And
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross.
Philippians
2:8
When did the Cross not mean Death? On the Cross, Christ was suspended
there between heaven and earth, hanging as a shield from the wrath of God and
his hatred toward sin against the wretched people. There he suffered the most brutal
punishment known to man, not at the hand of the Roman soldiers but at the hand
of his very own Father. To Christ it meant rejection, rejection from all that
He had loved; even the unity of the trinity was broken for that moment. It
meant the epitome of loneliness, hanging there all alone for the first and only
time in all of eternity. It meant suffering, His bones were rent from their
sockets, His flesh ripped off of His body, His organs burst from the shear
stress and agony experienced on that cross. His body was ravaged beyond any
human recognition there on the cross. The cross to Christ was the zenith of
suffering, He suffered emotionally and physically more than any other person
ever has or ever will. It meant carrying a burden that wasn’t his to bear and He
degraded himself to carry that burden. For Christ it was supreme expression of
Love that consumed all of his energy. It was an expression of love that would
never be returned on the contrary, it would fuel their hatred and added to how
they despised him. To Christ it meant a complete pouring out.
Christ call us to identify with Him
saying in Mark 8:34; And when he had
called the people unto him with
his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Did the cross you picked up and
carried through life the same cross? Did it cost you the same that it cost our savior?
It seems today that, that cross we are called to pick up and carry is quite different.
This modern cross calls us to be loved by all, it calls to popularity, it call
to fame, and to riches. It doesn’t call us to death. God help us to pick up the
untainted cross of the Father. I hope you haven’t bought in to the lie of the
Satan. May Christ call us to pick up the same cross He did, it may be racked
with pain, it may be filled with despair and filled with suffering like you
have never known; but can I say it will liken us to the most wonderful one that
has ever touched this earth, Our Beautiful Savior and Friend, Jesus Christ.
Paul understood this when he exclaimed; “That
I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his
sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;”
Philippians
3:10
I want to know and be just like him
even if it calls me death; I hope you do as well. It is the greatest reward to
ever be gained, a deep and intimate walk with Master.
