ODJ: embrace the cross
January 29, 2011
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (2:20).
READ: Galatians 2:17-3:7
If desperate situations call for extreme measures, then extreme measures are a sign that we are in a desperate situation. If a police car flashed its lights behind me, my wife might say in her disapproving voice, “What did you do?” If my car were surrounded by police and a TV news helicopter hovered overhead, my wife’s tone would likely become more accusatory, “What did you do?” If a jet fighter joined the chase, dropping bombs in the direction of our car, my wife might scream like the lead female actor in an action movie, “What did you do?!” Consider what God did to save us. He didn’t hand us a brochure, as if our problem were merely ignorance. He didn’t hold an intervention, as if our problem were merely stubbornness. He answered our need with the cross, which can only mean that we have messed up big-time. If the cross is necessary to save us, then What did we do? The cross is a dagger through the happy talk of “You’re okay, I’m okay” and if we just try harder, we can change the world. The cross informs us that things have gone horribly wrong, and they won’t be right unless somebody dies. That somebody is Jesus. He paid our penalty, absorbing the Father’s wrath so that we might live (Galatians 2:20). That somebody is us. Jesus died instead of us, but not without us. Karl Barth explains: “That Jesus Christ died for us does not mean, therefore, that we do not have to die, but that we have died in and with Him, that as the people we were we have been done away and destroyed, that we are no longer there and have no more future.” Salvation is free, but it’s not cheap. It cost Jesus His life; and if you accept His gift, it will cost yours. —Mike Wittmer
Extreme measures indicate that the situation is not only desperate but also important. What does the cross say about your value to God?
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