Skip to main content

Why Is The Cross Being Forgotten?



The cross is the most widely recognised symbol of Christianity, but it is also a symbol, once tolerated, or even respected, that is openly despised and scorned by a Christ-rejecting world. But there's nothing new about that. What is new is the sheer scale of the loss and abandonment of the central truths of the cross by people who claim to be Christians. Let me explain what I mean.

‱ CRUCIFIXION 

While the cross-shaped symbol is instantly recognisable, as standing for the death of Jesus Christ, as a common subversive, by the old, callously cruel Roman method of crucifixion, the message of the cross that we find in New Testament Scriptures is as far removed from an elegant piece of silver religious jewellery as the east is from the west.

What we find on those pages are radical and challenging truths that pierce the heart and disturb the conscience. And in an increasingly atheistic, and secular humanistic western culture that wants to smother every noble, biblical Christian virtue and let rampant wickedness reign supreme, the message of the cross of Christ represents the most potent threat. Here the living evidence of transformed lives filled with the Holy Spirit, and lived in joyful purity in fellowship with God, is witness to the high destiny of redeemed lives.

‱ DARK 

For only in the message of the cross of Christ do we see how the sinless Son of God shed his blood, willingly enduring God's holy judgement as the just penalty of other's sins. This message alone confronts the dark and evil forces that have taken over the rule of nations with effects that would blight the lives of millions with sinful degradation, misery, corruption, disease, guilt and depression.

So why is the cross of Christ being so forgotten? - Because it is God's final remedy for killing the rule and reign of sin in the lives of all those who turn to Jesus Christ for salvation and life everlasting. But, now biblical Christian belief and life-style are under intense assault.

Our sin and sex-obsessed world is intent on blotting out every biblical virtue and God-given truth by a feverish normalising of every type of sinful behaviour and perversion under the sun. Sadly, this is at times, weakens and subtly undermines the Christian life of joyful abiding in Christ, and instead we see compromise. So why not just go with the flow?

‱ RESCUE 

This is why - if you are a genuine believer in Christ, a person who has received God's great salvation, you will know that Christ died to rescue you from the evil tyranny of sin and give you life in all its fullness. You will 'know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, [rendered broken and powerless], so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin' (Rom. 6:6).

You will know that Jesus came to set us free from the power of indwelling sin and its false promise of life, so that if we are 'in Christ' we have died to sin 'in him' and been raised to a whole new life that is also 'in him'. Now we are able to say with the apostle, 'I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me' (Galatians 2:20).

‱ VICTORY 

This brings us to the heart of the Christian life, a life given by God in which he is restoring all that was lost in Adam at the fall, and bringing us into the glory of all that he is preparing for his children; a glory and a sin-slaying victory by the gracious Holy Spirit that begins in the here and now, 'For the death he [Christ] died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus' (Rom. 6:10-11).

‱ RECOVER 

If you have forgotten the powerful, Christ-glorifying message of the cross, now is the time to repent and recover what you have lost, and take the victor's cry again, and live in the light of eternity, and of our soon-appearing Lord: 'But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world' (Galatians 6:14).

Today, will you turn back to the Christ who once died upon that cross, and who now lives for evermore?

THE TRUTH OF CHRIST'S CROSS FOR YOU

Hello - I've written several books and many articles - with the goal of showing that biblical Christianity answers the MOST VITAL questions of all - "Who am I?" "What does it mean?" "Has it gone wrong?" "Why JESUS - & why is HE so vital?" and "Who is God and what is he like?"
Please don't give up the search.

Best regards,
Michael J. S. Austin, Ph.D.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My new e-book - "Jesus DIED - Does it matter?" offers a thought-provoking question and answer approach to Jesus' crucifixion and whether or not it really happened.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PE2XN76

Or try this challenging title:

SHATTERED IMAGE - Putting your significance together again

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0115PVMTG

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BIBLICAL TRUTH FOR LIVING TODAY

Use my books and articles to help you find faith in Christ, or to strengthen your faith.
 
 

Popular posts from this blog

Kecemburuan semacam ini

Jacey melemparkan cangkir kopi kaca, (Mug Kaca Berinsulasi Dinding Ganda Zwilling), melintasi dapur. Itu menghantam dinding yang baru dicat (Behr, Sweet Coconut Milk, M230), dan hancur menjadi triliunan kepingan. "Inilah yang telah kamu lakukan pada kami!" teriaknya, suaranya berderak karena cemburu, kuku jarinya yang terawat (Orly Cold As Ice - perawatan bernapas + warna) menusuk udara ke arah tumpukan puing-puing kaca. Blayne menundukkan kepalanya, dagu keduanya mengenai dadanya terlebih dahulu. "Maaf, sayang," gumamnya. "Maaf?! Maaf!" Dia mengambil sekotak Wheat Thins dan mengangkatnya di atas kepalanya. "Tolong jangan melempar yang lain!" Blayne memohon, berdiri dari posisi setengah duduk di bangku logam di dapur. Ini adalah bangku yang sangat tidak nyaman (Bangku Meja Grejsi dengan Bingkai Logam), tetapi Jacey menyukai cara logam itu memantulkan sinar matahari di sore hari, jadi itulah yang dia beli. Dia mencondongkan tubuh ke arahnya,...

Thirteenth step

My grandmother attends the church basement on Tuesday evenings. I saw him there among the metal folding chairs and antique coffee pots, his figure trembling under the fluorescent lights that buzzed like dying insects. She wears the same powder blue pullover she was buried in, the one with pearl buttons that catch the light like little moons. Others can't see it, of course. They just feel a sudden chill as they pass by where she is, or smell the ghostly smell of her Shalimar perfume mixing with the smell of burnt coffee that never leaves these rooms. But I see clearly. He's been following me to AA meetings for three months since I got my first white chip after five years of being back in the bottle. "Your grandmother was my godmother in 1985," old Pete told me after tonight's meeting, hands shaking as he poured a seven-pack of Sweet'n Low into his coffee. "Toughest godmother I ever had. She saved my life." "Mine, too," I said, not specif...

A-Z of Corporate Governance Law

Corporate governance law can be seen as the law that states the way a company is regulated and managed. Any student of law must have a clear idea about the corporate governance law. This article provides an insight into the law, along with its importance. Corporate governance law  describes how a company will be managed and governed. This topic is an important one for any student pursuing a degree in law. They may also receive academic papers to write on it. Hence, individuals should be clear about this law. The article aims at clarifying the idea behind the law and why it is important. What exactly is corporate governance law? A business is directed and controlled by the system of corporate governance. It is a process for governing a company, establishing the policies, customs, and laws for all employees, starting from the highest to the lowest levels. It states the distribution of responsibilities and rights among the various participants in a company like the di...