The Cross

The Cross

In his book Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.

"Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister." Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room--Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube.

With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. "Doctor, when do I die?'

Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he'd agreed to donate his blood. He'd thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he'd made his great decision. Johnny, fortunately, didn't have to die to save his sister. Each of us, however, has a condition more serious than Mary's, and it required Jesus to give not just His blood but His life.

Our only hope is a spiritual blood transfusion from God. See Jesus conquered the terrible disease of sin on the cross!

Luke 9: 23-25 (NKJV)

23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

THE TWO S’s

First, I want you to notice the last two letters in cross. The two S’s represent the two sides we can take based on the cross: one side being salvation, the other sin. One side is we can embrace the cross and the power of salvation that comes with it. We can live a victorious life through Jesus Christ because of the price he paid on the cross. See the “old” law required sacrifices, but this law was not sufficient. A supreme sacrifice was needed to cleanse us of our sins. Jesus willingly became that sacrifice on a cross at Calvary. We can accept salvation through the price paid on the cross and daily carry our cross. We can deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. Still, there’s a second and eternally fatal side which is to deny the cross. There is an array of reasons one might do this, but in the end any denial is acceptance of eternal doom! The greatest example of the two sides can be seen in the story of the two thieves at Calvary.

Luke 23: 39-43 (NKJV): The two thieves – the two sides

39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

On one side of Jesus was doubt and unbelief. On the other side was faith. On one side was arrogance. On the other side was humility. Profanity spoke out on one side, but reverence spoke out on the other. On one side the voice of the kingdom of this world spoke out. On the other side the voice of the kingdom of God spoke. One side remained lost while the other side was found. On one side eternal damnation was met, but on the other side an eternal savior was met.

Let’s look a little closer at the words and how they reflected the hearts of the thieves. See one thief chose to deny Christ as so many were doing that day and continue to do today. In fact, he blasphemed the Lord saying “If You are Christ, save Yourself and us.” First, the choice of the word “If is significant.” This choice of words clearly showed his denial of Christ. He was asking for yet another sign that Jesus was the Savior. Second, the thief was looking to be “saved” physically, not spiritually. Third, it was not a matter of Jesus being able to save himself or both thieves. He was willingly laying down His life that day to save all who would accept Him. It was a matter of the thief making a spiritual decision to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. If his heart had been right he would have been saved spiritually for eternity! Instead his eternity was one of doom.