After Christ was risen from it the dead, the apostles went out to preach His message, and what they preached was the cross. Wherever they went into the wide world they carried the cross, and the same revolutionary power went with them. The radical message of the cross transformed Saul of Tarsus and changed him from a persecutor of Christians to a fiery believer and an apostle of the faith. Its power changed bad men into good ones. It shook off the long bondage of paganism and altered completely the whole moral and mental outlook of the Western world.
All this it did and continued to do as long as it was permitted to remain what it had been originally, a cross. Its power departed when it was changed from a tiling of death to a thing of beauty. When men made of it a symbol, hung it around their necks as an ornament or made its outline before their faces as a magic sign to ward off evil, then it became at best a weak emblem, at worst a positive fetish. z\s such it is revered today by millions who know absolutely nothing about its power. The cross affects its end by destroying one established
pattern, the old life of the one seeking Christ, and creating another pattern, its own. Thus, it always has its way. It wins by defeating its opponent and imposing its will upon him. It always dominates. It never compromises, never dickers nor confers, never surrenders a point for the sake of peace. It cares not for peace; it cares only to end its opposition as fast as possible.
With perfect knowledge of all this Christ said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” So the cross not only brought Christ’s life to an end, it ends also the first life, the old life, of every one of His true followers. It destroys the old pattern, the Adamic pattern of rebellion and pride, in the believer’s life, and brings it to an end. Then the God who raised Christ from the dead raises the believer into the life of humility and obedience; the life of Christ; the life of the Cross.
This, and nothing less, is true Christianity, though we cannot but recognize the sharp divergence of this conception from that held by the rank and file of evangelicals today. The cross stands high above the opinions of men
and to that cross all opinions will come at last for judgment. Shallow and worldly pastors would modify the cross to please entertainment mad church members who want to have their fun even within the very sanctuary; but to do so is to court spiritual disaster and risk the anger of the Lord.
We must do something when the cross is presented before us. There is only one of two things we can do: flee from it, or die upon it. If we should be so foolhardy as to flee, then we shall have left salvation; then power of God will depart with our rejection of the true cross.
If we are wise we will do what Jesus did: endure the cross and despise its shame for the joy that is set before us. This is to submit the whole pattern of our lives to be destroyed and built again in the power of the Cross.
The cross will cut into our lives where it hurts worst, sparing neither us nor our carefully cultivated reputations. It will defeat us and bring our selfish lives to an end.