The Purpose of the Cross of Christ

In talking about the purpose of the cross I want to begin by mentioning that it is the end result that we are talking about here, not the way that the cross works.  
Once we see the end result, than we will know the way that we will have to go to get there.  

The end result of the cross isn’t hard to see. We are told very specifically what it is.  There are two aspects I want to reveal here, one is that we are no longer to live for ourselves but for Him. This is a process that works within us over a lifetime. There are no shortcuts or easy way to get there. Still this is one of the things that Christ showed us that we must do.

Just as He lived for the Father, so are we to live for the Lord also. We are to live for Him and Him alone.  

We must remember how we are told that all things are from Christ, for Christ, in Christ, through Christ, and go back to Him.

The second part of the purpose of the cross goes even one step further. Not only do we live solitarily for Him here, but now it is no longer we who live but Christ that lives in us. What a purpose to look for ... or rather die for! 

Most of us don’t even seem aware or believe that such a thing can happen. And yet Paul tells us that he reached this pinnacle. This wasn’t just for Paul; it was for those who would follow after him.  

This is why Paul tells us that Christ chose to reveal Himself in him, so that we may know what Christ expects to do within us.  

While these two concepts are very simple to understand, very, very few ever even take this as a way of life to pursue. The reason most don’t is because to go after this means that you must go through tremendous workings of the cross that most simply aren’t willing to commit and yield to.  

Yet I hope that you will respond to the Lord in this. Both individually and corporately, we must submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Mankind awaits a people that will deny themselves and not only live for Christ, but come to the place where it is no longer even them who are living but rather Christ that is living in and through them.  

Lose your life in this and the Lord promises us that we will find it. We must be willing to take the risk and to step through.  

Do you want to experience this life? Then you must be willing to die to everything. What are you waiting for? Christ is at the door knocking!