Pastor's corner - The Transforming Power of the Cross!

As we come to “the season of the cross” of Christ, it is fitting for us to reflect on the meaning of the cross, and how that cross has power to transform lives today… some 2000 years later.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14).”

While Paul could have boasted in many things, he refused to boast about anything except the cross of Jesus Christ! In fact, he reminded the Corinthian believers that, when he first came to Corinth, he “resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (I Cor. 2:2). Why? What was it about the cross that became Paul’s obsession? The answer is found in the Word of God.

If you look closely at this verse, you will see three crucifixions. The first one is foundational to the next two.

That first crucifixion is Christ Crucified. Paul refers to “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”. What was done on the cross and in the resurrection is the one bright light shining through the dark clouds of history! God’s plan for man was peace and life…abundant and full (Ps. 16:11). He put man in the most perfect environment. His needs were met. He had a life of peace, fullness and, most importantly, he was one with his Creator… in terms of intimacy!

But something happened. In that perfect environment, God also had some boundaries. And because Satan was there to lie to our first parents and deceive them, man rebelled against god… man sinned. He was then banished from Eden and from the presence of the Lord, and we’ve been feeling the effects ever since.

This is because every generation since has been infected with the cancer of sin (Rom.

3:12, 23; 5:12; 6:23), resulting in the same separation from God! Man has since been trying to bridge the gulf between God and man through religious activity and good works… without success.

The Bible says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 14:12).

God could have left us in our lost state, but He didn’t.

He intervened.

He intervened by becoming a man (Jn.

1:1, 14) for the purpose of dying for our sins and thus bridging the gulf between God and man (I Tim.

2:5).

Christ is our Substitute… taking the wrath of the Father in our stead (Isa.

53; John 3:16; Rom.

5:8; I Pet.

3:18).

You see God’s requirement is righteousness… perfection.

Since none of us meet that standard and never will, we must be clothed with a righteousness we could never obtain.

On the cross, Christ took our sins and was punished for them… thus providing all who put their trust in Him with His righteousness (II Cor.

5:21).

Once you put your faith in Christ, receiving Him into your heart and trusting in Him ALONE for your salvation, God no longer sees you in your sin.

He now sees you through His perfect Son… through His righteousness!

Now we come to the second crucifixion of Galatians 6:14, where we see the transforming power of Christ’s cross to render… The World Crucified to me. Paul saw the world with all of its pleasures, honors and treasures as a felon executed on a cross! Worldliness was executed. The apostle John admonished,

“Do not love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves

the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world –

the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the

Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it;

but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (I John 2:15-17)

The Bible teaches that this present world (“cosmos”) will one day be destroyed “by fire” and will “melt with fervent heat” by the hand of God (II Peter 3:7-10).

Common sense, therefore, would encourage us to not be too attached to that which God will destroy.

He will make a “New Heaven” and a “New Earth” in which righteousness dwells (II Pet.

3:13; Rev. 21:1).

We who have come to the cross of Christ for salvation must grow in our faith and awareness that that cross not only has power to save for eternity, but to render the world a “dead issue” here and now! Like Abraham of old, we “wait for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb.

11:10).

Finally, we come to the third crucifixion of Galatians 6:14, where we see the transforming power of the cross to render… Me Crucified to the world.

Paul told the Galatians, “I am crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal.

2:20).

To a watching world, the old Paul was nothing more than a crucified man! The old Paul was gone… rendered to be dead and buried! To realize this on a daily basis, Paul made a conscious decision – in the power of the Spirit – to depend upon the transforming power of the cross to put self to death.

Indeed, he said, “I die daily” (I Cor.

15:31).

Have you been to the cross of Christ and experienced its transforming power? If you would simply put your trust in Christ as your only Lord and Savior, you will be covered in His righteousness and you will have the where-with-all to render the world to be crucified to you… and you to the world!

Dean Ellis

Pastor of Evangelism

First Baptist Church