The Cross.
The Cross
This is the most important area of our Christian life.
“Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it,” Matthew 10:38-39
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:24-26
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me,” Luke 9:23.
There are three main things Jesus was saying in these passages. The first is that it's a choice to follow him: “If anyone would come after me.” We're called into salvation but what follows later is an act of individual choice weather or not we want it, to what level, and so on. It's not imposed upon us. We appropriate God's free gifts once given by doing our part of choosing and making necessary commitments.
The second is that of self-denial: “he must deny himself.” Following Jesus means we choose to make him Lord or the boss over our lives. We dethrone ourselves and seek him to rule over us. Self-denial involves sacrifice of one's interests and in place pursuing the interests of another. This is not always easy and many times is not pleasant.
Self-denial is not a pleasant thing since we naturally want to be in charge of our lives, do whatever we like, live wherever we like, and so on. Who wants to be bossed around by someone else? It feels like bondage being under constant orders. But it's not so with Christ. There is a great prize awaiting each of us for being under his lordship and denying our own instincts for independence.
In the meantime while the prize awaits us it's still challenging and burdensome to deny interests. Interestingly Jesus never promised us that self-denial would be easy. Neither did he say it'd be a joyride.
Our interests include personal goals, ambitions, dreams, wants, comforts, rights, welfare, and so on. These are expected to be subordinated at the least level and to be completely abandoned at the highest pursuit for Christ.
The third matter Jesus was saying is that of carrying the cross: “take up his cross daily.” Carrying the cross seems like the worst part, because it's painful, humiliating, and runs completely opposite to our personal desires in life. However, it has a major purpose as you'll see shortly.
The cross, introduced by the Roman Empire in their Jewish colony was one of the most cruel forms of execution. It was meant for the most notorious criminals in Jesus' day. It was therefore a punishment for certain criminals. After receiving brutal lashes they had to carry their cross in public. Then finally they were mounted to it using nails at their crucifixion. It was a painful way to die.
Jesus received the sentence of a criminal and went through the worst form of public humiliation and painful death. He didn't deserve it. Yet in this death there was a great reward that he chose to bear this lynching. The reward was not for him but for others: the sins of all humanity. This is the major purpose for carrying the cross. It is self-sacrifice for the sake of others.
“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed,” Isaiah 53:5.
He said to his disciples that if they wanted to follow him they ought to pick up their crosses. Like with Jesus their crosses were not for their own gain but for the benefit of others. The cross therefore constituted the highest form of self-denial they could give for the sake of others.
The lives of Jesus' disciples show that they steadfastly answered to this call – all except Judas Iscariot. Most of them actually died as martyrs.
The same words were addressed to all who would want to be disciples of Jesus, all who would want to be Christians. For the sake of others we're to put aside our interests, flesh desires, and put theirs first.
Christianity is not a call to a party and self-gratification. It's a call to serious business. The spiritual lives of others are at stake and God is counting on us to lay down our lives for their sake. It's a call to self-sacrifice, not literally, but in its deepest spiritual meaning. It's not easy and it's among the most prominent matters our fallen nature finds very unpleasant.
There can be days when one may feel like it's a curse carrying the cross of self-denial for the sake of others. Yet there is nothing as valuable as this discipline for any Christian. The reward awaiting each faithful servant of Christ is beyond any words can explain.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him,” 1 Corinthians 2:9.
Who are these people that God calls us to lay down our lives for?
There are two categories of these others: A) the Body of Christ (fellow Christians), and B) the Harvest Field (unbelievers, the unconverted). Our Christian work differs for each group because each has its unique needs. Each group's unique needs are as follows:
A. Every Christian's work/responsibility in the Body of Christ :
To Empower
To Enlighten
To Encourage
B. Every Christian's work/responsibility in the Harvest Field :
To Evangelize
To Emancipate (deliverance from bondage, mainly spiritual deliverance)
To Exemplify
5) Christian Persecution
This is another area we're to endure in our Christian lives. It is extensively covered in Chapter 10 “Christian Persecution: A Deliverance Exception,” in my book Major Christian Deliverance Principles: Keys for Self-deliverance and Ministry .
6) Life's Storms
Storms of life are unpleasant experiences that befall us out of no fault of our own. They are the Joseph experiences. God allows them to happen but does not plot them against us. He only does not stop them.
Depending on how we handle such matters storms of life can be our stepping stones to our promotion (like with Joseph) or they can be our downfall. They can be assets the Holy Spirit can use to our good or they can be assets Satan can use to block us from moving forward.
Whatever storms of life one may have faced or maybe facing, spiritually, socially, materially or physically, they are not intended to be obstacles. At least from God's point of view. The devil wants them to be obstacles and destiny killers. But they cannot stop God from fulfilling all that he purposed to accomplish through each of us. God is able to transform the experiences to eventually work to our good if our focus is on him rather than our limitations.
The evil may not work to everyone's good, but, as the Bible says, it certainly does for God's children. How God does it could be another book. Please read through the following passage. It's an awesome passage on God's sovereignty, love, and power in the midst of all experiences in our lives:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?
“It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8:28-39.
7) The Fallen Nature (Within its Context)
The next chapter, Chapter 4 defines what the fallen nature is. It's in the section dealing with the curses from God. However, such a curse is appropriately classified in the bible as the fallen nature, the corrupted nature, the flesh, and so on.