Chapter One
Live in
the Light of
the Cross
Do you find it hard to envision heaven? If so, you're not
alone. And I suspect that's one reason why so many of us don't
understand what it means to "live with an eternal perspective."
We're not there yet! And we don't-can't-see as God sees. So
we put heaven out of our minds, thinking, I'll deal with that when
the time comes. It's a long way off.
Maybe. Maybe not.
But I believe God gives us a glimpse of eternal life by first
letting us experience a new life here on earth. That was the
experience of Harold Thompson.
Harold was a notorious bank robber who stole, literally,
millions of dollars. He was finally caught, charged, convicted
of armed robbery, and sentenced to life in prison. He was a
pretty tough character and became one of the prison bosses.
Many thought his sentence was permanent-not only a life of
physical incarceration, but also a lifetime of sin and spiritual
darkness.
But something happened to Harold. He heard the gospel
and eventually gave his life to Christ. He dramatically changed.
He developed a hunger for the Word of God and a deep desire
to see his fellow inmates come to Christ. Although he was
behind bars, God set his soul free. And he took every
opportunity to share that message with others.
Many of his fellow prisoners came to
Christ, and Harold began a Bible study to
help them grow in their faith. He became a
model prisoner. Eventually, through an
amazing chain of events, the president of the
United States heard about his story and
decided to pardon him. And when Harold
Thompson was released, he became a part of
the prison ministry of Campus Crusade for
Christ.
In talking with Harold, it is readily
apparent that he is a man who lives with
profound gratitude that God stepped in to give
him a second chance. He lives his new life
committed to eternal priorities. And though
our own stories may not appear to be as
dramatic, God stepped into each of our lives to
give us this same gift. We have been given new life, and we are
going to be with Him forever.
The gift of eternal life also affects our time on earth
because we no longer need to fear death. Think of it: If you are a
believer-if you have given your life to Christ-death is not
final. It is just a transition from one life to another, almost
like walking through a door. Though death is sorrowful, it is
not the end.
If you are not afraid of death, it releases you to live the
Christian life with a sense of holy freedom. The fact that you
will live forever brings a sense of humble confidence about
what you do right now. You do not need to walk through life
burdened by the worries and fears of this life.
In Just a Moment .
For you, as for me, it all began with a defining moment-a
moment on which all history hangs.
You've probably heard the term defining moment. For
example, September 11, 2001, stands as a defining moment in
American history. The planes that were hijacked by terrorists
and flown into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and crashed in
western Pennsylvania forever changed the way we view our
safety and security as Americans. I remember thinking that day
that this was the first time in my lifetime that America had
been attacked on her own soil. I sensed that things would never
be the same in this country-and every time I go through security
at an airport now, I am reminded how our way of life was
altered on that sunny September morning.
When Karen and I were married on May 22, 1971-that
was a defining moment. Even as we exchanged vows, I thought, You're really going to have to step up here . you're
the head of a household now. In fact, as we stood in
the receiving line during the reception, my father said
to me, "Son, I want you to remember that
Karen didn't ask to marry you-you asked to marry her. You
better take care of her." I realized, whatever I was before this
day, I ain't no longer!
And I remember standing in a hall at Riddell Memorial
Hospital, looking into the newborn nursery and seeing our
first child. As I gazed at that baby boy, my eyes filled with tears
as I prayed, "God, help me to be the best dad that I possibly
can be." I knew I had the charge and care not only of his
physical well-being but also of his soul. That was a benchmark.
Often defining moments are dictated by circumstances
outside of our control. The death of a loved one . an
accident or illness or sudden calamity . or even an unexpected
opportunity at work or in ministry-all of these situations
force us to make decisions. What we do in response to these
life invasions will determine the course of our lives.
Two thousand years ago, God orchestrated a defining
moment so profound that the world still debates its meaning
today. Through this one incredible act, He demands a response
from every person born into this world. There's no such thing
as choosing not to choose. To not respond favorably is to
choose both a way of life apart from God and an ultimate
destiny forever separated from Him. Our lives and our futures
depend on our response to God's defining moment.
I'm speaking of the focal point of history-the death of
Christ on the cross.
"What Do You Want from God?"
It was a Sunday morning in January 1964, and I was
almost fourteen. Our pastor had finished preaching, and he
asked those who sensed that they had a particular spiritual
need to come and kneel at the altar.
In my heart I knew this was my moment. For several weeks
I had been haunted by the question, What will happen to me if I
die? Where will I go? Furthermore, I felt guilty because of the
wrong things I had done. No one had to convince me that I
was a sinner-I knew in my heart that I was guilty. God had
made me aware of my need.
So that Sunday morning in 1964 was a divine
appointment. Through our pastor's invitation, the Holy Spirit was
forcing the issue in my heart. I was brought face-to-face with
God's defining moment-the death of His Son on the cross. I
knew I had to make a decision and settle the issue, and so I
came to the altar.
My pastor knelt beside me and put his arm around my
shoulder, asking, "Son, what is it you want from God?" I
began to weep as I expressed my need to be forgiven and have
Christ in my life. He led me in a prayer of repentance and
faith. It was my defining moment. That day my life and destiny
changed. My sins were forgiven, and I became a citizen of
heaven.
To be sure, in the words of my dear friend Josh McDowell,
there are many ways to Christ but only one way to God, and
that is through Christ (John 14:6). We each have our own story
about our spiritual journey-but at some point all of us must
come to the cross. That is the place where lives are transformed
and our future is determined.
I am concerned that too often we lose sight of the cross in
how we do Christianity these days. We participate in church
worship and ministry activities, and we spend time reading the
Bible and growing in our relationship with God. We look for
ways to feed the poor and heal broken marriages and keep our
children unstained by the world and resist temptation and
address cultural issues from a biblical perspective-and
somehow the cross becomes a peripheral issue in our lives.
But the cross is Christianity. We live within its shadow, as
D. L. Moody understood. When asked about the source of his
success as a Christian and an evangelist, he would often say
"Before I came to Christ, I worked toward the cross. After I
came to Christ, I worked from the cross. The source and the
secret is the cross."
His Passion, Our Penalty
Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ reminded us
forcefully of why the cross matters. The months before and
after the release of the movie saw a remarkable national debate
unfolding. I found it amazing that questions like "Who killed
Christ?" and "Why did Christ die on the cross?" were actually
discussed on prime time, national television.
Many people assailed Gibson for his unsparing,
gut-wrenching portrayal of Christ's suffering, for focusing so
much on this one part of Jesus' time on earth, and even for
relying too much on the gospel accounts. They feared the film
would spark a wave of anti-Semitism. What these critics did
not understand was the "why" behind the Passion-that
Christ suffered and died to pay the penalty for our sins.
But many Christians did get it. They-we?-wept as they
watched because they knew Christ endured each lash on the
back, each agonizing step on the Via Dolorosa, each painful
breath while hanging on the cross, because of the ugliness and
enormity of their own sin. They thought of the selfishness
and deceit and pettiness and cruelty that they fought on a
daily basis, and marveled anew that their sins are forgiven
because of what Christ went through for them/us on the cross.
You see, the focal point of Christ's mission in this world
was to once and for all deal with the problem of sin. It was
God's plan for His only Son to experience unimaginable
suffering, to be tortured and hung on the cross for the sins of the
world. What He went through for us is beyond human
description. And to think that the God-man, Christ Jesus, as an
act of His will, submitted to His Father's plan. As Jesus said
in John 10:14-18:
"I am the good shepherd; and I know My own and My own know Me, even
as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for
the sheep. And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must
bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall
become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves
Me, because I lay down My life that
I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, hut I lay it down on
My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to
take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."
In his description of the willing submission of the Savior
to suffer on our behalf, the apostle Paul says in Philippians
2:8, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross." That last phrase, "even death on a cross,"
underlines an incredible irony-that innocent royalty was
submitted to a common criminal's death.
The cross was a means of capital punishment throughout
the Roman Empire, reserved for the worst murderers and other
despised criminals. The cross was created to punish the guilty
-and that's the point. Jesus was not guilty. He was sinless, but
He bore our guilt and our sin.
As Jesus hung on the cross, He uttered three words just
before he died: "It is finished" (John 19:30). He was not
referring to the end of His physical suffering on the cross. He was
talking about the completion of His mission, the fulfillment
of God's plan. The debt was paid in full. Nothing else needs
to be done.
Pastor C. J. Mahaney said it well: "The Christian who
desires to live a cross-centered life will regularly face his or her
own depravity and the seriousness of personal sin, squarely and
unflinchingly. It's a reality. But the reality of the death and
resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin is even greater."
I don't know about you, but this truth-this profound, severe
grace and mercy-causes me to bow in worship and adoration
to our awesome God. His love for us is both
incomprehensible and unspeakable.
I am reminded of a man I know who
accumulated an incredible credit card debt. He
had grown accustomed to a rather extravagant
lifestyle and had an addiction to things. He
was using credit cards to pay other credit card
bills. Finally, his "smoke and mirrors" game
caught up with him. He could no longer
manipulate the system. The chickens came home to roost, and he
had to declare bankruptcy.
Similarly, we were born morally and spiritually bankrupt.
But the good news is that when we acknowledge and declare
our spiritual bankruptcy before God, He forgives us and pours
upon us the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:3-8).
Everyday Surrender
But that's not all!
When we commit our lives to Christ, we not only receive
forgiveness of sin but we are also given the gift of eternal life.
Our future is changed-as Harold Thompson found out. By
placing our faith in Christ, we are no longer condemned to
eternal separation. We are given a new life, an eternal life; we
know we will live with Him forever in a special place reserved
for us (John 14:1-3). By giving us this gift, God is in effect
declaring, "My child, I love you so much that I want you with
Me forever." It says that He has bought us, purchased us, and
we are His (1 Peter 1:18-20 and Ephesians 1:13-14).
But how does this affect the way we live our lives day in,
day out? When we placed our faith in Jesus Christ, then the
crucified, resurrected Son of God came to take up residence in
our lives. In some mysterious and profound way, we by faith
have experienced His crucifixion ("I have been crucified with
Christ," Galatians 2:20). Sin's controlling power over our lives
has been broken. Sin is always with us; never are we going to
be sinless and perfect in this life. However, we do have a
perfect Savior living inside us.
We become slaves of whatever we yield ourselves to
(Romans 6). And because Jesus has broken the power of sin over
us, we have to choose, on a moment-by-moment basis, to yield
to the victorious Christ who lives within us. When we yield to
the indwelling Christ, He lives His life in and through us and
empowers us to overcome sin. In this regard, victory over sin
or conquering sin is the result of moment-by-moment surrender
to the power of the cross.
This power also allows us to declare and maintain our
allegiance to the One who has changed our lives. When empowered
by the Spirit, we are not ashamed of the cross. To be a follower
of Christ means to be a member of the community of the cross.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:38, "And he who does not take his
cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." In other words,
we should be willing to identify with all that the cross means and
implies-not just forgiveness and eternal life, but also times of
suffering and rejection. We say yes to all that the cross calls for.
Paul put it this way in Galatians 6:14: "May it never be
that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and
I to the world." This does not imply we should not enjoy this
life and some of the good pleasures this world has to offer-but
when we surrender our lives to Christ, He claims all of us:
every thought, every action, every moment.
"In Remembrance of Me"
We must never forget the cross; it should be like the
wallpaper on our computer screen. We should live our lives against
the backdrop of the cross.
This is why every follower of Christ should regularly
celebrate communion, as Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that
the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had
given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this
in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also, after supper,
saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you
drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink
the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
Communion is a call to remember the suffering of our
Savior on our behalf-to not forget what He has done, what
He has given to us, and who we are. One of my most tender,
cherished childhood memories has to do with a communion
service. At the church where our family attended, we
celebrated communion on the first Sunday of every month. As a
young boy of perhaps five or six, I sat on the pew between my
mother and father. As they passed the elements, the
congregation would sing, "Let Us Break Bread Together." And even as I
write these words, I can still hear those sweet sounds of the
congregation singing:
Let us break bread together on our knees.
Let us break bread together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
oh Lord, have mercy on me.
Let us drink wine together on our knees.
Let us drink wine together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
Oh Lord, have mercy on me.
(Continues.)
