Nearly every Christian church building has a symbol of the cross upon its roof or in its walls.
But this is not the real cross. The real cross for Christ was not the wooden beams he was nailed upon (although the wooden cross does as symbols have prophetic significance). It is not about the way that Christ died, but what Christ experienced and stood for. The real cross was His burden for the Father's will, for humanity, for the kingdom, for the church, the sins of the world, his jailers, his persecutors, his family, his disciples, everything that caused Christ frustration, turmoil, burden, pain and ultimately..death. Jesus did not only experience the cross at his death - his whole life was a life of bearing a cross (Luke 14:27).
To us today our real cross is everything in our environment that God has appointed to bring us frustration, turmoil, burden, pain, and ultimately death (to our self). Whether that is our family, children, parents, church, whatever it be, it is all so we can lose our self and bear Christ's image. It is said that the church is not the building, it's the people - we may also say that the real cross in the church is not the cross on the wall, it's the people.
Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
But this is not the real cross. The real cross for Christ was not the wooden beams he was nailed upon (although the wooden cross does as symbols have prophetic significance). It is not about the way that Christ died, but what Christ experienced and stood for. The real cross was His burden for the Father's will, for humanity, for the kingdom, for the church, the sins of the world, his jailers, his persecutors, his family, his disciples, everything that caused Christ frustration, turmoil, burden, pain and ultimately..death. Jesus did not only experience the cross at his death - his whole life was a life of bearing a cross (Luke 14:27).
To us today our real cross is everything in our environment that God has appointed to bring us frustration, turmoil, burden, pain, and ultimately death (to our self). Whether that is our family, children, parents, church, whatever it be, it is all so we can lose our self and bear Christ's image. It is said that the church is not the building, it's the people - we may also say that the real cross in the church is not the cross on the wall, it's the people.
Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
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