The demand of the cross...
This weekend I came face to face with the cross again. Its an experience most christians have had at least once, but as is the nature of humanity, we forget. Our desires and dreams cloud our vision and the business of life distracts our gaze from the sorrowful cross of Calvary.
It has been said so often, and so often without the passion it truly deserves, Jesus Christ died for us, that the phrase has become prosaic, and the fact behind it, taken for granted. I think that perhaps this is the reason the world so hated the movie "The Passion"; to see the terrible, awful, glorious truth behind the prosaic "Christ died for us" brings people face to face with the demand of the cross.
The Apostle Paul once wrote the words (paraphrased) "for a good man scarcely would anyone die, but you may find someone who would dare to die for a good man, but this is the love of God, that while we were yet sinners, while we were yet enemies, Jesus Christ died for us."
In the course of thinking about this I was reminded of another movie which tells a story of self sacrifice. Many of you may have seen the movie "Saving Private Ryan", but for those who haven't, it is a story set during the Normandy invasion of World War II. A squad of American soldiers is dispatched to find one man and to bring him safely out of the war. Once the soldiers find Private Ryan most of them are killed trying to keep him alive and fulfill their mission. The commanding officer of the rescue squad tells Private Ryan, after seeing his friends die, and with his own dying breaths... "earn this".
The movie ends with Ryan as an old man visiting the graves of those who gave their lives for him and asking the question, "was I a good man"... did I make their sacrifice worth while.
The sacrifice of those men in laying down their lives, sanctified Ryan's life. Their sacrifice set his life apart. It could not be just any life, it was no longer his life to do with as he wanted. Because of their sacrifice, his life belonged to all of them. Their sacrifice made a demand of him.
Now as christians we realize that we can not earn salvation, we can not make ourselves worthy of salvation. We simply don't have the ability or the capacity to do so. Never the less, our lives were sanctified by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Our lives were set apart by his shed blood, by the scourging he suffered, by the nails he took, by the life he laid down. Our lives can not be just any lives, they are no longer ours to live as we see fit.
This is the demand of the cross. When you have come face to face with what the Lord of Creation, the King of Glory, suffered and sacrificed for you, it demands your all, your everything.
It has been said so often, and so often without the passion it truly deserves, Jesus Christ died for us, that the phrase has become prosaic, and the fact behind it, taken for granted. I think that perhaps this is the reason the world so hated the movie "The Passion"; to see the terrible, awful, glorious truth behind the prosaic "Christ died for us" brings people face to face with the demand of the cross.
The Apostle Paul once wrote the words (paraphrased) "for a good man scarcely would anyone die, but you may find someone who would dare to die for a good man, but this is the love of God, that while we were yet sinners, while we were yet enemies, Jesus Christ died for us."
In the course of thinking about this I was reminded of another movie which tells a story of self sacrifice. Many of you may have seen the movie "Saving Private Ryan", but for those who haven't, it is a story set during the Normandy invasion of World War II. A squad of American soldiers is dispatched to find one man and to bring him safely out of the war. Once the soldiers find Private Ryan most of them are killed trying to keep him alive and fulfill their mission. The commanding officer of the rescue squad tells Private Ryan, after seeing his friends die, and with his own dying breaths... "earn this".
The movie ends with Ryan as an old man visiting the graves of those who gave their lives for him and asking the question, "was I a good man"... did I make their sacrifice worth while.
The sacrifice of those men in laying down their lives, sanctified Ryan's life. Their sacrifice set his life apart. It could not be just any life, it was no longer his life to do with as he wanted. Because of their sacrifice, his life belonged to all of them. Their sacrifice made a demand of him.
Now as christians we realize that we can not earn salvation, we can not make ourselves worthy of salvation. We simply don't have the ability or the capacity to do so. Never the less, our lives were sanctified by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Our lives were set apart by his shed blood, by the scourging he suffered, by the nails he took, by the life he laid down. Our lives can not be just any lives, they are no longer ours to live as we see fit.
This is the demand of the cross. When you have come face to face with what the Lord of Creation, the King of Glory, suffered and sacrificed for you, it demands your all, your everything.
posted by Simon Templar | 2:20 PM
1 Comments:
An excellent post, Josh. I never thought of salvation that way, but now I see that you are dead on!
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