Growing up in the church, I have been very familiar with the message of the cross of Jesus Christ for most of my life. Although this is not a bad thing at all, like anything, becoming familiar with something can be harmful if you grow numb to it. When we become used to things, we begin to drift away from the awe and wonder of what that thing is.
I remember very clearly at one point when I was a child, the message of the cross hit me to the core of my heart. I began to feel the weight of what the cross meant, and I decided to own my faith and trust in Christ for myself. Someone actually died a death like that for me? So that I would no longer be defined by my sins and could have true hope? That amazing reality drove me to surrender my life to Jesus and I never regret that decision. Since that day, it’s been a journey of up’s and down’s, failures and then victories, yearning to grow closer to God and learn more about Him, experiencing His good grace that I don’t deserve. But, I would be lying if I said that the message and weight of the cross was on my mind as much as it should be. It’s around this time of year, naturally, that I’m especially reminded of what the cross means, with Good Friday being today, and Easter soon coming. Although I don’t want to depend on a time of year to lean into the message of the cross, I also want to capitalize on the reality that a lot of us are thinking about it, which is what led me to this blog. My prayer is that we all think and meditate on it more and more each day, and never forget.
May we never forget what the cross means:
- May we never forget the reason that Jesus went to the cross.
We are sinners! Back in Genesis 3, sin entered the world. We now have a natural tendency to sin. God knew that, and knew that we needed forgiveness and redemption. Our sin is the reason that Jesus went to the cross, and it was necessary.
- May we never forget the pain that Jesus went through on the cross.
Because of the weight of our sin, Jesus endured much pain. Jesus was fully God and fully man, and experienced real, intense pain. That pain on the cross symbolized his death, which ultimately symbolizes what He endured on our behalf. The weight of the sins of the world is heavy, painful, and impossible to fully comprehend. That pain meant a lot, and it wasn’t in vain.
- May we never forget the resurrection that happened after the cross.
Those of us who have surrendered our lives to Jesus, don’t serve a God who stayed in the grave, but three days later rose from the grave! You don’t have the cross without the resurrection, and you don’t have the resurrection without the cross. They work hand in hand and bring us to complete victory in Him. I’m so thankful to serve a God who is completely victorious!
- May we never forget the power that we now have because of the cross.
Born again, children of God now have the completed victory that Jesus offers. He demonstrated what complete victory looks like by rising from the dead, defeating sin, death and hell. Because we have His Holy Spirit, we can live a powerful, purposeful and victorious life!
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” -1 Corinthians 1:18
The message of the cross draws a line in the sand. The most important decision we will ever make is what we will do with Jesus. We either surrender, trust and believe in Him, or we don’t.
What will you do with the message of the cross?
If you don’t know Jesus, you can! I’de love to talk with you about how you can know him as your Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:9)
If you do know Jesus, I hope this blog encourages you to NOT FORGET what this message means. May this Good Friday and Easter remind and inspire us to live in this reality daily.
Matthew Weaver 