The Message of the Cross

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2)

But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)



The overall state of the modern Christian Church is of great concern to me. Why? God has burned within me the call to be a protector of the body of Christ and the desire to see a Church that is truly restored to the biblical pattern. The biblical pattern mandates that all churches that are part of the Church that Jesus is building not only preach about Jesus but preach the message that He preached. One cannot preach about Jesus without preaching the message of the cross, and to preach what Jesus preached is to preach the gospel of the kingdom.



By the Spirit, I see a remnant Church coming forth that is preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence (Acts 28:23, 31). I see a remnant Church that preaches Jesus and Him crucified and of which every member has denied self, forsaken all, and taken up their cross to follow Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:2; Luke 9:23; 14:27, 33). I see a remnant Church that fits the description found in Ephesians 4:11-16.



With my natural eyes, I observe that most modern churches and denominations are not following the biblical pattern or mandate. Instead, many are substituting the heart and core of the Word of God with other things, even good things. They are saying some things from the Bible and doing things that seemingly help their members personally, especially in the area of making them feel better about themselves. For example, like never before, churches are giving their members opportunities to use their abilities to help others. These opportunities seem to be growing as personal fulfillment and purpose-driven messages expand and take greater hold within more parts of the Church. The membership roles also grow as people in the various communities learn that they can come and release their gifts and/or learn to feel better about themselves.



Many modern churches emphasize the need to do what will help them grow in number and not what will bring forth a Church that is mature in Jesus and His Word. They sometimes stay true to what their group has always emphasized about the Word and, in addition, they come up with programs, activities, and outreach methods to draw people of all ages and keep them involved. Releasing individual gifts and calling it ministry always gives people a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, so this has become a favorite strategy for getting and keeping members. To the natural eyes, all of this may seem to be good, but as I look closely with my spiritual eyes I see something missing.



What is missing? One of the main things missing is the message of the cross. Preaching Jesus and Him crucified is missing! Preaching the denial of self, the forsaking of all, and the following of the crucified Christ into the harvest fields is missing. Professing Christians are being self-fulfilled while the harvest fields remain white for harvest. John 4:35: “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”



What we have instead is a counterfeit harvest, wherein people are drawn to a counterfeit (mixed) message by excited people flooding the marketplaces with the message of self—how to feel good about oneself and how to find fulfillment for oneself. Recently, I witnessed on television an internationally known preacher take Romans 5:17 and come up with driving an expensive, a very expensive, car. I went to bed thinking about reigning in life and driving an expensive car and using that to win certain people who would not come any other way, according to the luxury-car-driving-preacher. I turned the light back on, picked up my Bible and studied Romans 5:17 in the context of the message presented from 5:12 to 5:21. I found the message to be about reigning over sin and death through Jesus, but I could not find a luxury car or a luxury house in the message anywhere. I couldn’t even find a luxury suit to wear.



Too many modern churches are like the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7. It had a great resume, but what mattered most to Jesus was missing. No one in the past, present, or future can be a real disciple without what took place on the cross, and yet we hear less and less about the cross in the modern Christian church. Oh, it is mentioned from time to time, but it is not taught and given priority according to biblical proportions. Those who may preach good messages on the cross usually leave out or improperly teach other vital things, such as the baptism in the Spirit and the gospel of the kingdom.



Many churches have adopted strategies from the world’s systems in their efforts to reach the lost of the world. The problem with this strategy is that the systems of the world are under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19). When the church tries to look like the world to win the lost of the world, the world does not become like the church; the church becomes like the world, and its witness is damaged and/or lost. The world will never take seriously a compromised church.



The resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment are two of the six basic doctrines of true discipleship (Hebrews 6:1, 2). After being resurrected, the lost and false disciples will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. After being resurrected, true disciples of Jesus Christ will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ and given rewards according to their earthly ministry. One place in Scripture that gives us insight concerning the believers’ judgment is 1 Corinthians 3: 11-15.

Could it be that the great resume of the church at Ephesus, as well as the resume of good works that many believers are presently involved in, will be burned as wood, hay, or straw? Will there be people who are not at the Judgment Seat of Christ but at the Great White Throne Judgment instead because they thought they were “okay” when they were on earth? They were busy and fulfilled with many church activities, but, in truth, they never experienced the cross and never took up their cross and followed Jesus into the harvest field with the right message and the right motivation. Will there be people at the Great White Throne Judgment because a true laborer of Jesus Christ never ministered to them?



There will, in fact, be people at the Great White Throne Judgment because they never were ministered truth and never witnessed a true, mature disciple of Jesus Christ who had taken up their personal cross to follow Him. The modern church is sadly lacking in one of the things that counts most.



The message of the cross, first of all, teaches us about what Jesus has accomplished for all who will by faith receive Him. It teaches that Jesus, by the shedding of His blood and the giving of His life, made a way for us to be redeemed to God. Through His resurrection we, too, can be resurrected to spend eternity together with Him. The message of the cross goes on to teach us about our responsibility while on earth. We are to deny self, forsake all, and take up our cross and follow Jesus. The denying of self includes denying the fleshly pleasures and selfish personal ambitions and the fulfillment that many find in doing good manmade works in the modern church. The message of the cross includes the message that, in this world, there will be persecution for true disciples. Anyone who takes up their cross to follow Jesus and proclaims Jesus and Him crucified will be persecuted.

These are hard sayings, but they are true sayings! When Jesus preached hard sayings, many of His disciples turned away. Many professing Christians have already turned away from hard sayings in our day, and many more will turn away in the future, but there will be a faithful remnant that will not turn away from the truth. They will, instead, turn away from the lies, deceptions, and mixtures that are flooding the modern church and the world. These faithful few will unite in the unity of faith that Jesus prayed for and looks for. They will proclaim and live by the message of the cross.
The work of the Lord cannot be fully accomplished without a faithful remnant Church that is living in the unity of John 17. We need true revival! All true revivals have to start with someone. What about with you? Will you forsake manmade modern church and the things of the world to follow Jesus? Will you search intently until you find true and mature ministers sent by God and then submit yourself to be equipped by the Holy Spirit through them? Will you join in the unity of faith with other disciples who have done the same and then shine as a light for Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world and to a manmade church that has followed man and not Jesus? I must declare again that if you are following partial truth, you are following man. Distance must not matter; minds must be renewed and freed from old ways of thinking about church. The cost must be counted and the price paid—the cross carried. Some will follow the narrow road, but many others are so bound by relationships and other things that they will settle for half-truths and half covenants rather than wholly following Jesus.

The restored Church that I see so clearly is made up of those true believers found all over the earth who daily fulfill Luke 9:23; Luke 14:27, 33, and 1 Corinthians 2: 1-2. I believe that Zechariah 13:9 can be used to give some insight about this Church. It also reminds me of the gold, silver, and precious stones found in 1 Corinthians 3: 12.



The Cross stands at the center of Christendom. No one can reach God without going the way of the Cross of Jesus Christ. There is convicting and restorative power in the message of the Cross. Therefore, let the Message of the Cross be returned to its proper place in the lives of all true believers! Let this result in a restored Church that is formed in the image of Christ and united in faith. (First posted 1/26/08)