stunted cross

During Holy Week, we'll be brought to the foot of The Cross.  We'll witness Jesus, His face set toward Jerusalem, march steadily on towards Golgotha.  We should be gripped by the enormity of His Sacrifice, and its innumerable benefits.  That is unless we approach a stunted cross.

The North American Church in its evangelical wing proclaims The Cross, and the wondrous substitutionary atonement it presents as God's offer of salvation to the world.  But I'm afraid the Cross gets stunted when that atonement is reduced simply to a place being prepared for us in heaven.  The enormity of The Cross is not only in that heavenly benefit, as sweet as that is.  The Cross towers above us in its power to change lives from the inside out in the here and now, intending to redeem every corner of sin-infested lives that submit to its judgment and its mercy.  The Cross is indispensable, not only for the life to come, but also for real life at this moment.

So, may I encourage you to ponder the enormity of The Cross.  Perhaps you could read its story in all four Gospels; or you could do a word study of "cross", "crucify", or "crucified"; or you could dip into John Stott's magnificent book The Cross of Christ.  In whatever way, let's allow our vision of The Cross to be expanded, and our lives thereby transformed.