The Cross of Christ is where we lay our lives down in total surrender in order that we might die to the old man, or the flesh. But once dead, life only begins in glory because Jesus Christ was risen from the dead. If He lives, then so do we! So often, Christians buy into the misleading tradition of taking up the cross as if the burden is something to be borne for a lifetime--without resurrection glory! How wrong we are! He Lives, He Lives, Christ Jesus Lives Today! says the old hymn. If Christ lives, then so do we--in the new man. How glorious can that be? We live today, not just when we get to Heaven.
Christ has defeated the old foe, Satan. There is no apology. Why do we go about as though there were? Satan's days are numbered. He makes the world rise up against the saved of God, to bring us down that we might at the very least live defeated lives as Christians; at the very worst that we might renounce Christ even before being persecuted to the point of death. No, we must not be afraid of worldlings. We might have reason to be afraid of demons, although with Christ, that is unnecessary, but worldlings are to be won over to the glory of the Cross of Christ. There is no shame in the Cross of Christ--even though worldlings, controlled by the spirit of the Anti-Christ, would have you believe so. "Behold, Come and follow me, and I shall make you fishers of men," says Jesus Christ. We don't hate worldly people; we win them over by our behaviour. Our actions and attitudes and complete renewal in the Holy Spirit is a testimony to the glory of the Cross and the resurrected Christ. In this, we have no shame. It is only in our flesh that we have shame.
"Behold, for I make all things new!" Christ says. He is the one who gives life and gives it abundantly. Water springing up to eternal life. This can't be any normal cross, for cruxifiction is certain death. But life hid in Christ is true life indeed!
Today if you hear His Voice, do not harden your hearts, as it says in Hebrews. As long as it is called Today, God gives us the chance to come to Jesus Christ to call Him our Lord and Saviour, to be on His side. Some of us wear teflon suits, thinking that true religion, true faith, can slide right off us. Don't be deceived for God cannot be mocked. You are hearing His calling now. If you refuse, you are going to bear eternity in a fate worse than the Cross of the resurrected Christ. How unwise! For can any man pay a ransom for his soul? For "He has chosen the weak to shame the strong; the foolish to shame the wise." All your learning is nothing. It is deceit and futility without the Cross and the resurrection of your spirit. "For it is the spirit that matters, the flesh counts for nothing." Don't refuse His calling, Today, my friend. It will be to your detriment and ultimately will be your eternal death if you do.
