HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2009 / MARCH/APRIL / LIVING BY THE SPIRIT

MARCH/APRIL 2009
VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2

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D E P A R T M E N T S

Living by the SPIRIT

 

Resurrection begins at the cross

Linda Arnett

 

The sight of the cross is a painful one. Our Savior endured a brutal beating, inhumane treatment so severe that most of us would never have survived to the cross. The Lamb of God was nailed to a cross unrecognizable, drained of his blood, ridiculed, and spat upon. Yet, we're drawn to the cross.

Michelangelo created a masterpiece, the Pieta, picturing the crucified Christ in his mother's arms; a photographer published a book of over a thousand pictures of the Pieta, and a well loved author penned a book after being moved by the photographs.

Only God could take the cross, a symbol of hate, pain, anguish, fear, and death, and turn it into a symbol of love, hope, grace, forgiveness, and eternal salvation.

As I passed a church on a walk one day, I stopped and pondered at the sight of the cross lifted high above the edifice. I was filled with thanksgiving, love, joy, and awe as my face was fixed with a radiant smile. How could that be when the cross originally represented control by the Romans, torture for those placed upon it, and grief for the loved ones of those hanging on it? How could we 2,000 years later look at a cross and be filled with love, joy, and awe? It is because of Who was nailed on the cross and what was nailed with Him to the cross. God the Son, obedient to God the Father, willingly went to the cross so that our sins could be nailed with Him. Just as the Savior transformed the image of the cross, He transforms lives.

If we see, understand, and believe this reality, then we can have hope when we are in the deserts of our lives. If God can turn the agony of the cross into victory for the world, surely He can turn my disappointments of life and yours into victory. Even when we see no way out of the circumstances we are in, we can focus on the cross; we can meet Jesus at the foot of the old rugged cross. He will understand our pain. He will comfort and hold us. He will stand with us through the trial even if He chooses not to take us out of it.

Brennan Manning tells the story of a priest who sees a peasant praying by the side of the road. The priest says to the man, "You must love God very much", to which the peasant replied, "Oh yes, He is very fond of me!" Somehow we buy into the lie that God only loves us when He rewards us with good things and pleasant circumstances. Yet, here was a man that had nothing the world has to offer but had everything that mattered; the knowledge that God loved him.

I think that is one reason why I am so enamored by the sight of a cross. It is a tangible picture representing to me that God is very fond of me. He loves you and me so much He sent His only begotten Son. The Son, Jesus, loves us so much that He went to the old rugged cross to die for you and for me. Yes, God is very fond of me. He is very fond of you.

Let the cross be the place where our desire to be loved and Jesus' desire to show His love meet. Meet Jesus at the cross today and every day until He calls you home, and in His presence you will forever know that He is more than fond of you—He adores you. †

 

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Linda Arnett and her husband of 35 years have lived in Yucaipa for the past four years. Prior to that they lived in San Gabriel Valley, California, where Linda, a registered dental hygienist, worked alongside her husband in his dental practice. They attend Trinity Church in Redlands where Linda is a co-leader in women's Bible study. Linda has two grown children, two grown step children, and two teenaged grandchildren.