Monday, March 4, 2013

Day 60: The Significance of the Cross



Reading: Proverbs 6:12-19

Sin is detestable and wicked in God's eyes. This part of Proverbs 6 lays out just how much God hates it. When we fall short- and we will in a broken world- we need to come to Jesus and remember what He did for us, and why we're forgiven. He has made us right through His death on the cross. Without it, we would be separated from Him and have to be following the rituals similar to those we've been reading in Leviticus. Thank Him for His amazing love, and remember today how wonderful He is in that He loves us so much, He died the ultimate deaths to take away that separation.


Reading: Mark 10:32-52

We need to see the result of the cross. Jesus knew He came to suffer, serve, save and substitute. His mission was to suffer for us. He knew that though great leaders sometimes make their people suffer, He came to be a leader Who suffered.
He came to serve. Again, many leaders do it the other way around in that they expect to be first and to be served. Jesus lives and teaches another concept- to be last and to serve. In this mindset, He gave up His life in service to us.
He came to save. Jesus sets us free by redeeming us from our sin. He saves us from eternal separation from Him and offers us this gift freely.
He came to substitute. Jesus didn't believe His death was accidental or tragic. He knew the substitution of suffering He was taking on our behalf. He states in this reading that the cup He must drink from is bitter. He took that bitter wrath of God from us and endured it for us.
We must see. Like Bartimaeus, we need to have faith and our eyes will be opened to just how significant the cross is for us. A perfect sacrifice in Jesus is what washes away our sin and separation. Until we have faith and see it, we will have a hard time following.


Reading: Leviticus 5:14-7:10

The reason Jesus came to die for us is huge. We can see how big of a deal sinning is by reading Leviticus, and how the people had to make it a point to set things right with God when they sinned. Even though today it doesn't seem like as big of a deal, we can still see that it is. Jesus came to pay our debt and be our sacrifice to cleanse us from our sin. Because He died for us, we can live in true relationship with Him. He closed that gap that separates us from Him. That is a BIG deal.


We need to understand the true significance of the cross and Jesus' death for us. Until we do, we can't fully appreciate what it means to us. We need to have our eyes opened to Him, and to have faith in Him.

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