Focus: The Cross of Christ (Pt.2)

Text: Eph.5:2

"And walk in love, AS Christ also hath loved us, and hath GIVEN himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour."

The temple was the center of Jewish life as the altar was the center of the temple service. Everything about an Israelite revolved around God. 

For an Israelite, there was no division between the sacred and the secular. Life was one sacred whole. All of life was perfectly integrated, and as you be aware, fragmentation only leads to disintegration. The universe as designed by God is unity in diversity or diversity in unity, and God is the center and circumference of all things. The cosmos collapses in the absence of a center.

Having said all of that, it is important to underscore the point that the cross of Christ is the center of the new creation or universe. No cross of Christ, no salvation for humanity. No cross of Christ, no eternal bliss for saved humanity. The Christian faith is not possible without the cross of Jesus Christ. The Christian ministry is not possible without the cross of Christ. No church of Christ without the cross of Christ. No true Christian preaching without the cross of Christ. The Christian life is not possible without the cross of Christ.

The cross of Christ is central and crucial to our lives as Christians. If we are going to truly love, then we must love like Jesus Christ, and the cross is the demonstration of God's love for humanity. True love is self-giving and self-sacrificing. It is by the cross of Christ that our love is measured. By it our lives are measured. By it our spirituality is measured. By it our true worth is determined. By it our belief and value systems are formed.

The cross of Christ governs everything. Cross-less worship is meaningless to God. Cross-less religion is under the curse of God. The cross of Christ is the foundation of our faith. It is the principle that governs our lives. We overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb - the cross of Christ. Our faith is anchore. The central place of everything is the cross of Christ.

The cross of Christ is God's throne of grace, and God beckons on us to approach it and obtain daily grace from it for our daily need.

The grace of God is an inexhaustible fountain; it flows from the cross of Christ. The cross governs our lives. It tells us how to live and love. The cross shows us what real love is all about. True love is cross-based and Christ-centered. I insist that the cross of Christ is more than an event of history; it is indeed the governing principle of the Christian life, faith and work. The cross determines everything for the believer in Christ. It gives us the hope of a brand new world and a blissful future ahead.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter