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Many years ago I ran across this poem by Vera May Thomas:
I carry a cross in my pocket,
A simple reminder to me
That I am a Christian,
No matter where I may be.
This little cross isn’t magic,
Nor is it a good luck charm.
It isn’t meant to protect me
From every physical harm.
It’s not for identification
For all the world to see.
It’s simply an understanding
Between my Savior and me.
When I put my hand in my pocket
To bring out a coin or a key,
The cross is there to remind me
Of the price He paid for me.
It reminds me too, to be thankful
For my blessings every day,
And to strive to serve Him better
In all that I do or say.
It’s also a daily reminder
Of the peace and comfort I share
With all who know my Master
And give themselves to His care.
So, I carry a cross in my pocket
Reminding none but me
That Jesus Christ is Lord of my life,
If only I’ll let Him be.
**********************************************************
Read more at Poem : The Cross In My Pocket http://www.turnbacktogod.com/poem-the-cross-in-my-pocket/#ixzz59H2sbRUp
Though I disagree with the last two lines of the poem, namely that Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives only if we let Him be, still I find the overall sentiment of the poem to be insightful.
Ever since the time of Constantine in the fourth century A.D. the cross has been a religious symbol, and one that has often come to lose the significance of its meaning.
Symbols are well and good if our lives reflect what the symbol stands for.
But so often our lives reflect no such thing.
This reminds me of a story I once heard about a law-enforcement officer pulling over a driver on the grounds of suspicion of the vehicle being stolen.
When the driver of the automobile produced the proper paperwork to demonstrate that they were indeed the owner of the vehicle the officer responded with a defense of his suspicion.
You see the vehicle had a bumper-sticker that read “Honk if you love Jesus!”
And another sticker that said “.” Still yet another sticker that said “God loves you!”
But when the officer witnessed the driver honking at someone who was driving slow, giving an unseemly physical gesture towards another driver, and then yelling at a pedestrian who was crossing the street, the officer came to the conclusion that this vehicle must have been stolen.
This reminds me of a story I once heard about a law-enforcement officer pulling over a driver on the grounds of suspicion of the vehicle being stolen.
When the driver of the automobile produced the proper paperwork to demonstrate that they were indeed the owner of the vehicle the officer responded with a defense of his suspicion.
You see the vehicle had a bumper-sticker that read “Honk if you love Jesus!”
And another sticker that said “.” Still yet another sticker that said “God loves you!”
But when the officer witnessed the driver honking at someone who was driving slow, giving an unseemly physical gesture towards another driver, and then yelling at a pedestrian who was crossing the street, the officer came to the conclusion that this vehicle must have been stolen.
This week we begin our preparation for Easter by starting a new series.
This series was provoked by a portion of last weeks passage in which reads like this:
I have titled this new series of messages as IT’S ABOUT THE CROSS.
My reasoning for switching at this point in time is that we have come to a natural break in our text in Galatians, and so in my way of reasoning this is a good place to pause that series.
Being that this is more of a topical series than I am accustomed to I will frankly admit that I will be leaning heavily on an outstanding work by the late John Stott simply titled THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
For those unfamiliar with John Stott, he was a notable voice of conservative theology in Great Britain over the last half of the 20th century.
His name is associated with the likes of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and J.I. Packer, all of whom were or are conservative men within the ranks of the Anglican Church.
When Stott passed away in 2011 I read an article about him which stated that this book was the most important of his works.
As a side note, I had the opportunity to appear on T.V. with Stott back in the mid 1980’s.
He was the guest speaker for a Chicago area religious broadcast, and I was the guest singer (along with the rest of the members of the Moody Chorale!).
With this message being more topical in nature, there will be many different passages that are referred to.
As always you are invited to turn to the various passages in your Bible, but for your convenience the passages will be provided on the screen as well.
Today’s message is titled FACTS ABOUT THE CROSS.
We will look at the central importance of the cross, the deliberate character of the cross, and the basis of forgiveness that comes only through the cross of Jesus Christ.
Let’s look first at the central importance of the cross.
THE CENTRAL IMPORTANCE OF THE CROSS
As we consider the central importance of the cross we will look at its importance to Christ, and the Apostles.
The Cross’s Importance to Christ
John Stott wrote:
The fact that a cross became the Christian symbol, and that Christians stubbornly refused, in spite of the ridicule, to discard it in favor of something less offensive, can have only one explanation.
It means that the centrality of the cross originated in the mind of Jesus himself.
It was out of loyalty to him that his followers clung so doggedly to this sign.
There are many ways to approach the topic of the importance of the cross in the eyes and or focus of Jesus.
For this present study we will look at Jesus’ prophetic statements to His apostles regarding His coming crucifixion.
First let’s look at
The phrase “from that time” refers to the time when Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Notice that Jesus prophesied the location of His death as being in Jerusalem, the capital city of Judaism.
He also identified Himself with the Suffering Servant of when He stated that he would suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes.
He stated that He would be killed — though He did not yet state by what means He would be killed.
And finally He stated that He would be raised up on the third day — a reference to His resurrection — the empty tomb.
As you know, Peter did not like what Christ was saying at all.
And he took the Lord aside and began to rebuke Him for saying that He was going to die.
But Jesus would not be thwarted from His mission.
The next statement about his death is found in
Once again Jesus made the same prediction.
This time, however, we do not find anyone rebuking Him.
In the previous passage it was specified that the religious leaders of Israel were the ones who were going to have Jesus killed.
In this passage it merely says “the hands of men.”
Perhaps this is a slight indication that His death will be by means of execution.
The Jews did not have the authority to have a person crucified, but the Roman dogs did.
The third statement about His death in Matthew is found in
This time Jesus implicates both the Jewish leadership and the Roman leadership in His pending death.
He also spells out specifically what type of death He was going to die.
In this same time frame we see another statement about His death in
His death was not going to be a mere act of political expediency but it was an act of redemption by which He was to pay the ransom price for His people.
Let’s consider now:
The Cross’s Importance to the Apostles
From the very beginning of the Church, the Apostles proclaimed the importance of the cross.
Consider Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost in
Many years later in his first epistle Peter stated:
Of course we have seen already some of the Apostle Paul’s statements about the cross.
One we have not yet looked at is found in
The Apostle John referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world in the opening chapter of his gospel account.
In the Book of the Revelation, also written by John, Jesus is referred to in this way in the opening chapter: , ,
Let’s turn our attention now to the deliberate character of the cross.
THE DELIBERATE CHARACTER OF THE CROSS
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