The Cruciform Life

-


Scripture:

Mark 8:34 ¶ He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Observation:

Jesus was calling his followers to a whole new way of life, one that demanded self-sacrifice and discipline.  The people of Jesus’ day knew all about Roman crucifixion and that one was required to carry their own cross to their execution.  This was symbolic of their submission to the power of Rome.  For someone to become a follower of Christ meant total and complete submission to the way of Jesus Christ.  John Wesley said that to take up the cross was to “Embrace the will of God, however painful, daily, hourly, continually. Thus only can he follow me in holiness to glory.”

Application:

The cruciform life is one in which we are led into holiness.  This is exactly what Jesus wanted his followers to understand, that he had come to provide for them a way to glory.  This way to glory was one in which they would be transformed into the reflection of him.  This statement is a foreshadowing of his own personal crucifixion which was yet to come.  He would physically take up a cross and die for all of humanity so that we might become holy just as he is holy.  It would all begin with a cruciform way of life.

How do we participate in the cruciform life?  It begins by denying ourselves.  This means we yield all of our personal rights as we give ourselves over wholeheartedly to Jesus Christ.  It is a life of putting Christ first.  What would he want me to do today?  How am I spending time with him and then with the community of faith and beyond?  It is submission to his power over my life in all spheres and no longer are my personal wants and desires foremost, but his life of holiness.  And yes, as John Wesley said it may be painful, but it must be every hour of every day and it must be continual. 

The title alone does not suppose an easy way of life.  Too many are preaching a prosperity gospel and a life of ease.  That’s not what the cross meant in the first century and it’s not what it means today either.  Jesus is still looking for followers who will take this way of life seriously, who are willing to put him first in all things.  Only in this way can we truly experience the transformational power of God’s Holy Spirit allowing us to live the cruciform life that leads us onto the path of holiness. 

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to daily submit to you and to your kingdom.  Amen.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a ti...
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her ...
Read more

On Grief and A Flute Player

-
Scripture: Matt. 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Matt. 9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Matt. 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Matt. 9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district. Observation: This is a simple story which we have heard or read numerous times. Jesus heals the little girl and the people rejoice. But at the moment in which he arrives at the home he encounters the professional mourners. These are the flute players, the ones who have come to make a great noise about the child’s death. It is the flute player that testifies to the fact that she is truly dead. Also, flutes were generally employed when it came to the death of a child. The whole community would therefore understand that it is a child who has died in this home. The flute player is doing the job they have ...
Read more