The cross is the place of atonement and the place of redemption and grace. Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God, without blemish and spot, Who made atonement for you.Jesus Cristo, 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, para que, 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’ significar?
The word cross comes from the Greek word: stauros (stow-ros), it comes from the base of no. G2476(strong concordance) e significa ;
- a stake or post (as set upright),
- Isto é, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment)
- figuratively exposure to death, Isto é, 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 (Mateus 10:38)
Se alguém vier após Mim, deixe-o negar a si mesmo, e tome sua cruz, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it (Mateus 16:24,25)
Whosoever will come after Me, deixe-o negar a si mesmo, e tome sua cruz, e siga-Me (Marca 8:34).
Take up your cross, e siga-Me (Marca 10:21)
Se alguém vier após Mim, deixe-o negar a si mesmo, and take up his cross daily, e siga-Me (Lucas 9:23)
Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple (Lucas 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 (Leia também: ‘Seguir Jesus vai custar-lhe tudo‘ e ‘O processo doloroso conhecido como morrer’).
What does it mean to take up your cross?
Bem, 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 a vontade de Seu Pai.
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.Sim, 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, Ir à igreja, being friendly, doing charity works, reading the Bible 5 ou 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.
Sim, 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 não 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. Não, 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, em Jesus Cristo.
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 (Leia também: A batalha e a fraqueza do velho)
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(Filipenses 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.
De novo, 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?
Mas Deus não permita que eu me glorie, salvo na cruz de nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo, por quem o mundo está crucificado para mim, e eu para o mundo. Porque em Cristo Jesus nem a circuncisão tem valor algum, nem incircuncisão, mas uma nova criatura (Gálatas 6:14,15)
Paul’s life was crucified with Jesus Christ. He took up his cross, que significa, 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.
Pois Cristo me enviou não para batizar, mas para pregar o evangelho: não com sabedoria de palavras, para que a cruz de Cristo não se torne vã. Porque a pregação da cruz é loucura para os que perecem; mas para nós, que somos salvos, é o poder de Deus (1 Coríntios 1:17-18)
You are reconciled with God through the cross, through the blood of Jesus Christ. Portanto, you have peace because you are reconciled. Because of the blood of Jesus, you have been made justo.
In Christ Jesus you have become righteous, sagrado, unblameable and unreproveable.
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby (Efésios 2:16)
E, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, Eu digo, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
E você, 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 (Coronel 1:20-1:22)
All your sins, all of your trespasses, have been forgiven
E você, estar morto em seus pecados e na incircuncisão de sua carne, vivificou junto com Ele, tendo perdoado todas as transgressões; Apavorando a caligrafia das ordenanças que estavam contra nós, o que era contrário a nós, e tirou-o do caminho, pregando-o em Sua cruz; E ter estragado principados e poderes, He made a whew of them openly, triunfando sobre eles nela (Colossenses 2:13-15)
Imaginar, 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.
Sim, all your trespasses were nailed to His cross. You start with a clean sheet.
Quando você se tornarenascido, 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. De novo, you have a choice.
There will be different seasons in your life. Mas, if you stay in a vontade de Deus and keep hearing and studying His Word and doing His Word, you will stand firm and walk as a son of God.
“Seja o sal da terra”
