For quite awhile I have been fixated on the story in Matthew 16 where Jesus tells his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." I keep wondering to myself, did the disciples really understood the weight behind Jesus mentioning the cross and what it stood for.
Lest we forget that in those times the Romans used the cross as a brutal and humiliating form of capital punishment. It was meant to be used against non-Romans, slaves, and criminals. It was used to instill fear into those who committed crimes and those who were thought to have incited opposition to the Roman rule. But somehow in the 2000 plus years of history since Jesus' crucifixion, many Christians, (myself included) have adopted the cross as a symbol of salvation and hope for an eternal life. The fact is that the cross itself really had no power or say in its role, it was merely the vehicle used to bring about God's intent in the whole ordeal.
The true power behind the cross comes from the Son who willingly came to this Earth as a human. He came through a supernatural conception but was born a natural birth and lived a life fully as a human. He learned as a child, studied the ways of his earthly father, as well as the studies of scripture so He'd be prepared to take up his Heavenly Father's business. He felt hunger, thirst, joy, grief, and anxiety to name a few. But through it all he remained faithful to complete the mission which was to reveal the Father and his Father's heart for how we should all live.
His life, fully lived, without sin while moving, speaking and acting according to his Heavenly Father's will through the Holy Spirit, being ended on that vehicle of the cross is what gives us the symbol of salvation and hope for eternal life.
I say all that to ask this:
"Am I placing my affections on the idea of salvation through the cross, or am I rightfully placing my affections on the Son who died on it as me?"
I ask that as I myself have walked around with a 3-nail cross hung around my neck, partially as a reminder of what Jesus did for me, but I will be honest, most days I have it hidden underneath my shirt so not many people see it regularly.
It hasn't been until recently that I've been digging deep into self reflection on the question above and what salvation really means. Yes, it's freedom from sin. Yes, it's eternal life. But it means so much more. It means that in accepting Jesus and believing that he really did die AS me, then I have been restored back to God as his child and made in His image as Genesis 1:26 says. That my choice to declare that I will follow Him through my declaration of water baptism, that the old me is dead and buried and a new me has been resurrected into a new life where I can be led to an inner transformation that aligns me more and more into that image God that created me in.
To me, true salvation was a discovery of the invitation into that deep intimate relationship the Father has always wanted with humanity. Understanding that, It becomes much easier to place the focus of my affections on the One who really has the power to do it all.
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