What does the phrase, ‘there is power in the cross,’ mean to you?
Let’s take a look in the Bible…
In Luke 9:23 Jesus says, “If any of you want to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me…” The cross is a powerful daily reminder of how we should lives, putting others first and ourselves last.
In first Corinthians 1:18, Paul said, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.” The cross separates God’s followers from those who don’t yet know Him. If you don’t know God, the cross may seem foolish. But for people who know God, when we think of the cross, and look upon it, picturing Jesus hanging on it, and remember the crucifixion, we feel thankful and comforted because we know we are God’s children.
The message of the cross draws a line between the people who know God and the people who need to.
In Colossians 2:13-14 Paul wrote, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.”
Hebrews 12:2, “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.” Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”
And back in Luke 9:26, Jesus says, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.”
The cross is a simple upright post with a transverse bar and was used to crucify Jesus Christ. It’s a symbol of death, but also so much more. Death and life, hate and love, violence and peace, accusation and forgiveness, sin and purity, brokenness and wholeness, all is lost yet everything is gained, destruction and restoration, defeat and victory. Once the cruelest form of execution, yet now a symbol of abundant life.
When we say there is power in the cross, we’re not talking about the cross at all. We’re talking about the power of Jesus who loved us and gave us our forgiveness at the cross.
The phrase, ‘there is power in the cross,’ is just another way for us to describe and picture the powerful love of our God.
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