THE UPWARD DIRECTION OF THE CROSS (2 OF 4)
by Tony Nester
Scripture: John 12:27-33
This content is part of a series.
The Upward Direction of the Cross (2 of 4)
Series: The Four Directions of the Cross
Tony Nester
John 12:27-33
When we make the sign of the Cross, we turn our hands in four directions: up and down, left and right. There is more to this than hand movement. Just as a cross points in four directions, so the full meaning of the Cross is four-dimensional.
I began last week with the downward direction of the Cross.
The Cross pulled Jesus down. It bruised and bloodied his body. It planted him firmly in the ground. There was no hovering in the air where the sorrow and pain of this world could not touch him.
And so it was with his spirit. The sin Jesus carried onto the Cross weighed heavily upon him. Scripture says, he died FOR our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3), and ''on him was laid the iniquity of us all'' (Isaiah 53:6).
So much sin was laid on him that Scripture goes so far to say that ''Jesus, who was without sin, became sin for us.'' (2 Corinthians 5:21 - my translation). Jesus equals Sin! Can we say such a thing? Jesus' own words make that equation possible: ''My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'' (Mark 15:34).
Down, down, down he descended under the weight of sin-down all the way into Hell itself. So says the traditional version of The Apostles' Creed.
But the Cross is never just about Jesus; it's also about us. Jesus said, ''Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.'' (Mark 8:34).
The Christian life goes the way of the Cross. The Apostle Paul says it like this: ''I have been crucified with Christ'' (Galatians 2:20).
Every believer goes to the Cross and dies with Christ. We confess our sin. We hand over to our Crucified Lord all the sin in our life-laying it on him to be our sin-offering to God. ''I have been crucified with Christ'' is not just Paul's testimony; it's the witness of every believer in Jesus.
Nevertheless, the Cross also points us upward. To get the Cross right, we ...
Series: The Four Directions of the Cross
Tony Nester
John 12:27-33
When we make the sign of the Cross, we turn our hands in four directions: up and down, left and right. There is more to this than hand movement. Just as a cross points in four directions, so the full meaning of the Cross is four-dimensional.
I began last week with the downward direction of the Cross.
The Cross pulled Jesus down. It bruised and bloodied his body. It planted him firmly in the ground. There was no hovering in the air where the sorrow and pain of this world could not touch him.
And so it was with his spirit. The sin Jesus carried onto the Cross weighed heavily upon him. Scripture says, he died FOR our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3), and ''on him was laid the iniquity of us all'' (Isaiah 53:6).
So much sin was laid on him that Scripture goes so far to say that ''Jesus, who was without sin, became sin for us.'' (2 Corinthians 5:21 - my translation). Jesus equals Sin! Can we say such a thing? Jesus' own words make that equation possible: ''My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'' (Mark 15:34).
Down, down, down he descended under the weight of sin-down all the way into Hell itself. So says the traditional version of The Apostles' Creed.
But the Cross is never just about Jesus; it's also about us. Jesus said, ''Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.'' (Mark 8:34).
The Christian life goes the way of the Cross. The Apostle Paul says it like this: ''I have been crucified with Christ'' (Galatians 2:20).
Every believer goes to the Cross and dies with Christ. We confess our sin. We hand over to our Crucified Lord all the sin in our life-laying it on him to be our sin-offering to God. ''I have been crucified with Christ'' is not just Paul's testimony; it's the witness of every believer in Jesus.
Nevertheless, the Cross also points us upward. To get the Cross right, we ...
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