Biblical teaching - T116

The Power of the Preaching of the Cross

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That "falling away" is already occurring. Satan knows full well that he was totally defeated at the Cross ; that the whole of our past life was swallowed up in Jesus’ death, and that through His Resurrection Life we have been given a perfect answer to all our problems. With the spreading of apostasy, the message of the Cross will be increasingly set aside or distorted. All that is left of the Cross is an ornament to be set up on church buildings or hung round people’s necks. The full message of the Cross will not often be preached in the end-times, because the Lord Himself said : "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold." (Matthew 24:12).

If we want to see the abundant Life of the Lord in action once again, we must go back to the message of the Cross, not only in our preaching, but in the daily living of crucified lives, through faith in this wondrous message.

Here are some more Scriptures to shed light on what has just been said and to improve our understanding of the message of the Cross.

"For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus : that if one died for all, then all died ; and he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). If we no longer live for ourselves, that means that we understand the message of the Cross. Now we live for Jesus. We no longer live for ourselves, because we understand that we died in Christ. One who is dead has no selfish desires left to satisfy. Living in the flesh means having selfish desires that are not in accordance with God. If we walk in the Spirit, our discernment of God’s will for us is going to grow keener and keener, and we shall adhere to His will through faith, because His will is always good for us. "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, we know him thus no longer." (2 Corinthians 5:16). At first, the disciples knew Christ according to the flesh. They saw Him at work in the world. They knew Him from the outside. Now we need to know Christ from the inside, in our spirits, through deep spiritual union with Him in our hearts. Knowing Christ according to the flesh means knowing Him from the outside, as Job knew Him when he said : "I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear." (Job 42:5). We no longer know Christ according to the flesh, as some theologians do, holding debates about Him without knowing Him.

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation ; old things have passed away ; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation". (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). All things have become new. So, beloved, give up every piece of that old luggage of yours. Drop it all off at the "left luggage" of History, into Jesus’ death ! Leave it all in Jesus’ grave ! You are a new creation.

Now, we need to know one another according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Fleshly knowledge would say, for instance : "Oh, I’ve known so-and-so for twenty years, and he has always been like that !" If my perception is carnal, I will consider that person according to the flesh and will be blind to the new nature God has created in him. We are far too used to looking at people according to the flesh instead of looking at them with the eyes of faith : if they are born again, it keeps us from seeing the new nature Jesus has placed in them and wants to make manifest through faith in His Word. We need to help each other to be aware of our problems and our shortcomings, but we must also discern what God is doing in us, when we are new creatures in Christ. What counts is to be a new creation in Jesus Christ ! Everlasting Life is at work within us, to manifest Jesus’ own character in us. We must stop knowing people according to the flesh and start knowing them in the Spirit.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul says : "I have been crucified with Christ ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." The second part of the verse is vital : "the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20). When I know that I have been crucified in Christ and with Christ, I know that if I live, it is Christ who lives in me. I live in faith in the Son of God who has given me His Word so as to reveal His will to me. Further on, in Galatians 5:24, Paul adds : "Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires."

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