Our Cross for His Crown4/8/2020 In Colossians 2, the Message translation says this, “When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross” (Colossians 2:13-15 MSG). Jesus took our cross and gave us His crown. Now, what does this mean? In Galatians 3:13 (NIV) it tells us that, “Christ redeemed us,” that is- He bought us, “From the curse of the law.” Remember that old arrest warrant has been cancelled (Colossians 2). There’s an arrest warrant for our life. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole'" (Galatians 3:13). Jesus willingly allowed Himself to go to the cross. In fact, the Bible doesn’t say He just allowed Himself, but it tells us that He resolutely set out for Jerusalem, where He knew the cross was waiting for Him. Jesus resolutely set out to go to the cross. Now that isn’t to say that He didn’t want to bypass the cross. He was fully God AND He was fully man. In Matthew 26:39 we read, "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Jesus Christ took our cross. We are the guilty ones (Romans 3:23). He is the innocent one (2 Corinthians 5:21). Now while He died so that we would be forgiven, He also died so that we who were far off from God could be brought near to God. For He Himself, the Bible tells us, reconciled the two of us that were made hostile to one another (Ephesians 2:15). God loved us so much (John 3:16) that even while we were enemies to Him, Christ died for us (Romans 5:10). Because of Jesus, we are no longer enemies, but children of God and heirs of the kingdom (Romans 8:17). We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. Imagine how this understanding of our identity could change our daily living. No longer are we defined by our dysfunction or the dysfunction of those around us. We can silence the voices of our past that have wounded us with the new song placed (Psalm 40:3) within our hearts by our loving Father who says, "You are mine!"
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Leave a Reply.AuthorDr. Rob Weinstein is the Founding/Senior Pastor of Bethany Grace Community Church in Bridgeton, NJ. He is also a Professor of Business Studies/Academic Director/Chair of Human Resource Management Studies. He is the Founder of the M25 Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness and food insecurity in Cumberland County, NJ. Archives
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