Cross

Seeing the Cross With Bi-Focals

/ Dennis Griffith / 2 Comments

Bi Focal 3

Is is essential to keep together these two complementary ways of looking at the cross. On the human level, Judas gave him up to the priests, who gave him up to Pilate, who gave him up to the soldiers, who crucified him. But on the divine level, the Father gave him up, and he gave himself up, to die for us. As we face the cross, then, we can say to ourselves both, “I did it, my sins sent him there,” and “He did it, his love took him there.” The apostle Peter brought the two truths together in his remarkable statement on the Day of Pentecost, both that “this man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge” and that “you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross” Peter thus attributed Jesus’ death simultaneously to the plan of God and to the wickedness of men. For the cross which, as we have particularly considered in this chapter, is an exposure of human evil, is at the same time a revelation of the divine purpose to overcome the human evil thus exposed.

~ John Stott

In the Cross

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Orange Cross (La Croix)

In the Cross is salvation, in the Cross is life, in the Cross is protection from our enemies, in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the Cross is strength of mind,  in the Cross is joy of spirit, in the Cross is the height of virtue, in the Cross is perfection of sanctity. There is no salvation of the soul, nor hope of everlasting life, but in the Cross.

~ Thomas á Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the one Nietzsche ridiculed as “God on the Cross.” In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples and stood respectfully before the statue of Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of this world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from the thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered into our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us.

~ John Stott

The Cross in the Crosshairs of My Heart

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

“I tend to focus my thoughts on my Christianity – how I’m doing, what I’m learning, how my prayer time was today, how I avoided that pesky sin or fell into it again. I think about what I’m supposed to accomplish for Christ, and I interact with others on that same works-oriented ground. But this day isn’t about me at all. It’s about Him: His sinless life, death, resurrection, ascension and reign and the sure promise of His return. It’s the gravity of His life that should attract me toward Him.”

~ Elyse Fitzpatrick, Comforts from the Cross

Beauty & Purpose of the Cross

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Sadly not everyone recognizes the requisite necessity for God to be Just. Many picture him exclusively as absolute and unconditional love, thinking he will dismiss the the legal demands that result from mankind’s sin on that basis alone. This approach is offensive to God because it demeans two of the other essential facets of his unfathomable nature: Holiness & Justice. In addition, to see God solely as love is to overlook the beauty and the purpose of the Cross. For at the Cross, the perfect holiness of God meets his perfect love in action.

-Jerry Bridges & Bob Bevington, The Great Exchange

Power of the Cross

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

Oh, to see the dawn of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

CHORUS:

This, the pow’r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain written on your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev’ry bitter thought, Ev’ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees; Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two, Dead are raised to life;
“Finished!” the vict’ry cry.

Oh, to see my name written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through your selfless love.

FINAL CHORUS:

This, the pow’r of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

The Cross Enforces Three Truths

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

The Cross enforces three truths:

  • about ourselves,
  • about God, and
  • about Jesus Christ.

1. Our Sin must be extremely horrible.

Nothing reveals the gravity of sin like the Cross.  For ultimately what sent Christ there was neither the greed of Judas, nor the envy of the priests, nor the vacillating cowardice of Pilate, but our own greed, envy, and cowardice and other sins, and Christ’s resolve in love and mercy to bear their judgment and so put them away.

2. God’s love must be wonderful beyond comprehension.

God could quite justly have abandoned us to our fate. He could have left us alone to reap the fruit of our wrongdoing… It is what we deserved. But he did not. Because he loved us, he came after us in Christ.

3. Christ’s salvation must be a free gift.

He ‘purchased’ it for us at the high price of his own life-blood. So what is there left for us to pay? Nothing!

– John Stott, The Cross of Christ 

Seeker Sensitive vs. Cost of Discipleship

/ Dennis Griffith / 1 Comment

cross-dali.jpgIn our culture of “seeker sensitivity” and radical inclusivity, the great temptation is to compromise the cost of discipleship in order to draw a larger crowd.  With the most sincere hearts, we do not want to see anyone walk away from Jesus because of the discomfort of his cross, so we clip the claws on the Lion a little, and we clean up a bit the bloody Passion we are called to follow.

–Shane Claiborne, in The Irresistible Revolution

The Gospel in 6-Minutes

/ Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Paul, the Apostle, wrote: 

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…  (Romans 1.16)

The Gospel is a phrase I am fond of, and use frequently.  But from time to time I have to stop and recognize that not everybody immediately understands what I am talking about.   

Some are unclear because, in some church traditions, the word Gospel has been used in so many ways that identifying the core idea is like trying to find your golf ball in murky water (something I’ve had to do too many times!) 

Increasing numbers of people are not only unclear as to the meaning of the word Gospel, they have no idea what it means.  This includes those who grew up outside the church; and it includes many who grew up inside churches that hardly, if ever, used the word at all.  This is increasingly evident, because, whether we like it or not, we live in a post-Christian culture. 

So what exactly is the Gospel? 

John Piper, of Desiring God Ministries, provides a very concise definition, and illustrates the important – though often neglected – principle that we never outgrow the Gospel in our Christian life.  

Watch this powerful (and short) video: