Following Judah's Lion

I Will Glory in the Cross

Gal.6:14 - But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...

Christianity. In secular dictionaries it is described as one of the world’s great religions started by a man name Jesus about two thousand years ago. The world sees it as a religion of love and one whose followers try and emulate Jesus. They see many different denominations with many different beliefs and practices. Throughout the centuries movements and denominations and even cults redefined and altered the essence of Christianity. Some like the Jehovah’s Witnesses denied the divinity of Christ and teach a salvation of works. The Mormon church again changed Jesus and have a host of bizarre teachings. The Seven Day Adventists attempted to combine the Old and New Testament as a modern day practice including Sabbath worship and food laws. The Roman Catholic Church claims to be the true church built upon the Apostle Peter and they also teach a salvation through works. And there are many, many more offshoots of the true faith with every day seeing the birth of new ones.

But sometimes under the radar during even the most apostate times was the true and invisible church of Jesus Christ. These believed that the church of Jesus Christ was built upon the Rock which is Christ Himself, and that entrance into this body was by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Without being born again no one would see the kingdom of God and to believe on the Lord Jesus was to surrender your life and pick up His cross and follow in His steps.

Becoming a believer was to also become a follower, the two substantiated each other and a life of sacrifice was taught from the Word itself.

But today we see a rushing mighty wind of change without the power of the Spirit or the tongues of holy fire, this is the wind of man. Religious men write books of intricate and thought provoking spiritual nonsense that has much of the immature church spellbound by its post modern newness. The modern “theologians” can no longer abide a cross centered Christianity with the atonement at the center, today’s writers take a more liberal and humanistic view of Christianity that has at its forefront deeds of man rather than the deed of God. Christianity has now been dismantled and the many different streams of doctrine are carving out a course which runs downstream and eventually fully emptying into the ocean of a man made religion that uses not follows the Lord Jesus.

Peruse the bookstores, the sermons, or the blog nation and search for writings that center and speak of the cross. Do you find many? The center of Christianity, in fact, the center of all history is the cross. Repulsive and unsophisticated to today’s menu of intellectualism, the cross is more jewelry than reality. But any Christianity that downplays the cross is not Christianity at all, it is a collection of teachings that are missing the single mooring that must authenticate them all. The Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world has His most sacrificial and redemptive act of love relegated to a doctrinal nod and not the center of our very lives. Without the cross you have the sounding brass and tinkling of carnal man.

If you had to define Christianity in two words they would be Jesus, and the cross. And those two words, one the Author the other His act, are being maligned, twisted, and contoured to fit conveniently into this new age of post modern Christianity. And the sing-song musings that sound so nice and present themselves as exciting explorations of refreshing perceptions of those two words are actually dismantling them both. I cannot imagine the Lord God Almighty anything but angry at what men are doing to the immutable essence of His Son and His cross.

Since the first creative Word, God’s eyes were fixed upon Golgotha. Now I believe in the orthodox view of the Trinity, but I have often wondered if God always existed in separate Personhoods. I wonder if God separated Himself for us, so He, God, could come to this earth without leaving His heavenly dwelling place. It doesn’t matter but this I know, God embraced the cross before He even came as the Lord Jesus.

So instead of dwelling and loving and bowing and meditating and weeping before the cross we find it struggling to find a place in our preaching, much less our conversation. When was the last time you saw a brother or sister in the grocery store and as you fellowshipped you made a remark about the cross? People would think you were unbalanced. Have you ever picked up the phone and called a friend to share how much the cross means to you? We speak of that blessed tree in the abstract as a point of doctrinal order, but can we speak with quivering lips and broken hearts over the glory of God’s suffering gift to us? Nothing can cast a shadow over the cross, it has cast an eternal shadow over all of creative history, and the glory of His wounds remind all of heaven that the cross has provided the redemptive triumph that gained us the entrance into His resurrected presence.

Can you fathom it, we will be afforded an entrance into the very presence of the Risen Christ, for ever and ever. The very words seem so superficial because we are still bound by this body of sin, but I cannot imagine trying to find words with which to worship the Lamb that was Slain. The cross. God on the cross. God on the cross for me. God on the cross suffering for me. God on the cross suffering for me and enduring my sinful shame. Who can really know it, and if we ever actually caught a definitive glimpse of the cross would our knees buckle no matter where we were? As I pumped gas and the Spirit afforded me an unusual picture of the Crimson Tree would I fall to my knees immobilized, or would I retain my precious composure?

I was walking in utter darkness seeking my own pleasure filled existence, a rebellious enemy of God with my fleshly eyes set on my own. And one day, in March of 1975, I saw the cross, and Him who suffered upon it. The Spirit quickened my understanding and suddenly I saw all the crosses on churches, and around the necks of men and women, and painted on buildings, I saw them all as poor representations of the glory that was the cross. A good Jew on a Roman cross suddenly exploded into my understanding as Savior and Lord. I was drawn to Jesus and His cross, and then one glorious day I realized it was for me, He suffered for me. Oh wonderful day, the day I saw the cross and the Lamb it carried for what it was, my redemption. I was nothing, I had nothing, and suddenly I felt like I was His which was all I have ever wanted or needed.

So let all the new movements relish their intellectual gyrations, their innovative doctrines, their dismantling etymologies, and their mercurial banter, I will glory in the cross.

Simple, but forever glorious.

So I desire this little post to do one thing, raise high the cross of Jesus for all to bow before and again, afresh and anew, say “Precious Lord, You and You alone are worthy to receive all the glory. We see Your cross and are amazed at our sin and Your blameless suffering…for us".

Selah…Selah.