Annals of the Cross (8)

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In previous posts, we were told that the Cross was an eternal and irrevocable statement of love and judgment by God to man and the devil respectively. We have also been told that the Cross has a plethora of associated dividends which are legitimately ours to enjoy now and forever. In addition, we were also told that because of the sacrifice of Christ on the  Cross, God doesn't really have a choice anymore, as it were, He has to bless us. The moment He accepted 'payment' (Jesus' death), He committed Himself to deliver 'the goods'. Moreover, the Cross is the eternal receipt, as it were, that reminds God of the payment Jesus made for everything we desire. Because of said payment, God justly, duly and extravagantly dishes out our divine emoluments. Also, the Cross was also an eternal and irrevocable statement of God's willingness to help mankind as well as an eternal and irrevocable statement of God's commitment to go the extra mile for man's sake.

Furthermore, the cross is a lifter of men. As Jesus was lifted up on the cross, so also those who put their faith on His finished work on the cross, are lifted above the debilitating conditions of the world. 

The Bible fosters our understanding that when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we experience the newbirth. The implication is that we are effectively made to partake in the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Hence, the signification is that when Jesus was on the cross, we were in Him; when He died, we died as well and when He was buried, we were buried in Him; when He resurrected, glory to God, He didn't leave us in the grave, we resurrected with Him. Now, we are seated together in heavenly places in Him far above principalities and powers. We are above only, never below. This is our spiritual reality. 

Moreover, when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, the Bible tells us that He drew all judgment for sin to Himself. The wrath of God was completely unleashed on Him because He became the embodiment of sin on the cross, and the nadir of that judgment was God's abandonment, so much that Jesus cried "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 

Now, when we put our faith on the finished work of Jesus on the cross, as Jesus was physically lifted above the ground on the cross, we are lifted above the debilitating conditions of the world. This is enforced by the fact that our faith on the cross of Christ disqualifies us from the judgment we should have suffered for our sins. We are therefore upheaved out of the anguish of God's rejection and we become accepted in the Jesus - the beloved. More so, we are elevated out of poverty, lack, sicknesses and diseases, failure, premature death, stagnancy and retrogression; we are brought out of darkness into the kingdom of Jesus. In the words of the Psalmist, we are literally lifted out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and our feet is set upon a rock (Psalms 40:2). And that is why we can boldly declare that we are above only (in Christ), never below (as we hitherto were in the world). This means that the cross then becomes the lift by which we are translated from our hitherto spiritual residence as sinners ('the pit') to our new spiritual residence as the righteousness of God (heavenly places) with its attendant benefits. 

Beloved, this is not just some wishy-washy perspective or viewpoint. Jesus through His cross, not only took care of the sin problem, He also addressed the sin-induced problems in this world. For instance, by His stripes, sickness was dealt with; He became poor to deal with poverty; He died young that we might live old; through His victory over Satan, He secured our freedom. And when He said "I have overcome the world", He was also referring to the debilitating conditions of the world. 

Now, for all those that put their faith in Him and what He did on the cross, potential is released into their spirit to live the 'higher life' or the life of God devoid of the corruption that is in the world. And when you believe His every word or promises, you effectively become a partaker of His divine nature, gain access into the realities of divinity and enjoy immunity to the negative conditions of this world. God bless you

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