The Cross is the Hope for the Diseased Self to Die, and Live with the Life of Christ
“The corrupt man cannot, nor has the possibility to bring life, or make new, so the Cross is re-creation.” (Jessie Penn-Lewis)
“The glory of gospel shows that an individual cannot make himself into something of worth.” (A.B. Simpson)
Is there a more despairing phrase than “there is no hope”? Who would have ever thought that the luxurious vessel, the Titanic, would sink? Titanic, which means “gigantic,” was swept into the Atlantic Ocean by an iceberg. This is the fate of the sinners who have been born with a corrupted heart. Sinners have no hope at all, for they are under the power of sin and death, and are only able to hold on to their diseased selves.
Even the great people who has done many remarkable achievements were born with a corrupted heart and can only hold onto their diseased selves under the power of death and sin.
Humans were created to know the Creator and rejoice in him. But the corrupted life did not know God, and tried to forget God on purpose. This is us; we try to hide our sinful nature and corrupted hearts through our best efforts. Furthermore, we turned our backs on the gospel, which was prepared for the sinners. We have no hope at all. Only thing left for our fate is to go to hell. We need the boldness to face the pain of eternal hell. The light of the gospel took away the deceit that the world has put upon us and will shine light upon my deteriorating reality. We need to prepare to face the reality of our sinful being. Then, and only then can we cry out with a whole heart to God for salvation.
After finding out that we are hopeless beings, there starts the desire with thirst for the gospel. God has shown David his reality through his lust towards Bathsheba. David realized deeply that he was a hopeless being through Nathan. But this wasn’t the end. He found the great gospel that was more than enough to consume his darkness. Later, he professed: “I am a sinful being that should be destroyed. But God, with your great name, forgave and accepted me. You are the God of grace.” He realized that God wants a broken soul who wants to go to him in faith.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalms 51:17)
Through prophet Isaiah, God has said that he looks towards people who “who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2).
God said that people with this, and only has the appearance of service “did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight” (Isaiah 66:4).
God doesn’t want to heal us to the point of moral right, and not committing unethical sins. It isn’t just to the point of a hypocritical Pharisee or a Sadducee (Matthew 5:20). God wants to renew our hearts, which is the source of our being. That is why the sinful being’s only good news has to be the Cross. Jesus Christ not only died on the Cross with our sins but died as one of us. Only people that have lost their lives on the Cross are able to find life upon it. We need to pass through the narrow gate in order to see the greatness of the Kingdom of God and go through the death to receive new life. The Cross of Christ allowed all of this through its unification. It has promised a new heart, apart from the diseased self, into a complete faith.
We are completely stained by sin. We are the objects of salvation needing someone to give us life. We also have no ability to heal our hearts nor improve at all through training. We are the ones in need of someone to renew our hearts. The Cross is not only a symbol of religion. Only people who were cursed by God died on the cross (Deuteronomy 21:23). The gospel of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross is more than enough to become our eternal hope.
》Prayer Topic
Have you experienced complete despair towards your old self’s corrupted heart? Let us pray that we do not rely on our deceitful emotions but on the Word of the Truth to become our conclusion.
》Scripture Prayer
(Jeremiah 31:31-34) “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
(Ezekiel 36:22-27) “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. First, let us pray that we humbly acknowledge that we are beings with corrupted hearts. And let us move forward to the power of Jesus Christ’s blood with a true heart and complete faith. Let us praise our Lord who has given us; we who once used to be ignorant of God and disregarded the Cross of Jesus Christ, a new heart to realize the true gospel.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19,22)
2. Let us thank God that it is by his grace, not our works that God has given us a new heart and the wisdom to know him. The gospel is not only God’s mercy towards our corrupted hearts; The gospel is a glorious gospel that transforms sinners to become God’s children. We have been called to praise the glory of God’s grace. All of creation will praise God’s glory through his passion. Let us pray so that day comes swiftly.
“Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us[b]for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:4-6)
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