|
|
Three Views of the Cross
(Adapted from
unknown author)
It was just another
day, yet it was a day like none other. It was a day the Devil had dreamt of and
a day the Anointed One of God had committed too. It was a day that Peter and
the Apostles never thought they would see. It was the day for which Christ was
born, and the day God had planned and prepared before the earth’s foundations
were built. You see this was the day that Jesus was going to be crucified. This
was the day that God in flesh would hang upon a despised tree that He had
created. This was the day the Devil had waited for and Christ had agonized
over.
In a typical
crucifixion, a person feels for the depression at the front of the wrist and drives
a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood.
The cross is then lifted into place. The hands and feet were used because they
are nerve-sensitive places, but not vital organs.
As the arms grow
tired, cramps swept through the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless,
throbbing pain. With these cramps would come the inability to push upward to
breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He
would have been able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving
oxygen. Then another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as
the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. It is
now almost over--the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level--the
com-pressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the
tissues--the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps
of air. He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues. Finally he
could allow his body to die. All this the Bible records with the simple words,
"And they crucified Him." (Mark
Crucifixion was the most severe form of
execution. It was reserved for slaves and criminals. It was feared, despised,
and regarded as awful and torturous. Yet the Bible is noticeably absent it its
physical description of the cross. I don’t know all the reasons why those details
were omitted, but I do know that the Holy Spirit of God had a greater purpose
than physical and emotional suffering. Much more than Christ’s physical and
emotional suffering should draw us to Him. Let us ask the question, “What do we
see when we View the Cross?”
We Can See What Sin Will Do.
God has tried to communicate to us the awful consequences
and nature of sin. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were separated from paradise
and the tree of Life. They were condemned to spiritual death. Law of Moses contained
a plethora of laws intended to keep man away from sin. Sin separates us from
God (Isa 59:1-2).
Because of sin: Moses was barred from the Promised Land. Achan and his family suffered a horrible
death (Joshua 7).
The cross is the
epitome of what sin can do. Of course, Christ
was truly innocent I Pet 2:21-25). His punishment was undeserved in every sense
of the word. He did more good than any other, past, present, or future, yet he
still was forsaken and condemned to the cruelest death yet known to man. Sin
was THE reason Christ underwent that horrible suffering. Let us never take sin
lightly, for Christ suffered unimaginably for our sins.
We Can See
What Love will Bear.
In his book
Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister
needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease
from which the boy had recovered two years earlier. Her only chance for
recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the
disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the
ideal donor. "Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked.
Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said,
"Sure, for my sister." Soon the two children were wheeled into the
hospital room--Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke,
but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into
his arm, Johnny's smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube. With
the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. “Doctor,
when do I die?” Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated and
why his lip had trembled when he'd agreed to donate his blood. He thought
giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment,
he'd made his great decision. Johnny, fortunately, didn't have to die to save
his sister. Each of us, however, has a condition more serious than Mary's, and
it required Jesus to give not just His blood but His life (Thomas
Lindberg).
Human love can bear
a lot. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his
friends” (John
We can see What Forgiveness Costs.
People often
want something for nothing. People talk about the freedom we enjoy in our
country…but that freedom comes at a great price. They speak about the free gift
of salvation…But God’s grace has been purchased at the great price of Christ’s
blood that He shed on the cross. Forgiveness cost God his SON! Forgiveness cost
Christ his life. The fact that we are able to know about God’s forgiveness cost
the Apostles time away from their families, most worldly comforts and
pleasures, and many of them endured persecutions and death so that we could
hold the words of the saving gospel in our hands today.
Forgiveness costs
us as well. Our faith must be demonstrated by action (Jas 2). We must present
our bodies as living sacrifices to God (Rom 12:1-2). We must “die to ourselves”
and follow Christ (Heb 5:8-9). And we
must, in that same sense be “crucified with Christ” (Gal
What do
you see when you look at the cross?
People have 1 of 2 opinions of the cross. “For the message of
the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God” (I Cor
- - - - Adapted by Darrell Powell
News & Notes
1. Prayer List:
2. Baptized Into Christ:
LeRoy Boutwell was baptized into
Christ on Monday morning. We rejoice with Shirley in the decision that
LeRoy made.
3. Requested Prayers: Neomia Collins requested the prayers of the church for her and her family. Please remember her in your personal, private prayers.
4. Please Pray For: The
following people are serving in
5. Birthdays:
December
2nd BJ Alford,
December 5th
Brooklyn Acree, and
December 7th Eleanor
Stabler.
6. Sign-Up List For 2008:
The lists for communion, greeters, van drivers, and securing the building for
2008 are on the bulletin board. Please sign-up now!
7. Silver Threads Banquet:
There
will be a banquet in honor of our elder members on Saturday, December 8th
at
8. Young Adult Progressive
Dinner: There will be a progressive dinner for all of our young adults
on December 14th at
9.
10. The Reporter: “The
Reporter” can be viewed on our web-site or received by e-mail. Send your
e-mail request to: wschurchofchrist@camelliacom.com.
If you receive the Reporter by mail and would be willing to receive the e-mail
version we would be grateful as postage is so expensive. The website address is: http:\\www.walnutstreetchurchofchrist.org.
11. Crowne Health Care: There will not be a
class at Crowne Health Care on the Saturday after
Christmas (December 29th). Our holiday party at Crowne
Health Care will be at
12. Put God First: With
holiday season approaching, remember to keep God first in your giving. “Give,
and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken
together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom…” (Luke 6:38) Our
weekly budget is $6,427.38.
13. Radio Programs:
Remember to hear our programs and tell others to listen. Sunday: 95.9 at
Cornelius
In Acts
the tenth chapter, we read a wonderful story about a man named Cornelius. He was not a Christian yet, since the
Gentiles had not received the gospel at that point. But he was described as a
centurion who was God-fearing, devout, upright, a generous giver, prayerful,
and “well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation” (Acts 10: 1-2; 22). Cornelius
was a great example for his household, his community, the people of God, and
even all people two thousand years later. He was a man who lived the kind of
life every Christian should live. What can we learn from Cornelius?
The story of Cornelius teaches us that there
are great men and women in our world that are genuinely seeking to obey
God…they simply need to be taught what His will is. I’ve heard Christians talk
about reasons why certain people “would not be responsive to the gospel even if
they were taught.” But even though the Bible teaches us that the way to heaven
is difficult and there will be few who follow it (Matt
Cornelius’s account also indicates that if
there is a prayer that God will hear from a non-Christian, it is a genuine
prayer for guidance to understand and obey God’s will (Acts
Finally, this story, like all other New Testament
conversion accounts, teaches us that water baptism is a command of God that
must be obeyed. Even though Cornelius’s case is one of only two times when the
Holy Spirit of God fell upon people in a miraculous way (the other is in Acts
chapter 2), Peter still commanded Cornelius and his household to be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ. Acts
-
- - - Darrell Powell
-
“…Whatever
you do, do all to the glory of God.”
(I
Corinthians 10:31)
Don’t just own a Bible; read it!
(334-382-3001)