I cannot take credit for the post which follows. It was sent to me by a friend and is an excerpt from When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson.
The Christian life is not found on the Cross. It is found because of the Cross.
The Cross is not the end, it is the BEGINNING!!
The great majority of the Christian world is still weeping at the foot of the Cross. The consciousness of mankind remains fixed on the Christ who died, not the Christ who lives. People are looking back to the Redeemer who was, not the Redeemer who is.
Jesus became poor so that I could become rich. He suffered with stripes to free me from affliction, and He became sin so I might become the righteousness of God. Why then should I try to become as He was, when He suffered so I could become as He is? At some point the reality of the Resurrection must come into play in our lives—we must discover the power of the Resurrection for all who believe.
Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” A misunderstanding of this call has led many to follow His life of self-denial, but to stop short of His life of power. For them, the cross-walk involves trying to crucify their sin nature by embracing joyless brokenness as an evidence of the cross. But we must follow Him all the way—to a lifestyle empowered by the Resurrection!
One who embraces an inferior cross is constantly filled with introspection and self-induced suffering. But the cross is not self-applied. Jesus did not nail Himself to the cross. Christians who are trapped by this counterfeit are constantly talking about their weaknesses. If the devil finds us uninterested in evil, then he’ll try to get us focused on our unworthiness and inability. …
In my own pursuit of God, I often became preoccupied with ME! It was easy to think that being constantly aware of my faults and weaknesses was humility. It’s not! If I’m the main subject, talking incessantly about my weaknesses, I have entered into the most subtle form of pride. Repeated phrases such as “I’m so unworthy” become a nauseating replacement for the declarations of the worthiness of God. By being sold on my unrighteousness, the enemy has disengaged me from effective service. It’s a perversion of true holiness when my introspection causes my spiritual self-esteem to increase, but my effectiveness in demonstrating the power of the Gospel to decrease.
True brokenness causes complete dependency on God, moving us to radical obedience that releases the power of the Gospel to the world around us. …
Therefore, in your weakest state, declare, “I AM STRONG!” Agree with God regardless of how you feel and discover the power of resurrection. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. The first place that faith must be exercised is in our own standing with God.
Apart from Christ, we’re unworthy. And it’s true that without Him, we are nothing. But I am not without Him, and I never will be again! At what point do we start thinking of our worth through His eyes? If it’s true that the value of something is measured by what someone else will pay, then we need to rethink our worth. Do we ever acknowledge who we are before Him? Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not encouraging arrogance or cockiness. But wouldn’t it honor Him more if we believed that He actually did a good enough job in saving us, and that we really are saved? Jesus paid the ultimate price to make it possible for us to have a change in our identity. Isn’t it time we believe it and receive the benefits? If we don’t, we’ll break down in our confidence as we stand before the world in these final days. The boldness we need is not self-confidence, but the confidence that the Father has in the work of His Son in us. It’s no longer a question of heaven or hell. It’s only a question of how much of hell’s thinking I will allow into this heavenly mind of mine.
Zacharias was given a promise from God that was beyond his comprehension: he was to have a son in his old age. It was hard to believe, so he asked God to give him confirmation. Apparently an angel speaking with him wasn’t a big enough sign! God silenced him for nine months. When God silences the voices of unbelief, it is usually because their words could affect the outcome of a promise. When Zacharias saw God’s promise fulfilled and he chose to name his son according to the command, against the wishes of his relatives, God loosed his tongue. Obedience against popular opinion will often reintroduce someone to personal faith. And that’s a faith that goes against understanding.
Mary was also given a promise beyond comprehension: she was to give birth to the Son of God. When she couldn’t understand, she asked how it was possible since she was a virgin. Understanding a promise from God has never been the prerequisite to its fulfillment. Ignorance asks for understanding; unbelief asks for proof. She stands apart from Zacharias because while being ignorant, she surrendered to the promise. Her cry remains one of the most important expressions the Church can learn in this day--
”be it unto me according to Your word.”
We’ve discussed an incredible promise of paramount importance to the Church. There are few things further from our grasp than the statement, “as He is, so are we in this world.” And so we have the choice: to stand in the shoes of Zacharias and lose our voice, or walk in the ways of Mary and invite God to restore to us the promises we cannot control.
I believe that for the most part this counterfeit cross-walk is embraced because it requires no faith. It’s easy to see my weakness, my propensity toward sin, and my inability to be like Jesus. Confessing this truth requires no faith at all. On the contrary, to do as Paul commanded in Romans 6:13, to consider myself dead to sin, I must believe God!
When God gave Moses a noble task, he responded with “who am I?” God changed the subject saying, “certainly I will be with you.” When we are focused on our lack, the Father tries to change the subject to something that will lead us to the source and the foundation of faith: Himself. The noble call always reveals the nobility of the Caller.
Doesn’t it honor Him more when His children no longer see themselves as only “sinners saved by grace,” but now as “heirs of God?” Isn’t it a greater form of humility to believe Him when He says we are precious in His sight when we don’t feel very precious? Doesn’t it honor Him more when we think of ourselves as free from sin because He said we are? At some point we must rise up to the high call of God and stop saying things about ourselves that are no longer true. If we’re going to fully come in to what God has for us in this last days’ revival, we will have to come to grips with the issue of being more than “sinners saved by grace.” Maturity comes from faith in the sufficiency of God’s redemptive work that establishes us as sons and daughters of the Most High. …
