The Cross Of Christ
The cross of Christ is the cornerstone of human history. All of history revolves around the fact that Christ came and died upon the cross. Our calender use of B.C. and A.D. attest to this historical fact. However, it is NOT the historical cross but the cross as a moral power to subjugate us that is important. This is the Pauline interpretation of the historical event that we call the cross of calvary. By Pauline I am referring to the Apostle Paul's epistles and his understanding of divine truth revealed to and through him.
The cross from the Pauline perspective includes not only Christ's death but also his resurrection. Without the resurrection then the cross means nothing other than the torture of another human being unjustly. But Christ was not just another human being. He was the "perfect" man without sin, spot or blemish of any kind. He was the God-man, i.e. God incarnate in a man. God come into manhood to identify with His creature.
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father". Phillipians 2:5-11
According to this passage Christ was in the form of God, and he took a bondservant's form, and came in the likeness of men. I believe one of the reasons it says "likeness" is because he was like no other man. He was unique in that sin did not dwell within Him. He looked outwardly as other men in the flesh but He was different inwardly. He was perfect. As such He is the perfect representation of what God had in mind for Man to be like. Christ is the standard by which we must judge ourselves before a holy and righteous God.
When we look at the perfection of Christ we must humbly admit our failure to meet up to the mind of God. We were born into sin because of Adam's transgression (see Romans 5:12). All of us have sinned and there is not one of us worthy of God. Christ is the only one that could claim He had no sin. It is because of His personal moral perfection that His sacrifice on Calvary was efficacious. If he had even one iota of sin within Him then He was just another man and we are lost. However cruel, unjust, despicable, evil and hateful the cross was it was the means by which God shows us up for who and what we are. It exposes our own sinfulness in that we are no different then those who crucified Christ. It was His perfection that men could not stand or tolerate and they would say "we will not have this man reign over us" (Luke 19:14).
Men still to this day are saying that they will not have Christ reign over them. We resist the promptings of the Spirit of God to completely surrender to the Cross and the work it has accomplished. Even many so-called Christians refuse the cross. Oh, they acknowledge the "historical" cross alright and the need to deal with the "sin" question. However, they know little or nothing of the fullness of the cross and how it is God's means to apply moral death experientially to the old man (our old sinful and dead nature). Many Christians are deceived in their thinking. They falsly believe that just answering an altar call, saying the "sinners" prayer, being the best person they can be, and going to Church every week buys them Eternal Life. Is this what Christ meant by believing on Him? I admit that having remorse over your sins and recognizing your need of a savior is important and it is a start but that's all it is...a start.
God doesn't want to just clean up the "old man" within you. That man is dead! He died with Christ 2000 years ago on the cross but in practical experience the cross must be "applied" so that the "old man" is truly in his place i.e. DEAD! Intellectual assent to this fact is not enough. We must allow the Spirit of God to make the death of Christ (and our death with Him) real and experiential. This is the only way for us as Christians to live in the power of the resurrection (Philippians 3:10).
I will have more to say about the cross in the days to come so keep checking back.
Your brother in the Lord Jesus,
Philologus
The cross from the Pauline perspective includes not only Christ's death but also his resurrection. Without the resurrection then the cross means nothing other than the torture of another human being unjustly. But Christ was not just another human being. He was the "perfect" man without sin, spot or blemish of any kind. He was the God-man, i.e. God incarnate in a man. God come into manhood to identify with His creature.
"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father". Phillipians 2:5-11
According to this passage Christ was in the form of God, and he took a bondservant's form, and came in the likeness of men. I believe one of the reasons it says "likeness" is because he was like no other man. He was unique in that sin did not dwell within Him. He looked outwardly as other men in the flesh but He was different inwardly. He was perfect. As such He is the perfect representation of what God had in mind for Man to be like. Christ is the standard by which we must judge ourselves before a holy and righteous God.
When we look at the perfection of Christ we must humbly admit our failure to meet up to the mind of God. We were born into sin because of Adam's transgression (see Romans 5:12). All of us have sinned and there is not one of us worthy of God. Christ is the only one that could claim He had no sin. It is because of His personal moral perfection that His sacrifice on Calvary was efficacious. If he had even one iota of sin within Him then He was just another man and we are lost. However cruel, unjust, despicable, evil and hateful the cross was it was the means by which God shows us up for who and what we are. It exposes our own sinfulness in that we are no different then those who crucified Christ. It was His perfection that men could not stand or tolerate and they would say "we will not have this man reign over us" (Luke 19:14).
Men still to this day are saying that they will not have Christ reign over them. We resist the promptings of the Spirit of God to completely surrender to the Cross and the work it has accomplished. Even many so-called Christians refuse the cross. Oh, they acknowledge the "historical" cross alright and the need to deal with the "sin" question. However, they know little or nothing of the fullness of the cross and how it is God's means to apply moral death experientially to the old man (our old sinful and dead nature). Many Christians are deceived in their thinking. They falsly believe that just answering an altar call, saying the "sinners" prayer, being the best person they can be, and going to Church every week buys them Eternal Life. Is this what Christ meant by believing on Him? I admit that having remorse over your sins and recognizing your need of a savior is important and it is a start but that's all it is...a start.
God doesn't want to just clean up the "old man" within you. That man is dead! He died with Christ 2000 years ago on the cross but in practical experience the cross must be "applied" so that the "old man" is truly in his place i.e. DEAD! Intellectual assent to this fact is not enough. We must allow the Spirit of God to make the death of Christ (and our death with Him) real and experiential. This is the only way for us as Christians to live in the power of the resurrection (Philippians 3:10).
I will have more to say about the cross in the days to come so keep checking back.
Your brother in the Lord Jesus,
Philologus
posted by Ktrek | 11:04 AM
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