The Offense of the Cross

“And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Matthew 21:44 KJV

There is a great misconception about the Christian life. The overarching belief is that when we accept Christ, He changes our life. But that is not what He taught when He walked this earth and that is not what He confirmed to Paul and the other apostles. A good study of the New Testament clearly shows us that when we accept Him, our life is not changed through Christ, but it is EXCHANGED for His life.

Jesus taught that we must be born again (John 3:3). He never says that He will come in and work with our flesh, tame it, or compromise. He is very direct in His teaching that the flesh is tainted and unusable (John 6:63), but that when we become born again, His Spirit now lives within us and it is through Him that we have power to overcome the flesh. It is through His Spirit that we can know Him. It is through His Spirit that we can love others. It is through His Spirit that we can turn the other cheek when we are mistreated. It is through His Spirit that we can let go of our worries as we walk through the battlefield of life and trust God.

The only way to have true peace and true victory is through stepping out of the way every single day and choosing to let Christ live in our place. Paul called it crucifying the flesh (Galatians 5:24). If we are His, then it is not about what we want, our goals, our vision, doing things FOR Him. If we are His, then it is about Him doing it THROUGH us.

There is no compromise with Christ. We cannot be lukewarm (Revelation 3:16). It is Him or us. We must choose and we must let go of all of this life and take on His life.

You see, we must die to live. There is no other way and to try to live otherwise will stunt our spiritual growth (Hebrews 5:12), keep us defeated and make us vulnerable to being swayed by spiritual fads and “doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1) that leave us in spiritual danger.

All that will satisfy us, all that will fill us, all that will solve our problems, and all that will make us see that what we are experiencing on this earth is nothing in comparison to what we have before us in eternity is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

If you are struggling, if you are in pain, if you are sick, if you are depressed, if you are worried, if you are anxious, if you are drowning in the cares of life as I was, YOU are still trying to live. Come to the end of yourself, fall on the stone that is Jesus Christ, and give all you are to HIM. YOU HAVE TO DIE TO YOURSELF TO REALLY LIVE. I had heard it a thousand times. I knew it and I finally did it. Now my only regret is that I waited so long, but God takes even that pain makes it sweet through His love, grace, and mercy.

Paul knew the way and he told us…”I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 KJV

Thank you, Jesus.