The cross is the place of atonement and the place of redemption and grace. Ihu was the perfect Lamb of God, without blemish and spot, Who made atonement for you.Ihu Karaiti, Who was without sin, took all the iniquities and sins of the world upon Him. The cross is a place to die and wher your new life begins. Jesus became your Substitute. He hang on the cross, which should have been your place. You should have hung there, due to your iniquities and sins. But because of God’s great love, God gave His only Son Jesus Christ to become your Substitute. Jesus took your punishment upon Him, so that, you don’t have to carry that anymore. Jesus faced death, so you won’t have to face death and the eternal punishment in hell anymore.
What does the word ‘cross’ mean?
The word cross comes from the Greek word: stauros (stow-ros), it comes from the base of no. G2476(strong concordance) and means ;
- a stake or post (as set upright),
- that is, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment)
- figuratively exposure to death, that is, selfdenial;
- by implication the atonement of Christ: – cross.
What did Jesus say about the cross?
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of me (Matiu 10:38)
If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it (Matiu 16:24,25)
Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Mark 8:34).
Take up your cross, and follow Me (Mark 10:21)
If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me (Ruka 9:23)
Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple (Ruka 14:27)
In these verses, Jesus is very clear, and says, that if we really want to follow Jesus Christ, we should take up our cross and follow Him (Panuitia hoki: ‘Following Jesus will cost you everything‘ a ‘Ko te tukanga mamae e mōhiotia ana e mate ana’).
What does it mean to take up your cross?
Āta noho, to answer this question, we must look at what took place at the cross; Jesus was crucified. He denied Himself, by becoming fully obedient to the will of God.
Jesus could have done His own will and disobey God. Jesus could have enjoyed His life on earth, maybe Jesus had become a very old man. But Jesus did not do that.
He crucified His will by becoming fully obedient to te hinaaro o To’na Metua.
Jesus had only one thing in mind and that was to do the will of His Father, to lay down His life, and fulfil the plan that God had for His life.
That plan was to die for mankind and take the sins of the world upon Him, and become an atonement for mankind and take back the authority that was taken by the devil and reconcile man back to God.
Jesus tells you to do the same. You should take up your cross daily, which means that you should crucify your will and do His will. It means to be completely obedient to Jesus Christ and do the will of the Father and fulfil His purpose for your life.
It means to deny yourself, die to self, die to the lusts and desires of the flesh. Dying is a painful process. It’s not easy, but it is necessary in order to follow Jesus.
You have a choice
If you don’t want to lay down your old life and its habits, because you say it is too hard, or you can’t do it, because you don’t have the power to do it, then honestly you don’t hate your old life as a sinner yet.Āe, you still love doing the things you do and you don’t want to say goodbye to these things. You don’t see any harm by doing them.
Most people want to hang on to their old life and add so called ‘Christian behaviour’; by becoming a member of the church, going to church, being friendly, doing charity works, reading the Bible 5 or 10 minutes before they go to sleep, say a quick prayer and that’s it.
Let me tell you, the more you hate sin and hate your old life and its habits, the easier it is to take up your cross and follow Jesus.
Āe, it will cost you everything; it will cost you your life. But your life will become so much better!
It is a process to die to self. But if you really want to, then it is possible. It is all up to you. The Holy Spirit is there to help you, to teach you, to guide you, to strengthen you and to warn you.
Your life will become one great adventure with the Holy Spirit.
What did Jesus not say about the cross ?
Jesus did not say that the cross is:
- a permit to keep sinning,
- used to keep doing what you want to do,
- an excuse to keep living in sin, and to say that you just are too weak and that you therefore keep coming back to the cross over and over again.
The cross is not a place to rest, the cross is not a place to camp, but the cross is your starting point.
Let me be clear, I don’t say that you have to forget the cross. Kāore, you may never forget the cross!
The cross is the place where die and you lay down your life
The cross is the place where Jesus became your Substitue, it’s the place where you identified yourself with Christ and got born again. The cross is the place, where all of your iniquities and sins were taken away from you and where you were reconciled with the Father, i roto ia Ihu Karaiti.
But the cross must not became a camping place, a place where you stay and get stuck in between your old life and your new life and stay there, because you can’t say farewell to your old habits, your sins (Panuitia hoki: The battle and weakness of the old man)
Many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things(Philippians 3:18)
If you keep on doing your will and if your mind is set on the things of the world, you are an enemy of the cross.
If the things of the world and your will, are more important than to do the will of God and to walk after the Spirit, then the Bible says that you are an enemy of the cross.
ano, you have a choice. But it is all or nothing, there is no way in between. You can’t serve two gods.
Either you will lose your life here on earth or you will lose your life in hell.
What did Paul say about the cross?
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature (Karatia 6:14,15)
Paul’s life was crucified with Jesus Christ. He took up his cross, which means, that Paul denied himself and obeyed Christ completely.
Paul was sent to preach the gospel. But not in words, but in power. Paul didn’t preach human philosophies and the carnal wisdom of the world, but Paulpreached the cross, which is the power of God.
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God (1 Koriniti 1:17-18)
You are reconciled with God through the cross, through the blood of Jesus Christ. No reira, you have peace because you are reconciled. Because of the blood of Jesus, you have been made righteous.
In Christ Jesus you have become righteous, holy, unblameable and unreproveable.
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby (Epeha 2:16)
And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Ko koe hoki, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight (Col 1:20-1:22)
All your sins, all of your trespasses, have been forgiven
Ko koe hoki, kua mate i roto i o koutou hara, i te kotingakore o o koutou kikokiko, hath He quickened together with Him, kua murua hoki koutou e koutou nga he katoa; E whakaputa ana i te tuhi ā ringa o nga whakaritenga i ahu mai ki a mātau, e hē ana ki a mātau, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a whew of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Kolosa 2:13-15)
Imagine, papers written full of your sins; full of your trespasses, that would have condemn you unto the death penalty, but are blotted out by the work at the cross.
It is like taking all of the papers with your trespasses that would have condemn you unto death, and throw them all into the fire.
Jesus did that for you. He took that blame fully upon Him, He took your death penalty upon Him, so that you could walk in righteousness in Him. Free of sin, free of guilt, free of condemnation.
Āe, all your trespasses were nailed to His cross. You start with a clean sheet.
When you becomewhanau ano, your spirit is like a baby. The more you feed your spirit, by hearing and studying the Word of God, renewing your mind and doing the word of God, the sooner your spirit will mature. Because when you don’t feed your spirit, it will starve and die. ano, you have a choice.
There will be different seasons in your life. But, if you stay in the will of God and keep hearing and studying His Word and doing His Word, you will stand firm and walk as a son of God.
“Be the salt of the earth”
