“From that time, Jesus began to point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s purposes, but men’s.”Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:21-25, NASB).

Where is the Cross?

Today, I typed this phrase into my search engine. What I received was nothing about Jesus’ death but about the parts of the physical cross on which He died.

No offense, but the physical cross was nothing at all. Jesus’ cross was no different than the cross of the thieves on His right and left. As far as we know, it was made of the same wood, shaped similarly, and of a similar size. Their suffering was also terribly painful.

The only physical difference was that His cross was labeled with the message that He was the King of the Jews. It was written in Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew so all could read it. The Jewish leaders didn’t like that it said He was the King of the Jews, but Pilate would not change it.

What makes Jesus’ death so different from theirs or any other person? It was that Jesus was perfect in righteousness. This made Him able and worthy to be the atonement for us all. This is the message of the cross.

So, where is the Cross of Christ?

Finding the Cross

Finding the “Cross of Christ ” is far more important than people seem to understand. It is not just the physical cross that is lost, but the spiritual one. It is the meaning of the cross which has been lost.

I typed in the phrase “Where is the Cross?” because that phrase randomly arose in my mind as I read about the latest up-and-coming hero of the Evangelical Church.

The Latest Shiny Object

I have been a Christian for many years and have watched as hero after hero and Christian improvement fad after fad was exalted in the church as the answer to the ills of our churches.

I should have been suspicious about this new shiny object because his popularity seems so widely acclaimed. Still, I did some quick investigation into the key principles of his revolutionary teaching. It was characterized as a discipling believers into a deeper, closer, relationship with God and spiritual formation. Sounds great, right?

They were all fine ideas and important concepts. Then it struck me: Where is the Cross? Why, here again, is the message of the cross not central in this new permutation of modern Evangelical Christianity? This latest popular movement encourages you to find a deeper, more fulfilled spiritual life. Is that why Jesus died for us?

Just One Small Problem

Of course, it is. There is just one problem here. (just a tiny, minor, and insignificant problem). The problem is that this is not the central message of the New Testament! Focusing on these elements for their own sake will inevitably lead to fruitlessness in the Spirit. Yes, it will result in another disappointing “answer” for us. Disappointing indeed unless this undertaking is characterized by an unrelenting focus on Christ’s death.

Why is this so? Shouldn’t we all go after a deeper spiritual life, a better and more fulfilled life? After all, what is wrong with that? Jesus himself promised us “abundant life,” did He not? Yes, He most certainly did!

Again, as with all the popular movements in modern Evangelical Christianity, the message is about getting what you want out of life. This is contrary to the message of the New Testament.   Does that surprise you?

Contrary to Our Plan

The disciples expected Jesus to bring in the reign of God on earth and that they would be among those who reign with Him in this new kingdom. Indeed, this was certainly God’s ultimate plan. The Father’s way of accomplishing this was very, very unwelcome, even to the most passionate of Jesus’ followers.

On one occasion, when Jesus was explaining to the twelve that He was going to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. Upon hearing this, Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. Can you imagine the unmitigated gall? Peter is rebuking God. I would probably feel indignant about his arrogance if I hadn’t done essentially the same thing (in effect) in secret times without number!

As we can see from the introductory verses, Jesus rebuked Peter with the harshest words imaginable (if, indeed, He was at that moment speaking to Peter rather than the devil) “Get behind me, Satan,” and then, “you are a stumbling block to me for you are not setting your mind on God’s interest, but man’s” (Matthew 16:23).

Why We Can’t Enter

Yes, indeed! There we have it. This is our problem. This is why there is no real power in the Evangelical Church today. We cannot enter into His will by our own. We must constantly lose our own wants to remain in Him. This may not seem like a big deal, but Jesus seemed to think it was, and I think He knows what He is talking about. We would do well to listen to Him very carefully.

You see, not only did Jesus have to do something that was utterly contrary to what any sane person would want for themselves, but it was also the last thing on earth that His disciples wanted.

All their hopes for glory and fulfillment devoured before their eyes. What kind of reign is this!! This does not seem like reigning at all! They could not fathom what was happening until the resurrection. This is the stumbling block of the cross. It is the true cost of discipleship, and none of us want to pay that price.

Lose, Lose, Lose

Similarly, when we discover (or rediscover) the true gospel, we begin to live a life that is contrary to anything that we want. We begin to lose, lose, lose. This is not what we had planned in any way whatsoever! This is not the glorious life we expected to enjoy in this journey to the “abundant life.”

Who wants to die? Who wants to lose? But Jesus said these most inconvenient words: “He who seeks to save his life will lose it and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). What is the constant in both of those phrases? That’s right, it is the word “lose.” No matter how hard you fight it, dear Christian, you will lose.

So, you have a choice. You can choose to seek your own wants with Jesus and lose, or you can choose to seek His agenda for each moment and lose. What kind of deal is that?

The Amazing Offer

Actually, it is the greatest offer ever made, period. Nothing on earth, or perhaps even in heaven, can surpass this offer. It is an offer of salvation. Salvation is found by believing in only one thing. Have you been able to guess it yet?

It is believing in the offering He made for us at the cross. There is nothing to add to this. There is nothing anyone could ever add to this. Who is worthy to add to that? And oh, how we all give lip service to it!

All of us who believe in Jesus have accepted these things. Otherwise, we would not, and could not be real Christian believers. That’s what we all know; it’s about believing in Him, right? Or do we really practice this on a day by day, even moment by moment?

If we did, out of our “innermost beings would be flowing rivers of life” (John 7:28). What makes this whole thing so much less appealing to our natural man is the message that this abundance of life comes with the same price that He paid: death; our death.

The Impossible

It must be considered that no one can cross this chasm by their own power – not initially, not ever. This is why it must be by believing. Because our will cannot divest itself of self-interested motivations, this is our human nature, the “old man.” So, no matter how subtly we try to do things with various approaches to developing our “spirituality,” we will always fail to find the real Jesus. This is because, as Paul says, “by the works of the law no flesh will (ever) be justified in His sight” (Galatians 2:16, Romans 3:20).

When we believe in anything we have done or are doing as supplementing what Christ has already done for us, we have “fallen from grace,” and “Christ will be of no benefit” to us. (Galatians 5:2,4,11). I want to ask you this one thing. How much benefit is there in “no” benefit?

By means of our contaminated (human, natural) motives, we will never ever enter. Only with our hope focused and fixed unwaveringly on what He has done, we qualify for the gift of righteousness. That kind of righteousness comes only from God, which is real righteousness. It is Christ.

Only He is Able

He always overcomes the world, the flesh, and the devil. Oh, how the devil fights against those who live by this rule! But those who do live by this rule, paradoxically, cannot be defeated by the devil in any battle as long as they continue to “hold fast” the “confession” of their “faith.”

The Good News and the Bad News

That’s the good and bad news. It is good for obvious reasons. Those who hold fast to the truth in this way will prevail over the darkness. They will do great things for God even though it may all be done in secret, where there is no glory from man. Yet the glory of God will be with them and in them and will give them power to prevail. This prevailing is not for themselves but for those whom He has entrusted to their care.

The bad news is that these will constantly suffer loss all their lives. As Paul said, “Therefore, death works in us and life in you.” What a beautiful picture of the cross of Christ manifest in their life. So, really, then, for them, there is no bad news.

It is, however, terrible news for those in the church who are “enemies of the cross” of Christ. This will be a problem for the proud and for those who love their power, position, riches, glory, and honor of men more than they love Jesus. It will also be a problem for those who wish to persist in seeking their own way rather than recognizing the utter futility of trying to fight to hold on to their own wants.

An Open Door

So, friends, He has placed before us an open door. We can enter His rest, admit our broken, constant state of hypocrisy and self-seeking emanating from our old life, and welcome His cleansing of our hearts and hands. On the other hand, we can choose futility.

All the good things will come to us in time as we abide with our confidence in the complete sufficiency of Christ’s atoning death for us and as we, by faith, accept His loving plan regardless of the cost.

You can trust His word that He will be ending your life daily. I assure you that you will not be disappointed in His faithfulness to do that. Neither will you be disappointed in His faithfulness to daily pour out upon you the redemptive power of His resurrected life.

Jesus paid it all.