CARRYING OUR
CROSS
By
Pastor Dick
Jesus said, "If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me" (Matt.16:24). What is our "cross" that we are to take up and carry as we
follow Jesus?
Our cross is not some sin
that we think we cannot overcome, because Jesus bore all of our sins on the
cross of Calvary.
Our cross is not guilt, for
the Bible says that we who hear His word and believe in Him shall not come into
condemnation (John 5:24), and that there is "no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit"
(Rom.8:1).
Our cross to carry is not
some bad experience that happened to us in the past that must weigh us down for
a lifetime.Yes, it is good, rather than burying a bad past event in our
subconscious, to bring it up and face it; then give it to the Lord and go on
with our new life in Christ. Paul the apostle said, ". . . but this one thing
I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil.3:13,14).
Our cross is not our old
human nature, that part of us that doesn't want to be denied; for even though it
will bother us, we still can deny it, reckon it dead, nailed to the cross with
Christ (Rom.6:11).
Our cross to carry is not a
sickness. Some of the most inspirational people I know are ones who have a
sickness, a handicap, or some other affliction, and are not complaining, but are
thankful for the goodness of the Lord and are asking and waiting for His
deliverance. All of God's children who have an affliction will be healed: some
instantly, some later, and some as they cross over to the Golden Shore. When we
hear someone say, "I have prayed and I am not healed, so this sickness must be
my cross to bear," it sounds like a statement of faith, but it is not. What it
does is place a good light on the person and a bad light on God. Yes, there are
many who suffer terribly with dreadful ailments and are, indeed, weighed down
with a heavy load; yet they should not try to bear it alone, but lean on the
Lord and keep praying for a healing.
The cross we are to carry is
not anything that we are to worry about, for He said to cast "ALL your care
upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Pet.5:7).
Jesus said, "Come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light" (Matt.11:28-30). What is the easy yoke, the light
burden we receive from the Lord that gives rest to our souls? It is the same as
what He told us to take up and carry as we follow Him. It is our cross! But not
our old cross.
The cross is an instrument
of punishment, something that bears judgment for sin. There is only One who made
footprints on the face of this earth who was not burdened with the cross of
judgment, because only He was without sin. Jesus was crucified for our sins;
therefore, He took that old cross of judgment that we have been burdened with
all of our sinful lives, and He bore it for us. Our cross became His cross. He
paid the price to fulfill its purpose. He took it from us, "For he
(God) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us . . . that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Cor.5:21), and then He gave it
back to us to carry. But it is not the same old cross. It is a new cross,
completely different; it is no longer an instrument of judgment, but rather our
passport to Heaven!
To all of us who believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and have received Him into
our hearts, the cross we are to carry is ALL THAT JESUS ACCOMPLISHED FOR US WITH
HIS CRUCIFIXION! The shoulder that we bear this wonderful cross on is our faith.
Carrying our cross by faith is always being aware of who we are in Christ. It is
resting in the finished work that He accomplished on the cross. It is living in
our new creation.
When we try to work for our
righteousness, we are not carrying our cross, but have cast it down in the mud
of humanity. If we walk in the flesh under a cloud of self-condemnation or if we
believe our feelings rather than the word of God, that is a sure sign we are not
carrying our cross. Thinking that our Heavenly Father wants to punish us rather
than remembering that He has already forgiven us, or that He wants to inflict a
sickness upon us rather than to heal us, is not carrying our cross.
Denying self—that is, the
flesh—goes hand in hand with carrying our cross. The old self (natural man)
cannot pick up the cross; the new creation in Christ is the one who carries it
with joy and thankfulness. Not only did we become "a new creature" and
"all things . . . become new" when we came to Jesus and were born
again by the power of God, but "old things are passed away" (2 Cor.5:17).
That old cross that once condemned us has become a new cross, which guarantees
us all the benefits of the inheritance that Jesus purchased for us at
Calvary.
If you deny your self and
take up your new cross, you will be carrying in your heart all that Jesus
accomplished for you on His cross. You will not be trying to earn your
righteousness or trying to perform to please God or man. There will be nothing
for you to worry or fret about. You will have entered into that rest of the New
Covenant where you will have the true riches of your inheritance and really
enjoy life here on earth, living with your wonderful Savior!
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