BELIEVERS AND DISCIPLES 6
Now let us take a look at the second condition
which is “... taking up your cross daily…”. What is the cross here? The cross in time past has been a sign of suffering, condemnation and death. If you were to see someone bearing a cross along the street being followed by soldiers in those days, it is known to all that such a person will not be returning from the journey. If that man were to be owing you, that will be a bad debt. And if you were the one that owed the man, it will definitely be of little or no concern to him again. What is this cross the Lord is calling us to take up daily? Let us take a look at what His own Cross meant.. What is the Cross of Christ? Hebrews 12:2 sheds good light on what the cross is.
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The Cross was an experience Jesus Christ encountered on the path of doing the will of his Father. There was a joy (prize) that was set before Jesus by the Father, for which he needed to go through the cross experience in order to obtain or enter into that joy. The Cross was foreordained by the Father. The Cross however was not a palatable experience. It is one that comes with shame, and difficulties. An experience that demanded his having to endure.
The cross can mean nothing less than this for us.
*The cross is whatever comes your ways as a result of your obedience to the word and will of
God.*
When a female student have to go through an extra year in school because she refused to submit to sexual demands from a lecturer, that is a cross for that student.. When you are denied a promotion simply because refused to “play ball” that becomes a cross for you. When you suffer delays at the hand of a police officer simply because you refused to “roger” despite your papers been complete is a cross.
Taking up your cross daily simply means arming yourself with an uncompromising mindset.
1 Peter 4:1-5 (NET) puts this clearly
“So, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin, in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires. For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians desire. You lived then in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts, and wanton idolatries. So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you. They will face a reckoning before Jesus Christ who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.
which is “... taking up your cross daily…”. What is the cross here? The cross in time past has been a sign of suffering, condemnation and death. If you were to see someone bearing a cross along the street being followed by soldiers in those days, it is known to all that such a person will not be returning from the journey. If that man were to be owing you, that will be a bad debt. And if you were the one that owed the man, it will definitely be of little or no concern to him again. What is this cross the Lord is calling us to take up daily? Let us take a look at what His own Cross meant.. What is the Cross of Christ? Hebrews 12:2 sheds good light on what the cross is.
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The Cross was an experience Jesus Christ encountered on the path of doing the will of his Father. There was a joy (prize) that was set before Jesus by the Father, for which he needed to go through the cross experience in order to obtain or enter into that joy. The Cross was foreordained by the Father. The Cross however was not a palatable experience. It is one that comes with shame, and difficulties. An experience that demanded his having to endure.
The cross can mean nothing less than this for us.
*The cross is whatever comes your ways as a result of your obedience to the word and will of
God.*
When a female student have to go through an extra year in school because she refused to submit to sexual demands from a lecturer, that is a cross for that student.. When you are denied a promotion simply because refused to “play ball” that becomes a cross for you. When you suffer delays at the hand of a police officer simply because you refused to “roger” despite your papers been complete is a cross.
Taking up your cross daily simply means arming yourself with an uncompromising mindset.
1 Peter 4:1-5 (NET) puts this clearly
“So, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin, in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires. For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians desire. You lived then in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts, and wanton idolatries. So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you. They will face a reckoning before Jesus Christ who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.
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