HOLY CROSS DAY

SCRIPTURE

Holy Cross Day
1 Corinthians 1:18-24 (NRSV)

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

DEVOTION

Today is Holy Cross Day. It is the day that the Christian Church remembers the victory that was wrought by Jesus on the cross. Unlike on Good Friday, where we mourn the death of Jesus, on this day we remember Jesus’ words, “If I be lifted up from the Earth, I’ll draw all people to me!”

Today is about celebrating Jesus’ triumphant victory over sin, death, and the grave, via his sacrifice made upon the cross!

1 Cor 1 reminds us that to our non-Christian friends the message of the cross seems foolish. After all, why would anyone celebrate a tree, a piece of wood, a cross? Why would anyone glory in an instrument of mayhem, murder, and torture? Why would we want to remember the means by which our Savior died?

But, to those of us who have put all of our hope in Jesus, we have come to understand that the cross is the means by which Jesus made atonement for our sin and secured our eternal life.

Very often when we quote the “Gospel in a nutshell” we read John 3:16. But, today I invite us to read a little more. John 3:14-17 says, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Oh hallelujah! Aren’t you glad that Jesus was lifted up high upon the cross so that the entire world could behold the Love of God come down, wrapped up in flesh, and sacrificed upon an old wooden cross, just for us! Aren’t you glad that although Jesus did die on the cross, he did not stay dead, but was resurrected just as he promised? Aren’t you happy-glad that when Jesus got up from the dead, He got up with all power in his hands—victorious in every way—making us victors as well?!

Today is a day of celebration my friends! Today is the day that we dance before the cross of Jesus, recognizing the cross as a doorway to our eternal life.

Yesterday I was singing an old song called, “Oh the Blood Done Signed My Name.”

Aren’t you grateful for the cross of Jesus, that signed your name above? Let us pray:

Holy One, thank you that you love me so much that you gave Jesus to die on the cross to save me from my sin and gift me with eternal life. Thank you that Jesus did not stay dead, but was resurrected just as he promised that he would. Today, I put all of my hope in Jesus believing that I am made right with God, reconciled in relationship, forgiven of sin, and gifted with eternal life because of The Cross of Jesus. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can share this good news with others! I pray this in Jesus Name, Amen.

SPECIAL NOTE

If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! Let me encourage you to tell a Christian friend that you just put all of your hope in Jesus. Ask him or her to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand and to find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your Christian journey!

Congratulations and Happy Re-birthday! Your salvation is our GOOD NEWS, please go and share the GOOD NEWS with others!

Please share your good news with me by clicking "YES" God saved me today in the poll located on the top, right hand side of this blog. Go in peace, serve the Lord! (Thanks be to God!)