The Cross and The Line: Crucified with Christ
By Bill Lilley
The Lord Christ stopped at nothing to make us forgivable. He went to the most extravagant lengths possible, even to the point of death, the death of the Cross. He, the Son of God, learned obedience through the things which He suffered and by so doing became the perfect sacrifice for the once-for-all propitiation for our sins.
We are never more like Christ than when we erase all lines that separates us from loving and forgiving. The popular phrases, "I draw the line at…", or "She crossed the line…" are the opposite of this for the most part. There were no barriers between Jesus and the work that the Father sent Him to complete.
It is rightfully said that there is only one thing you can do to earn your way into Hell, and that thing is not really a doing, it is an undoing - it is the purposeful refusal to exercise the gift of faith all have been given. You have to work hard for a long time to traverse the distance between everlasting life and eternal death. And you have to trample the Son of God underfoot to get there.
To be crucified with Christ means, at least in part, to have no lines that others can cross. By this I don't mean being a squish, or not standing up for what is right. What I do mean is that if someone reaches the point of true repentance and remorse in regard to some offense he or she has done to you, there will be no refusal of forgiveness based on the pitiful notion of that person having "gone too far." Gone too far for whom? You?
Christ went to the Cross for you, and you can't swallow some hurt and pride to forgive someone else of far less an offense? Please!
Salvation is a miracle of the grace of God, but part and parcel of that miracle is true repentance. To have a broken and contrite spirit that leads you to The Cross is a gift of God. He will by no means cast you out. Can you yourself justifiably do anything less when someone who has hurt you or broken your heart, however often or for however long, seeks your forgiveness?
Suffering for your own idiocy is not commendable. It is only just.
Suffering unjustly on behalf of someone else makes you like Christ.
He set His face like flint toward Jerusalem and excruciation. In like manner, can we cement our resolve to put away pride and be a standing offer of forgiveness to those who truly desire it?
Hurt and betrayal are human emotions precisely because we are made in the image of God. We feel because He does.
It would be a horrible thing indeed if the Sovereign of Existence was an unfeeling force. It would be a life without meaning, a journey without destination, and all suffering would be the cruelest travesty imaginable. Better not to be alive at all if such is true.
But it is not true. Even the most militant atheist knows deep down inside that there is more to life than can be experienced through sense and mind. Else why would he care so much to fight for his point of view? What possible difference could it make in the long run if he converted the entire planet to godlessness? Would it change one iota of the ultimate futility of life?
There is only one thing that gives hope and makes free: the truth of God. Anything else is at best a mere guess, or wishful thinking, or at worse, a murderous lie.
Becoming like Christ is why we are alive. When we have gone as far as we may in that direction in this life, the Lord will bring us Home.
Until then, swallow pride and surrender to Him.
Freedom from personal offense is freedom indeed, as is freedom from the misery of self.
Don't think that what we try to hide won't be uncovered. Don't think that the lies we tell ourselves to justify the hardness of our own heart afford any refuge from the truth.
These things will all be shouted from the rooftops one day, and the unquenchable regret of wasted opportunity and irrevocable time will weigh us down like anchor chains.
Erase the lines and be like Him. Open your heart to the Lord God. He does not want what you can do, He wants you. The doing of anything for Him comes after your becoming a living sacrifice.
The Lord Christ stopped at nothing to make us forgivable. He went to the most extravagant lengths possible, even to the point of death, the death of the Cross. He, the Son of God, learned obedience through the things which He suffered and by so doing became the perfect sacrifice for the once-for-all propitiation for our sins.
We are never more like Christ than when we erase all lines that separates us from loving and forgiving. The popular phrases, "I draw the line at…", or "She crossed the line…" are the opposite of this for the most part. There were no barriers between Jesus and the work that the Father sent Him to complete.
It is rightfully said that there is only one thing you can do to earn your way into Hell, and that thing is not really a doing, it is an undoing - it is the purposeful refusal to exercise the gift of faith all have been given. You have to work hard for a long time to traverse the distance between everlasting life and eternal death. And you have to trample the Son of God underfoot to get there.
To be crucified with Christ means, at least in part, to have no lines that others can cross. By this I don't mean being a squish, or not standing up for what is right. What I do mean is that if someone reaches the point of true repentance and remorse in regard to some offense he or she has done to you, there will be no refusal of forgiveness based on the pitiful notion of that person having "gone too far." Gone too far for whom? You?
Christ went to the Cross for you, and you can't swallow some hurt and pride to forgive someone else of far less an offense? Please!
Salvation is a miracle of the grace of God, but part and parcel of that miracle is true repentance. To have a broken and contrite spirit that leads you to The Cross is a gift of God. He will by no means cast you out. Can you yourself justifiably do anything less when someone who has hurt you or broken your heart, however often or for however long, seeks your forgiveness?
Suffering for your own idiocy is not commendable. It is only just.
Suffering unjustly on behalf of someone else makes you like Christ.
He set His face like flint toward Jerusalem and excruciation. In like manner, can we cement our resolve to put away pride and be a standing offer of forgiveness to those who truly desire it?
Hurt and betrayal are human emotions precisely because we are made in the image of God. We feel because He does.
It would be a horrible thing indeed if the Sovereign of Existence was an unfeeling force. It would be a life without meaning, a journey without destination, and all suffering would be the cruelest travesty imaginable. Better not to be alive at all if such is true.
But it is not true. Even the most militant atheist knows deep down inside that there is more to life than can be experienced through sense and mind. Else why would he care so much to fight for his point of view? What possible difference could it make in the long run if he converted the entire planet to godlessness? Would it change one iota of the ultimate futility of life?
There is only one thing that gives hope and makes free: the truth of God. Anything else is at best a mere guess, or wishful thinking, or at worse, a murderous lie.
Becoming like Christ is why we are alive. When we have gone as far as we may in that direction in this life, the Lord will bring us Home.
Until then, swallow pride and surrender to Him.
Freedom from personal offense is freedom indeed, as is freedom from the misery of self.
Don't think that what we try to hide won't be uncovered. Don't think that the lies we tell ourselves to justify the hardness of our own heart afford any refuge from the truth.
These things will all be shouted from the rooftops one day, and the unquenchable regret of wasted opportunity and irrevocable time will weigh us down like anchor chains.
Erase the lines and be like Him. Open your heart to the Lord God. He does not want what you can do, He wants you. The doing of anything for Him comes after your becoming a living sacrifice.
