The cross is the place of atonement and the place of redemption and grace. 耶稣 was the perfect Lamb of God, without blemish and spot, Who made atonement for you.耶稣基督, 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, 以便, 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) 和手段 ;
- a stake or post (as set upright),
- 那是, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment)
- figuratively exposure to death, 那是, selfdenial;
- by implication the atonement of Christ: – cross.
What did Jesus say about the cross?
那些不背起十字架的人, and followeth after Me, 配不上我 (马修 10:38)
若有人来追随我, 让他否定自己, 并背起他的十字架, 跟我来. 因为凡要救自己生命的，都会丧掉生命: 凡是为我而失去生命的人都会得到它 (马修 16:24,25)
凡要跟随我的人, 让他否定自己, 并背起他的十字架, 并跟随我 (标记 8:34).
Take up your cross, 并跟随我 (标记 10:21)
若有人来追随我, 让他否定自己, 并每日背起他的十字架, 并跟随我 (卢克 9:23)
Whosoever doth not bear his cross, 来追随我, cannot be My disciple (卢克 14:27)
在这些诗句中, Jesus is very clear, and says, that if we really want to follow Jesus Christ, we should take up our cross and follow Him (另请阅读: ‘跟随耶稣会让你付出一切‘ 和 ‘称为死亡的痛苦过程’).
What does it mean to take up your cross?
出色地, to answer this question, we must look at what took place at the cross; 耶稣被钉十字架. 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 the will of His Father.
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.是的, 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, 读圣经 5 或者 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.
是的, 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 不 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. 不, 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, 在耶稣基督里.
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, 你的罪过 (另请阅读: 老人的战斗与弱点)
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(腓立比书 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.
再次, 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, 拯救在我们主耶稣基督的十字架上, 世界因我而被钉在十字架上, 我对世界. 因为在基督耶稣里，受割礼毫无益处, 也没有未受割礼, 但一个新的生物 (加拉太书 6:14,15)
Paul’s life was crucified with Jesus Christ. He took up his cross, 意思是, 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 哥林多前书 1:17-18)
You are reconciled with God through the cross, through the blood of Jesus Christ. 所以, you have peace because you are reconciled. Because of the blood of Jesus, you have been made 正义.
In Christ Jesus you have become righteous, 圣, unblameable and unreproveable.
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby (以弗所书 2:16)
和, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, 我说, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
你呢, 有时因为邪恶的行为而被疏远并成为你心目中的敌人, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, 在他面前呈现圣洁、无可指摘、无可指责的 (上校 1:20-1:22)
All your sins, all of your trespasses, have been forgiven
你呢, 死在你的罪孽和未受割礼的肉体中, 他与他一起加速, 原谅了你所有的过犯; 涂掉反对我们的法令的笔迹, 这与我们相反, 并把它拿开, 把它钉在祂的十字架上; 并破坏了公国和权力, He made a whew of them openly, 在其中战胜了他们 (歌罗西书 2:13-15)
想象, 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.
是的, all your trespasses were nailed to His cross. You start with a clean sheet.
当你成为重生, 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. 再次, you have a choice.
There will be different seasons in your life. 但, if you stay in 上帝的旨意 and keep hearing and studying His Word and doing His Word, you will stand firm and walk as a son of God.
“成为地球之盐”
