CROSS – THE POWER OF GOD

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October 02, 2014
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“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”. (1 Cor. 1:18)

Greetings to you in the precious Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we are in the end of Lent season, I want to focus our meditations on the cross on which our Savior gave His life so that you and I may have eternal life. To the world, cross is a symbol. But Paul says that, for us, it is the power of God. When one accepts Jesus as the personal Savior, he starts a new journey, a journey of treading on thorns. Many preachers preach that as soon as one accepts Jesus as Savior, he will become rich, etc. But the Bible clearly teaches us that we will have to face a lot of oppositions, sufferings, especially from satanic forces. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power”.  “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:10,12).

“It is not how you enter but how you leave”. So also it doesn’t stop with just accepting Jesus as personal Savior but stand firm till the end to be saved.(Mark 13:13). In the New Testament we read about a rich young man who came to Jesus happily, went away sorrowfully. That is why when addressed to the seven churches in the Book of Revelations, Christ uses the word “Conquers”. So to conquer, one needs the power of God. For us the cross gives joy, because it leads us to an everlasting life with Christ. (2Cor. 5:8)

Let us meditate on how we could get this power. If you want the power of God, you will have to love Him above everything and we call this “Spiritual Focus”. I just want to place before you six steps by which we could show our love to Christ.

  1. PUT GOD FIRST
    One day a lawyer came to Jesus and to test Him asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And Jesus replied to the lawyer, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind”( Mt.22: 36,37).

    We read about the king Josiah in 2Kings, chapter 23. In 2Kings 23:25 we read, “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did – with all his heart, and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses”. At the age of 8, he became king. At 16, he started seeking the LORD (2Chr. 34:3) and at the age of 20 removed all the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and molten images. They broke down the altars of the Baals, he hewed down the sun images (Vs.4). At the age of 26, he celebrated Passover, which was stopped and was replaced by sacrifices to alien gods by his ancestors. Seeking the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind should be our first and foremost priority in anything and everything. In seeking Him whole heartedly, we may have to lose something dear to us.

  2. BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF HIS NAME
    Christ is given “the Name above every name’ (Phil.2:9) because of resurrection. In the Name of Jesus we have the victory! “The Name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Pr.18:10). David warned Goliath, “You come to me with a sword and a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the God of armies of Israel!’(I Sam.17:45). The resurrected Christ lives in me! (Gal.2:20).

  3. POUR OUT YOUR COSTLY PERFUME ON JESUS
    In Mark 14: 3-9 and Mathew 26:6-13, we read about a woman came who came to Jesus when He was in the house of Simon at Bethany, with an alabaster jar and broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. In John 12:4 – 6, we read that Judas Iscariot said, “Why this perfume was not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?”, but the same person handed over Jesus for 30 pieces of silver! But  Jesus said, “ This woman has done a noble (praiseworthy and beautiful)thing to Me. In 2Cor. 2:15 we read, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ”. Mt.5:16→Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. We are supposed to give our best to the Lord in everything. But at he same time we must be very careful that this aroma is spoilt by a dead fly – like anger, bitterness etc. (Ecc.10:1)

  4. REMAIN IN JESUS CHRIST
    Jn. 15:4 Jesus says, “Dwell in Me and I will dwell in you” and again in Vs.5 He says, “.Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit” That is your ATTITUDE must be aligned with Jesus Christ. Vs. 8 →”When you bear much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine”. So we must remain in Him.

  5. BE OBEDIENT
    Phil. 2:8→He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on the cross. We must obey the King of Kings. To obey Him you must be well versed with His teachings which mean that we should know the Bible thoroughly. Then only we can be obedient in everything (2Cor.2:9). 2Cor. 10:5 reads “…….we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”. Our thoughts, imaginations play a very important role in keeping our heart and mind pure and holy. More than serving the Lord, a holy and obedient life is more important to taste His power in our life.

  6. BE A SERVANT AND A SLAVE TO CHRIST
    “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). When we give Jesus Christ His rightful place as Lord of our lives, His lordship will be expressed in the way we serve others.THERE IS NO COMFORT ZONE. Mark 9:35→And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them,  “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 1 Peter 4:10→As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace”. “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). Are we treating ourselves as servants of Jesus or treating Jesus as our servant?

    Prayer: Lord, make me worthy of receiving the power of God loving You above everything. Amen.

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    He serves as the President of Shalom Family Enrichment Mission and as a facilitator for the Counseling program.

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