The past few years have been some of the craziest year’s I’ve ever seen with the pandemic, flooding in the south, and social and political uprisings – and more. Add to that protestors tearing down, destroying, or mutilating many monuments and historical statues that have been with us for hundreds of years.
While mistakes were made in the original thinking of our founding fathers on such issues as slavery and women’s suffrage, a wonderful mechanism was put in place to amend the Constitution. To date, twenty-seven amendments have been ratified to help better govern our country and correct the mistakes of the past.
What will the protestors take down next? Will it be symbols of our faith such as the Cross or the Star of David? These are the most precious and sacred of all symbols. It was the Judeo/Christian values that were used to form the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Half the Declaration’s signers had divinity school training. Many were pastors or lay leaders in their churches.
The cross is an influential symbol of our Christian faith. It speaks to any on-looker of the grim realities of suffering and death. Christ and many of His followers endured pain and agony as they hung on a cross. As God entered the world to live and die in the flesh, Calvary’s Cross became the ultimate sacrifice for sin and to bring us newness of life. The cross is a sign of the glory within the Old Testament that was concealed but revealed in the New Testament.
It stands as a symbol of hope and assurance to a world distracted by its pride, apathy, and self-indulgence. Regarding those who don’t yet know Christ, let’s pray that through your witness and mine they may come to faith in Jesus and embrace the significance of the Cross He died on. For without the cross of Christ, there would be no forgiveness of sins, no reconciliation with God, and only the bleak outlook of eternity in hell. Many stumble over the cross seeing it only as a symbol of death and suffering. But the cross represents the great lengths to which God went to free this dark and sick world from its sin and despair. Next time you look at a cross keep in mind the importance of this symbol. It is everything to all who believe and trust Christ for the forgiveness of sin.
As we look upon monuments and other relics of the past may we learn from history and repeat the positive but shun the negative.
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5; Ephesians 2:11-22
Personal Application: Let God’s Word wash over you as you read about the significance of the Cross of Christ. Then, spend time in prayer thanking God for what He did for you through Christ.
Jim Grassi, D. Min. and Wendell Morton
We cherish any verse in Scripture that reminds us to keep focused and intentional about evangelism and discipleship. “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5