Well, here I am, Lord.You said, “Take up your cross,” and I’m here to do it.It’s not easy, you know, this self-denial thing.I mean to go through with it though, yes Sir. I’ll bet You wish more people were willing to be disciples like me.I’ve counted the cost and surrendered my life and... (singing a hymn whose first line is:) “It’s not an easy road...”
You mind if I look over these crosses?I’d kind of like a new one.I’m not fussy, You understand, but a disciple has to be “relevant” these days.I was wondering—are there any that are vinyl padded?I’m thinking of attracting others, see, and if I could show them a comfortable cross I’m sure I could win a lot more.Got to keep up with the population explosion and all.And I need something “durable” so I can treasure it always.Oh! Is there one that’s sort of flat so it would fit under my coat? One shouldn’t be too obvious.
Funny,there doesn’t seem to be much choice here. Just that coarse, rough wood.I mean, that would hurt!Don’t You have something more distinctive, Lord?I can tell You right now, none of my friends are going to be impressed by this shoddy workmanship!They will think I’m some kind of a nut or something!And my family will be just mortified!
What’s that?It’s either one of these or forget the whole thing?But Lord, I want to be Your disciple!I mean, just being with You, that’s all that counts, but life has to have a balance too!But You don’t understand; nobody lives that way today!Who’s going to be attracted by this self-denial bit?I mean, I want to, but let’s not over do it!Start getting radical like this and they’ll have me off to the funny farm—know what I mean?
I mean, being a disciple is challenging and exciting and I want to do it. But I have some rights, You know!Now let’s see.No blood, O.K.?I just can’t stand the thought of that, Lord...Lord?
Jesus?Now where do you suppose He went?
--C.L. Sayler
“Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14:27
One hears much today about discipling, making disciples of Christ, one-to-one discipling, etc.This could be commended but for one crucial lack:one hears little about the Cross in connection with it.A true disciple is a learner of the Lord Jesus—on His terms.
For the development of scriptural discipleship, “it is not only a matter of that which is sinful as opposed to that which is holy; it is that which is human as opposed to that which is divine.”Hence the Cross is central to discipleship, for that is the only means whereby the old man is superseded by the new man in Christ Jesus.
The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, [saying], Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.Jer. 31:3
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time [was] the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.Ezek. 16:8
What is romance?What is that romantic inclination within the human heart?Is there a value to it in relation to things spiritual and eternal?And, in what manner should the romantic come into play in the Christian's search for purpose in his or her life?One dictionary defines romance as a characteristic inclining to adventure, the heroic or picturesque.Perhaps a more common use of the term is a love relationship, particularly the providential circumstances initiating such between a man and a woman, in which the guiding hand of God is very clearly seen and experienced. We all seem to innately know what the concept of romance entails, whatever its technical definition might be, and there is, to some degree a sense of romance in the soul of every person.I think it is agreed by all that no man or woman would usually enter into a relationship with the opposite sex for purely objective reasons, though the Bible gives us such reasons and specific criteria for all our relationships.I guess that romance is the fire that warms those reasons in a very real and practical way in order for us to undertake to follow God’s will in nearly all the activities of life, especially in relationships.One hearing the call to mission work in a certain region, amongst a certain group of people must prayerfully obtain this sense of vision and romance, if he does not already possess one in relation to that particular mission he is called to do. Romance is therefore a part of the vision we have for our lives, and must be zealously maintained in order for us to carry out our life’s work and to prosper in it.The same is true of our relationships, whether they be ones that we might consider as romantic or not.
We have examples plenteous in the Old Testament.Abraham received a call to go out into another land that God would give Him as an inheritance.Though it is not spoken of specifically in the account of his going out on that great adventure, it is certain that a vision was imparted to him for the implementation of that obedience, accompanied by a certain sense of romance and excitement.Later in his life promises, having been made to him along the way were fulfilled in a number of ways, which I’m sure satisfied the romantic longings in his heart.In the process of all of this, a romantic love for the God of Abraham was surely obtained by this man and greatly deepened along the way.This, as in every other relationship between God and his people as depicted in the Bible was the wind and fire of passion between the two.Solomon, in his beautiful book of Songs, depicts what we have come to recognize as a romance between Christ and His church in the mysterious account of a prince and his lovely princess to be.The beauty in that book stirs my heart in a number of ways, not the least of which is very personal and human.Romance is certainly at the heart of it.
What conclusions can we then draw from all of this?Are my romantic inclinations good and do they come to me from God in fulfilling His holy purposes in my life?I tend to think so, though there certainly are cautions and parameters that need to be exercised and implemented in our quest of love, romance and adventure in this life.We know from Jesus’ teaching on the Mount that all must be subordinated to God’s will and purposes, which in a general and specific way were given to us by Him.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.Matt. 6:33
This is the very first and rudimentary principle in ordering our lives.But there is much more for us to implement if we desire to grow into mature sons and daughters of the living God.There is the principle of the cross in our lives that is so much neglected, misunderstood and even rejected by many who profess to know Christ in our day.But the cross is taught throughout the Bible in every account of the history of God’s people, though it is often veiled to the eyes of those who are not ready for it.The cross teaches us the principle of dying so that fullness of life may be had.It may be implied in the fifth chapter of The Song of Solomon, for example, in the disappearance of the king from the Shulamite princess’ view.Jesus, our Prince came and wooed us with the tender message of grace in the Gospel.But then, He disappeared in death that He might effect our salvation in heaven, and rose again to new life in God.Is this not a pattern for us to follow, likewise as New Testament believers and disciples of His?We catch a glimpse of our beloved’s face only to lose it through the trials and difficulties of this life.But as we learn, by faith to endure, holding onto that romantic vision imparted to us at the beginning of our relationship with Him, death and resurrection in a figurative sense are, likewise our experience.And the joy of the pure and chaste virgin in Songs, as she finally unites with her bridegroom and prince are fulfilled happily ever after in us, as well.Though the story is very beautiful, we must understand it and interpret it accurately in our lives.Our redemption is a romantic affair, but the true romance of it is the suffering that our Lord willingly undertook and endured for us on the cross.That is the greater half of the matter.We love Him because He first loved us.The other half, so missed in today’s generation is the need of our willingness to suffer through the relatively small adversities of this present life as a response to our divine Husband’s sacrifice for us.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God...
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.Rom. 8:8-18
And:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?... For I am persuaded that...(nothing) shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom.8:35-39
He is our lover and has not only drawn us romantically, but in a very practical expression of that love, has died to accomplished our redemption for us.Now what is our part in this love affair?Is it not obvious, even as the response of a woman is and ought to be toward the man who seeks her out, woos and wins her, and finally lays down his life for her throughout their married years together.How much greater is our assurance of God’s love toward us?How much greater ought our response of fervent and obedient love be toward Him as we journey on our way to our everlasting union with Him in Heaven?
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.Songs 2:10; 8:14
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me...For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Matt. 10:38; 16:25
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it]: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:26
What Every Christian Ought to Know of Jesus Christ
...the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord... That I may know him...Phil. 3:8,10
When the Holy Spirit, in the Scriptures speaks of knowing God, or God knowing man, it is generally an intimate, experiential knowledge that is inferred.There are three things concerning Jesus Christ that every true follower of His must know in order to come to a full experience of the redemption that God has provided for that person in Christ.Many in the world (and in the churches) today know many things about God and Christ, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that these truly know Him the way that the apostle speaks here.In the sermon on the mount Jesus tells of the final day in which many shall come to Him claiming to have performed deeds in His name.His response to some of these shall be, “I never knewyou...” (Matt.7:23) Three things, the knowledge of which are needful to the Christian disciple are:
1.Who Jesus Christ is.
2.What He has accomplished on behalf of the believing Christian.
3.And, what Jesus is presently doing on his behalf in heaven.
Who is Jesus Christ
This question may be answered in many ways by people of different understandings.To the Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist, secular humanist and many unregenerate Americans Jesus is the founder and leading figure in the Christian religion.To them He was merely a man, though perhaps greatly elevated and enlightened above other men.To the Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness or other pseudo-christian cult member, Jesus was someone less than God, created by God in some unique, exalted fashion.Finally, to the professing, church-going contemporary Christian, Jesus is supposedly (and sometimes actually) Saviour and Lord.I say supposedly, because many who profess to know Christ in these capacities live very defeated, inconsistent and disobedient lives.If their profession were accurate, certainly their lives would reflect this knowledge.
The Bible is fairly explicit in its statements about who Jesus is, but in order for those statements to have full meaning they must be illuminated to the reader’s mind and heart.Some of the modern Bible versions tend to diminish Christ’s true identity by their omissions of significant statements to this effect.Nevertheless, one can, with the Spirit’s assistance ascertain His true identity even from some of the poorest translations, such as the JW’s New World Translation, or the New International Version*, used by so many contemporary Evangelicals.
But unto the Son [he saith], Thy throne, O God, [is] for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness [is] the sceptre of thy kingdom.Heb. 1:8
How much plainer can you get than the statement made in this verse and in numerous other passages of the New Testament about Christ’s deity.But spiritual blindness accompanied by a willful, stubborn ignorance in the fallen heart of man keeps him from seeing and acknowledging the very obvious at times.
Knowing the true identity of the Son of God is crucial to the one being saved from his sins because any person or spiritual entity who merely claims to be Christ cannot deliver true salvation to the seeker.If I walked into the cell house of a state prison and claimed to be the governor, and then proceeded to issue pardons to all of the inmates there, those “pardons” certainly wouldn’t persuade the prison staff to release the inmates pardoned by me.Truly knowing whom we believe for salvation is crucial.There are false christs and false gods who make false promises to people.Jesus prayed the following before His crucifixion:
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received [them], and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.Jn. 17:6-8
In light of these words, is it likely that God would save someone who calls upon some counterfeit entity who merely claims authority from Him?I think not.It therefore, behooves us to be diligent and zealous in the knowledge of who Jesus Christ really is.A part of this diligence and zeal is to guard the written word of God from heretical omissions such as occur in the many of the modern Bible translations.We need to distinguish our Lord from the lords of the cults and false religions.We need to jealously affirm to ourselves that Jesus Christ is the One Who is spoken of in the Scriptures and, Who possesses all of the attributes of deity in the triune Godhead.This is no mere religious debate, it is fact upon which our eternal destinies hang.In the next week or so I’d like to try to present the other two things besides the correct knowledge of the person of Christ that a follower of His needs to know.May the Lord permit and enable me to do this!
*Note:For all of you NIV lovers and users, the New International Version of the Bible leaves out the word “God” in 1 Timothy 3:16 as stated in the Authorized (King James) Version:...”God manifested in the flesh”.
NIV:“He appeared in a body...”There is, however a footnote at the bottom of the page stating that “Some manuscripts God.”This calls into question whether God should be in the text or not, which the NIV translators obviously thought not.
Also, the NIV leaves 1John 5:7 and part of verse 8 out of the text of that book, with one of their footnotes, of course.This latter passage is one of the plainest witnesses of the trinity in the New Testament.The 1Timothy passage, likewise is a very straightforward statement of the deity of Christ, probably the best in the entire Bible.These are two of the grossest omissions of this beloved contemporary Bible version.Thousands of words of the historical text of the Bible are omitted from the NIV.
Name: W. Michael Clark ChristiansUnite ID: wmichael Member Since: 2006-04-04 Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States Denomination: Attend a Mennonite church About Me: I am a broken vessel, hopefully able to contain His grace and glory, and to faithfully deliver the message entrusted to me. 2Cor. 4:7
Name: W. Michael Clark
