Accepting forgiveness at the Cross shows relatives too. God declared His love for
us what it means to be a follower. sinners and His willingness to give life to
The apostle Peter rejoiced in the Cross all who will come to Him and accept His
on earth and in heaven. Only the love of death on the cross as the only sacrifice
Jesus Christ demonstrated on the cross God accepts for our salvation. Through
held any glory for him: “Blessed be the Jesus’ love for us on the cross, we find the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ability to love and forgive others as well.
which according to his abundant mercy Through His cross, our Lord binds us
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope firmly to Himself and the Father. He rec-
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from onciles us to God through the forgiveness
the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, of our sins. He grants us new life by His
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, resurrection from the dead. Through that
reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4). act of reconciliation, Jesus Christ makes it
possible for us to transcend everything
What It Means to Be
that mars our relationships with others.
a Cross-Bearer
Unfortunately, Peter hadn’t always
The Cross Helps Us
been clear about the meaning of the
Love Others
Cross in his life. Before Jesus’ death, Peter We are strengthened in our ties to one
thought he knew what it meant to be a another through the Cross. Jesus taught
cross-bearer. He imagined what the Mes- us to pray, “Forgive us our sins; for we
siah should be. He thought he had the also forgive every one that is indebted to
strength on his own to stand with Jesus us. And lead us not into temptation; but
and fight with Him to the bitter end. deliver us from evil” (Luke 11:4).
But self-made faith caused Peter to be We can look at every person as fami-
vulnerable to a fall from his greatest fail- ly, knowing Christ died for each individ-
ing—inconsistency. As a result, Peter ual on the cross. Jesus’ dying on the cross
ended up not being the follower of the gives each person value and dignity.
Cross he thought he would be. Yet, the
When I survey the wondrous cross,
Cross redeemed Peter. He ended up being
On which the prince of glory died,
a true rock of the Church, respected
My richest gain I count but loss,
throughout the centuries as a humble ser-
And pour contempt on all my pride.
vant of Christ.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
From Peter we learn the perils of try-
Save in the death of Christ, my God;
ing to bear the Cross on our own. To fol-
All the vain things that charm me most,
scheme for salvation. The power of God low the Cross, we must come in repen-
I sacrifice them to his blood.
was revealed on the cross. The blood tance, aware of our weakness and our
—Isaac Watts
spilled on the cross is a symbol for what inability to deal with sin and death. Like
is most important—the suffering of Deity: Peter, we must always desire to be
Though innocent, Jesus Christ was
“Who his own self bare our sins in his restored and forgiven.
judged and condemned to death as a
own body on the tree, that we, being God faithfully restores each repentant
criminal on a cross. God permitted that
dead to sins, should live unto righteous- person to righteousness: “If we confess
judgment to stand for our sakes so He
ness: by whose stripes ye were healed” our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
might raise Jesus from the dead and
(1 Peter 2:24). us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
assure us He will do the same for us. One
The Savior suffered and died a despi- unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). God’s
day we will be raised from the dead to
cable death on the cross to save us from grace compels this passion of the Cross
live with God eternally. Until then, the
our sins. No one else could have bridged and leads us to salvation through the
Cross means a promise of family, forgive-
the gap between sin and sanctity. It had only means possible.
ness, and healing power for us.
to be the Son of God. A savior without
the Cross would be no savior at all.
At the Cross, We Become Kayleen Reusser celebrates
At the Cross, we are emptied of any
Related to One Another the love displayed on the cross
reason for boasting of ourselves. When At the Cross, Jesus Christ created the
of Christ and the power of
we recognize what God has done for us Church when He gave Mary and John to
His resurrection in Bluffton,
through the Cross, we have inner peace. each other. At the Cross, He made us His
Indiana.
EVANGEL • MAR 2008 19
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