The Challenge of the Cross!

The Cross of Jesus is perhaps the most significant event in the Bible.  For different people, the Cross means different things.  It is an ornament; for some, it is a good-luck charm; for others, it is a fashion symbol.  The Pharisees and Sadducees despised it.  It was a “stumbling block” for the Jews and “foolishness” to the Greeks.  As Christians, we use the symbol of the Cross for everything from marriage to funeral.  There is no ceremony without the Cross.  Using the Cross becomes an empty ritual, something of no value if we do not understand the Cross’s importance and significance.  

What is the meaning of the Cross?

Cross means love, grace, sacrifice, forgiveness, mercy, humility, reconciliation, and victory.  The Cross means action!  The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  God so loved the world that He gave Himself!  The love of the Father resulted in action by sending Jesus to the Cross!  The question that faces you and me today is, what does the Cross mean to us, personally?  That is the challenge for you and me today!  The Cross meant action for Jesus!  It cost Him His very life.  How does our faith transform into action when we say we are Christians?  Will our life show the world the Father’s love for everyone around us?  The ‘way of the Cross’ is complex and needs total commitment, but there is no other way.  The prosperity Gospel preachers say that once we accept Christ, everything will change for good; more money, more health, more prosperity, and with no suffering.  There can be no ‘Christian’ without the ‘Cross.’  

My friend, there is only one way to be a Christian, and that is through the way of the Cross!  The Cross not only has the power to save us from our sins but also transform our lives and fill them with the fruit of the Spirit.  The Bible says that some “…. claim to know God, but by their actions, they deny Him“(Titus 1:16).  Let us look within and check if we are denying Christ with our actions.  And that is the challenge of the Cross for us today!

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