Many times, before we can honestly express what we’re thinking or feeling, we must (or perhaps should is a better word) “filter” our thoughts through our hearts and minds---just to be certain there are no hidden agendas or selfish designs lurking somewhere in the shadows. Early on in our walk with the Lord there were, but we seldom knew or thought about these things. Now, if we desire to draw closer to Him, we must ask the Lord to help us see what’s really there in our hearts -- so that He might help us to see anything that might be deceitful, selfish or even “hidden”. If He shows us some carnal ways or some carnal desires, we must deal with them for the sake of our own conscience, as well as for the sake of the Body of Christ.
What has the Body got to do with what’s in my heart? We’ll get to this later. But first, allow me to share a thought from my own experience. Over the last ten or so years, it seems the Lord has held a “close reign” on my heart and soul, and during this time He has not allowed even the tiniest of “insignificants” to be overlooked or ignored (or, so it seems). This is not to say that He, in any sense of the meaning, holds me to a strict, graceless, heavy, “letter-of-the-law” type of existence. His grace is and has been abundant; His mercies are endless, and His lovingkindness overwhelms me at times. It’s just that obedience to His will and His way is better than any kind of emotional or religious sacrifice that my heart might conjure up.
Now...in my life, it’s been more of an “others may, but you cannot...” kind of relationship. By this, I mean that I may look at others and see them doing or participating in things that I may not feel
“comfortable” doing, and this is not to criticize them, for I think we all feel this way from time to time. As time goes on, I find more and more of the “but you cannots”, and that is fine with me. I trust Him, and I know that He knows what’s best for me. After all... He can see beyond tomorrow, beyond this moment, and beyond anything I may desire to do (or have). And so, in many things, I cannot. I want His Way, not my own, but that is not always easy to see or understand. I desire no recognition for myself, nor do I demand that my way is the way.
Having said that, let me add this: I will not deviate from, nor will I compromise the path that the Lord Jesus Christ has laid before me. I must follow it, no matter the cost. It will be His Way or no way at all. And herein lies the real challenge: What, exactly, is His Way? On any given Sunday, you might ask ten Christians that same question, and you are likely to get ten different answers!
His Way...the Way of Death
The Way of which I speak is His Way. I’m not talking about different religions or vain, worldly philosophies, because all of their “broad roads” lead to eternal destruction. However, I am speaking of a certain group of “professing” Christians -- those who claim to know Him and His Way. And even though they claim to know Him and His Way, they are instead headed down the wrong path, and they are deceptively leading others down that same deadly road that leads to confusion, division and even possibly on to destruction. Maybe not eternal destruction, but a path that is bestrewn with bodies of once hope-filled believers who are on the verge of becoming castaways, as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 9:27.
Here, in this verse, Paul speaks of the possibility of becoming “unapproved, rejected, or worthless -- or even worse: a reprobate.” Paul had one major goal, one single aim in his life, and he strived for this “goal” each of his days that he walked with the Lord. In 1st Corinthians 2:2, Paul testifies:
“For I determined not to know anything among
you, except for Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
(And herein lies the “secret”: crucifixion, i.e “death”.)
Galatians 6:14 states it a little stronger:
“God forbid that I should glory in anything but the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified to me and I [am crucified, therefore I am “dead”] to the world...(I am of no value to the world, and it is of no value to me).”
Finally, let’s look at Paul’s letter to the Philippians...
The Prize of the High Calling
Philippians 3:8-15
“Yes, doubtless I count everything as a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. It is for Him I have suffered the loss of all things, and consider them a dung heap in order that I may gain Christ and be found in HIM.
“I have no righteousness of my own, which would be through the law, but I possess that which is through the Faith of Christ. This righteousness comes from God through faith. The purpose of this gift is: That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection; that I might also know the fellowship of His sufferings, and thus be made compliant to His death, if by any means I might attain or arrive at the resurrection of the dead.
“I’m not saying that I’ve already arrived, nor that I’m already perfect, but I do follow after Him and His calling with the same intensity that Jesus Christ has seized me. Now, brothers, I’m not saying that I have fully seized upon all that He has called me to, but I will say this and this is how I live my life: I forget all those things (good and bad) which are behind me, and I reach forth to those things which are before me, pursuing them and even fleeing towards them, for this is the goal---the Prize of the High Calling of God in Christ Jesus.
“Therefore all of us (that is, those who are spiritually mature), should have the same drive and desire. If there is any other ideal, God will clearly show you.”
Paul had one aim, only one goal in his life, and that was to “know Him more today than yesterday, and know Him more tomorrow than today”. The “any other ideal” Paul speaks of above is what I was referring to in the beginning of this teaching: The “hidden agendas” or “selfish designs” that we may have from time to time in our lives. Things of which we may not even be aware. There are many things for which we “aim” in life, but most of them are never realized because of fear, doubt or maybe our aim was faulty. This is where that group of “professing” Christians, of whom I spoke earlier, usually find themselves: In a world of doubt, fear and frustration. But we can get beyond the doubt, the fear and any frustration...we can truly know Him.
Just to Know Him
The faulty aim is the mark where we “aimed” for the wrong things, having the wrong motives, spurred on by dreams and desires that were birthed under wrong conditions. Sometimes (and, as a matter of fact, many times) these “wrong ideas” are put into our hearts by other “well-meaning” Christians. We may be too “young” a Christian to know the difference, or we may be too lazy to look carefully and see if their designs are faulty or not. Or... perhaps we’ve been deceived ourselves. Now, that is a scary thought.
Paul said, “I desire to know Him and Him crucified.” A small portion of Christians truly know Jesus Christ the way Paul speaks of, and that is being a part of the Crucified Life of Our Redeemer. Not all of the disciples truly knew Jesus, even after more than three years of daily, intimate contact. Yes, later they would truly know Him, but at that point in time, at the time of His crucifixion, their hearts and minds could not grasp it all. Scripture clearly shows us that all of them failed to understand His need, His calling, His desire to go to and through the cross.
The Wa
y of the Cross...
Crucifixion during the time of Christ was not a pretty sight. Any of you who have ever studied it or heard teachings on it know how brutal it really was, sometimes lasting for excrutiatingly long hours; even all day. For those of you who may not really know how a crucifixion was carried out, or if you may not really understand all that went into such a terrible and horrible death, I once again invite you to get a Physician’s View of the Crucifixion (just
“click on” the link). While it is graphic in a sense, it is not so disagreeable to our senses that we will not be able to read it. It is not an enjoyable read, by any stretch of the imagination, but, as I said, if you have no idea what Christ went through that day, then it is something you may need to read.
As mentioned before, crucifixion sometimes lasted all day -- that was why the Roman soldiers were routinely ordered to “break” the legs of those they’d crucified, so as to hasten death. Once the victim’s legs were broken, they could no longer “hold themselves up” with their legs...a vain attempt at breathing easier. That was one thing that crucifixion did: With the arms “nailed high” and the weight of the body “pulling down”, this greatly restricted the breathing and any free flow of oxygen to the lungs. This physical struggle at lengthening what few tortuous hours of life they might have left always ended in death. Jesus, as we know from various scriptures (the most prominent being Psalm 34:20 and John 19:31-36), had no bones in His Perfect Body broken. And so...the Lamb of God was a “perfect” sacrifice.
Accepting crucifixion as a prerequisite for Redemption goes “counter” to all of man’s careful logic and noble thinking. We would rather see the King of Glory come riding in on His mighty white steed, vanquishing every foe! While that will happen one day, it did not happen on this day. Many that day, including His disciples, didn’t fully understand what was transpiring before their very eyes. Some of His followers had already forsaken Him, sensing the terrible thing that was about to occur. Many had forsaken Him earlier, when He began explaining what it truly meant to “follow” Him. See John 6:43-71.
Crucifixion Isn’t Pretty
Forget those dainty, lovely little crosses, showing the Lord Jesus hanging there almost peacefully... crucifixion is a devastatingly ugly and horrific sight. Our crucifixion isn’t a pretty sight either, nor is it easy to see how it may be necessary in order to draw closer to God. God’s will in man’s matters is sometimes very hard to comprehend. As we find ourselves in Gethsemane, or as we near our “Place of the Skull” (called Golgotha), we may see that many of our friends and loved ones are also having a difficult time accepting what they sense or feel. The shunning away and the shying from the misunderstood heaviness (Matthew 26:37, 40, 43) takes its toll on those who have never walked the path from Gethsemane to Golgotha.
Oh, it’s a joy to be at Jordan, at the Mount of Beatitudes or the Mount of Transfiguration, and in Jerusalem at Jesus’ triumphal entry. But at the Place of the Skull (where our hearts instinctively know that the place means death), it is a completely different atmosphere. The shouts we may hear are not shouts of joy and praise. The looks on the people’s faces are no longer looks of admiration, acceptance and understanding. Is it any wonder, then, as we “struggle with the pain of this flesh”, that we feel so strange and isolated? And, for us, it’s doubtful that there will be many Simons of Cyrene (Luke 23:26) to help us bear our crosses during these lonely times.
We might even hear cries of “death to him...”, “good riddance to them”, or even “crucify that one...”, as the world will certainly not understand. Neither will the “religious ones”. Some of the voices will, no doubt, sound familiar. And, as we look out into the crowd of onlookers, we may well be surprised to find recognizable faces. Faces of those who had walked with us; faces of those who had prayed with us or dined with us. There may be some who had once helped us, or whom we once helped. That, though, is the way of the cross. Lonely, bitter and almost more than we can bear.
For the Jo
y...
The path “through” Golgotha is bitter, but if we can only trust Him...if we can really know Him Who called us...then we can lift our eyes to gaze upon that place of death, knowing full well that there is life, Resurrection Life, just beyond. Like Jesus, we should also be able to “see the joy before us”, beyond the cross and into His Resurrection Life, but sometimes it is very difficult to do so. If our faith wins, we will “endure the cross” the Lord places upon us, thinking nothing of the shame or the disgrace, because we are fully confident that His Life will reign in our mortal lives.
We can, however, decide that the cost is too dear; we can find a way to “avoid” the cross. Jesus could have. “What!??”, some of you might say. “He had to go through with the cross! He had no choice!” And on and on go the arguments... but He had a choice. Otherwise, there would have been no true value to Christ’s Redemption.
It “cost” Him. It cost Him dearly. Not just His physical life; not just the beatings, the mockings, the cruelty and the railings upon Him. Not just the six hours of tortuous death. No, He paid much, much more. And what was His price? He willingly laid aside all of His Holy, Royal Robes of Glory, and He gladly said good-bye to His Father. Why? Hebrews 12:1 & 2 explain it perfectly:
“Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, every sin that so easily defeats and discourages us, and let us run with patience this race that is set before us, looking unto the Author and the Finisher of our Faith: Jesus Christ, Who for the Joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God.”
Why would He do such a thing? Because He looked down through the great span of time, and He saw you, and He saw me, and He saw everyone who would ever believe on the wonderful work of Calvary, and He willfully took upon Himself the flesh of man. He became a man so that He could “endure the cross, despising the shame”; so that He could die in our stead.
Simply...He did it; willingly...He went; and joyfully He accomplished His Goal. Why? Because He knew the final results: Millions upon millions of sons and daughters would be redeemed for His Father. That, my dear brother and sister, is Love. True Love. His love, the Father’s love, and the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. There is no Greater Love.
since February 29, 2000.