The Cross

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God,” 1 Corinthians 1:18, NKJV.

When I think about the cross, of course I naturally think about salvation; the blood that was shed for my sins and for your sins. Jesus was hung on the cross, crucified for nothing He did wrong and so many of us today get away with crimes that we have committed. I then I thought about how Jesus must’ve looked on that cross. He was pierced with His arms spread out wide. It was symbolic to me because that showed me how much He wanted people to embrace Him.

Now, I know that back in those days that’s just what a crucifixion was. It was an extremely painful punishment or suffering where the victim's hands and feet were bound or nailed to a cross. God knew this was going to happen…He knew, so it was no accident that Jesus left His human body this way. This was the kind of death that was ordained for Christ to have many centuries before it actually occurred (Isaiah 53). And for some reason when I went to hug my husband on Valentine’s Day, my mind flashed a vision of Christ on the cross. I saw a man hanging from a cross with His arms extended wide. His arms were wide open as if He was waiting for an embrace.

The Holy Spirit spoke to me and immediately told me that this is why Christ agreed to go to Calvary in the first place. Yes, it is all confirmed in scriptural accounts, intellectually we understand this, but spiritually we must truly grasp the gravity of what was accomplished. I opened a copy of a Holy Bible that I own and there is an image that signifies Jesus with His arms open…open and waiting for reception, open and ready to receive whoever will fall into them. “…Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me,” Mark 8:34, KJV. Take up the cross…and follow Him.

Also, Jesus says, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” John 14:6, KJV. So, why would anyone risk going another way? I was flipping through the channels on Thursday and stumbled upon the Oprah show. She had a guest who was a former star football player now living life as a female. This guest had a sex change and no one other than the brother (from the parts that I viewed) objected to what this person had done. The brother of this guest had asked the mother if she believed in the Bible (by film footage shot in the family’s home) and when on stage the mother replied, “I believe in my child.” Now, from how the brother approached the mother, it appeared as if she was one who had a Christian background. This was lunacy to me because how can one say they are a Christian when the Bible clearly speaks against homosexuality?

Oprah made it plain that the person was being their true or genuine self. Clearly, this is not what is stated in the Bible. God’s word states, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient,” Romans 1:28, KJV.

Jesus laid down his life on the cross, no one took it (1 John 3:16). And He opens the door for us to receive salvation, being reconciled back unto God. And we must study His word to truly know who He is. Justly stated by the late Derek Prince, we must meditate on God’s word, speak God’s word, and act on God’s word to live a holy life. Many people’s lives aren’t holy because they take Jesus out of it. They mock the cross by their very lives…

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely,” Revelation 22:17, KJV.