This morning we’re moving on in our look at Extreme Makeovers: Life Edition. We’re looking at some of the things that God wants to see change in our lives to draw us closer to Him and to ultimately make us a better reflection of Christ in this world. We’ve looked at the fact that God wants us to have a broken heart, a heart that understands our sin and what it does to our relationship with God. We looked at Psalm 51, the cry of a sinner before His God as King David sought restoration from His sin with Bathsheba. He modeled this idea of heart break before God that is missing in the lives of so many Christians. Last week we turned our attention to our personal communication with God and what that needs to become and look like. God is asking that we have calloused knees, knees that know what it is to consistently bend before God’s throne in prayer. We looked at Matthew 6 and the way that Christ teaches us to pray. So, a new heart and an understanding of the privilege of prayer, are both huge steps towards becoming what God has planned for us to be and in seeing the kind of changes in our Christian life and testimony, in our walk with God, that allow us to enjoy a deep and meaningful relationship with our Creator.
Today we turn our attention to another area. God wants us to have crossed eyes in this life. I can remember when Ethan was an infant and his eye muscles hadn’t developed yet, his eyes would often cross when he tried to focus on something and Erin and I would laugh at the funny looks that he would get on his face. In a short amount of time, his eye muscles developed and he was able to focus with no problems. I can remember when I was little my mother would tell me that if I crossed my eyes to much, they would stay that way forever. Any of you remember being told that? Turns out, as I did research, she was right! I found this picture of a grown up who didn’t listen to her mother when she was little! It’s a shame really.
In this life, having crossed eyes is very noticeable. It’s not something that you can hide and it’s something that society has decided marks you as being different, as not being normal. The same is true for what God is calling us as Christians to. When we develop crossed eyes, we’ll be labeled as different too and anyone who looks at us or talks to us will be able to see that difference in our lives. Now, obviously I’m not talking about the literal condition of having eyes that are crossed. But God calls us as Christians to fix our gaze intently at the cross of Christ and to see everything through the filter of the work that Jesus accomplished for us on that cross. Being cross eyed is about understanding what that cross means and what it represents and what was accomplished for us upon it.
When we fix our eyes on that cross and on the redeeming work of Christ that that cross bears witness to, we will see the world differently, we’ll see it with crossed eyes. And while having literal crossed eyes makes everything seem out of focus, having crossed-eyes in this context, in a Biblical context, is the only way to see things clearly.
A few years ago there was this new craze that everyone was talking about. Someone had found a way to make pictures that looked like absolutely nothing unless they were viewed in a special way and then a very clear, very detailed three dimensional picture would appear. My sister bought a book that was full of these pictures and my family sat together and looked at these pictures for days, they were the coolest thing. There was only one problem, I couldn’t see anything. When I looked at the pictures, all I saw was the blurry two dimensional group of meaningless lines and colors. My family would marvel at the dolphins that seemed to jump out at you and the pirate ships and castles and dinosaurs and I couldn’t see it. The trick to those pictures was in how you positioned your eyes. You had to have crossed eyes to get the picture to come into focus. And when you didn’t have that, the picture was unclear and it led to frustration and eventually I lost interest and stopped trying to see the picture at all.
I think that’s a perfect picture of what we’re talking about this morning. So many people are looking at life and they just can’t seem to see the whole picture, things aren’t quite clear, but if we look at life with crossed eyes, with eyes that are focused on freedom and salvation that are bound up in the work of Christ on the cross, the picture suddenly becomes clear, it jumps out at us in stunning detail and we’re able to see meaning and purpose where there was nothing before.
This morning we’re going to look at four truths about the cross. Each of these truths pushes us to action, each of these actions defines why we were created, and taken together they give our lives purpose and they define the reasons we exist as a church and help to focus our time and energy in the right areas to fulfill God’s calling in our lives and in our church.
The first thing we see when we focus on the cross is that it:
1) Forces a Decision
When Christ walked out of the tomb, every man or woman who would walk this Earth from that time on was forced to decide what to do with Him. Jesus is not someone that you can ignore and He’ll just go away. When it comes to this decision, you cannot stand before God when you leave this life and plead ignorance. Choosing not to decide is in fact making a decision.
In his book, “Know Why You Believe” Paul Little says this about those who are asking questions about God:
An unbeliever needs to see that he must come to a decision after having been given an answer. To make no decision is to decide against the Christian position.
When the gospel is presented, when the story of the cross is told, there is no such thing as indecision. Either you believe and you accept what God has so graciously provided for us or you don’t.
1 John 5:10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
There is belief and life or there is unbelief and death, there is no middle ground. The cross forces a decision.
DT 30:19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life,
Life or Death, there’s a choice to be made. Understanding this helps us to see one of the reasons that God has created us. We were created for the purpose of evangelism, to present people with this choice and to offer up ourselves as examples of ones who have chosen life. Christ’s last words to his followers were to go and make disciples. It’s a command, it’s a calling, it’s a mission, we are to share with others the story of the cross. We do this in two ways.
1) We tell
1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
2) We show
MT 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
God uses our lives and our words together to draw people to Himself. The decision is theirs to make but the presentation of the choice is up to us. If we are not doing the work of evangelizing then we are not fulfilling our purpose individually or as a church. We need to be working together. We all need to be sharing our faith and inviting the unsaved into our ministry knowing that this is a place where the Word of God will be preached and the Truth of the Cross is proclaimed and people will be confronted with the choice and then trusting God to open their eyes and provide a harvest for us. A healthy church that understands this purpose is going to grow as people respond to the decision the cross forces upon us.
The second truth we see when our eyes are fixed on the cross is that it:
2) Creates Unity
The Church is to be one Body. We’ve already looked at this fact as we worked our way through the different spiritual gifts. We are all a part of a whole and for that whole to function the way that God intended, there must be unity. Paul calls the church to this in Philippians 2.
PHP 2:1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
The church, Christ’s Body, is to be united. This kind of oneness is humanly impossible. We have so many things that separate us and differentiate us. Different languages, different nationalities, different upbringings, and the early church wrestled with all of these differences as well. However, Paul points out that the cross is the unifying force that is strong enough to overcome any differences that we have and to build us up as a single unified force with our focus fixed on the cross, that which unites us, rather than on what makes us different.
Col 3:11 Here (talking about in the Body) there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Christ is all and is in all and will work in us to unite us! The differences don’t matter and become trivial in the light of the cross and the work of the Cross creates unity. Those who are in Christ share so much in common. We share the same:
1) Share the same forgiveness
1JN 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
None of us deserves it yet Christ cleanses and forgives us all in the same way and that brings us together.
2) Share the same eternity
Titus 3:7 (speaking of Christians) so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Our eternity unites us.
3) Share the same Goals
Eph 4:12-13 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Our focus is to be the same, the growth of the kingdom by building others up and by working together for a common purpose This creates unity among us.
This truth, the uniting power of the work of the cross points us to another reason that God created us. We were created for the purpose of Fellowship. We were created to form and build relationships with other members of God’s family. Fellowship is what develops and nurtures unity in our lives and in our ministry.
Heb 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.
In a church that understands the importance of fellowship, everyone will feel known, cared for, loved, and encouraged. Relationships are essential to our faith and our walk with Christ and to the effectiveness of our ministry.
Cedar Point Illustration – My youth staff understood that there was no substitute for time spent together intentionally building relationships.
We need to understand the importance of fellowship together. Please don’t come into this place, sit for the service and then run out the doors as soon as it’s over. Build friendships, talk with people, work on relationships, these are necessary to preserve the unity that the cross creates.
The third truth of the cross that we’ll see when our eyes are fixed upon it is that the cross:
3) Requires Sacrifice
MT 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
The very nature of the cross and what Jesus endured upon it speaks of sacrifice. I think that this is the toughest truth of the cross for us to understand and accept. We want to believe that faith in Christ and a relationship with Him is going to clear up all of the problems that we have in life and smooth out all of the bumps along the road that we may come across without us having to change or sacrifice anything or make any kind of effort. There are very prominent preachers that preach this kind of message. God wants you to get that raise, He wants you to get that promotion, God wants you to get that perfect parking space at Wal-Mart! All we need to do is sit back and enjoy the pleasures God has in store for us. The reality is that Scripture simply doesn’t teach that. Surely God leads and guides and blesses. Surely there are peace and joy beyond human understanding to be found in our relationship with Christ, but the call of God requires sacrifice on our part, there must be efforts made to bring our lives into line with God’s will for us. And when we are willing to sacrifice, God promises blessings but He also says that we can expect something else.
2 timothy 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted
We know that He works in our lives for our good and for our growth but we also see that it’s not always easy, its through the hard times and the trials that He chooses to do that work in us. It’s through those hard times that that we learn to trust Him and our faith is strengthened and takes root. God’s ultimate goal for our lives is not our comfort, it’s our character development, it’s moving us towards looking like Christ. When we look at the cross we see that sacrifices that need to be made to live the life God calls us to.
In this truth, we find two of our purposes for life and ministry. The first is discipleship. Discipleship is intentional growth; it’s making the sacrifices that we need to concerning our relationship with God. It’s clearing out the trash and the junk in our lives and allowing God to move and work in us for our benefit. We were created to grow and we were created to be filled with God’s Spirit and to desire that Spirit in our lives and when we fill ourselves with all sorts of other stuff, growth stops and our lives become stale and stagnant and we sit around and wonder where God is and why we don’t feel Him.
Let me tell you about my first car. It was sweet. It was a 1985 Volkswagen Jetta. It was kind of rust colored, literally. There were spots in the floor where you could see the road going by as you traveled along. Kind of like the Flintstone’s car. I loved it. Both back doors were broken and occasionally the front driver’s door wouldn’t close. It was a stick and stalled if you tried to put it into first when the car wasn’t completely stopped. It needed a running start to get up hills and could reach a cruising speed of about 52 MPH.
It was also a diesel. Does anyone know what happens to a diesel when you put regular gas into it? Well, I found out! It ceases to function. The wrong gas kept it from running how it was made to run and was costly and time consuming to fix.
As Christians, we are made to grow. We do this by filling our hearts and minds with things that are good and beneficial for us. Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things .When we put the wrong stuff in, that growth ceases to happen. One of the purposes of this church is to help you grow; to provide discipleship opportunities. We want to train you and to equip you in life so that your relationship with God flourishes. We are to come alongside you, but the decision to grow and the effort to grow must come from you. The willingness to sacrifice those things that the world says we deserve for those things that God says we need. Are you hungry to read the word; are you praying and spending time with God? Are you engaged in relationships that give you accountability and stability? These are the things that God can use to cause growth in your life.
The other purpose found in this truth is that of Service. This is making the necessary sacrifices concerning our relationship with others.
Phil 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
GAL 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
This is a big sacrifice for some of us, to take our eyes off of us and our problems and to focus on the needs of others and on how we can meet those needs. It’s what Christ came to do, and He sacrificed for us and served us in the ultimate way, by giving his very life for ours. When we look at the cross we see that sacrifice and we need to understand the change that it calls for in us.
Finally, the last truth that becomes clear as we look at life through the filter of the cross is that the Cross:
4) Calls for Celebration
What was lost has been found. The debt that could not be paid by us was paid by another. An eternity that held uncertainty is now full of hope and the promise of being in the presence of our God. A people who were far away have been brought near, a God who was inaccessible can now be known. This is the accomplishment of the cross. This is cause for celebration.
In celebrating we fulfill our final purpose, we were created to worship. We were created to bring glory to God in the form of our praises. And our praises should flow from a deep sense of gratitude and thanksgiving for the life God has given to us through the cross.
In Psalm 100 we find the attitude of celebration from which our worship is to flow.
PS 100:1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. PS 100:2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Shout for joy! Worship with gladness! When we come together on Sunday mornings, our focus and our desire is to worship God and there’s many ways that we do that. One is with our songs and voice and this is probably what most of us associate with worship but we also worship in other ways:
- In prayer Psalm 95:6 – bow down in worship, to kneel before God
- In hearing the Word Deuteronomy 31:11 – When Israel gathered together they were to read the word aloud in worship
- Through giving 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 –the church was to include giving in its worship
- Meditation Josh 1:8 Meditate on THE WORD day and night, not mindless
- Communion 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 describes the church taking communion together
And our worship is not confined to this building or to a certain day of the week, this attitude of celebration, this burning desire to bring glory to God through our worship is to be our life.
RO 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
Our greatest act of worship, our only right response to the Truth that the Cross calls for Celebration is a life that is yielded to God.
The cross stands alone in history. No other symbol stands for as much, means as much, or accomplishes as much. And as Christians, this cross is to be in our thoughts and in our minds, we are to fix our eyes on it and on the one who gave Himself up on it. When we do, we can’t help but see that the work done on this cross needs to transform us. It demands a decision and knowing that we must share with others the Truth. It creates unity and when we recognize the cross as our common ground we need to work hard to make sure that in our lives and in this ministry healthy fellowship is taking place, relationships are being built, friendships are formed and deepened, and anyone who walks through the doors of this church is loved and accepted. It Requires Sacrifice. Sacrificing our own desires and impulses for those things that God calls us to and wanting to grow and sacrificing our own needs for the needs of others in service. And finally, it Calls for Celebration, true worship that flows from a grateful heart.
It’s only when we view our life and our church through crossed eyes, and see the sacrifice that was made on that cross, and the blood that was shed for us, that we find meaning and we find the purposes that God created us to fulfill.
