember that Jesus said, "Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). This is an ongoing, daily process. There is a once for all decision to die on the cross; and there is a daily decision to identify with the cross. The dying daily is the constant choice of obedience to the heart of God and to the proclamation of the gospel. Paul said, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel, it is the power of God to salvation" (Rom. 1:16). The "seeker friendly" message that is building all of the big churches of today is the enemy of the cross. It's another gospel.
Who are these people that are teaching this message? They are individuals who have been blinded, seduced, and distracted by attraction. The cares of this world have choked out the Word of God. How does it happen that men who have loved God, men who have served God, men who have preached the Word are now blinded and deceived? It is by one bad decision at a time. None of these men, I believe, sat down and consciously said, "I am going to stop preaching the truth and start deceiving people." Do you know what? You won't make that kind of a decision either, but it happens one wrong choice at a time, one preferring self over the cross, one justifying carnal behavior, identifying with the world instead of the reproach of Christ. It is so important to look unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. There is shame with the cross. People are going to laugh at you and mock you, even professed Christians.