Today we continue our series on the meaning of the cross in our life. Let me try to remind you what we have been doing so far. We saw right at the beginning that the Lord Jesus died and rose again to produce, to bring into existence, a church that is equipped with His life and with His power. We saw that the Lord Jesus died and healed. It is to bring to a church that has the full power of His power, a church which is dynamic, a church which is filled with His life. A church when you come into it, you sense His love, a love that is seen in every life, a joy that comes through this living power of the Lord.
How come we do not find this kind of power in the church? And then we ask, why is it that we cannot find this power in the church? And we found that the root of the problem lay in this: the cross of the Lord has not become effective in our life. So we begin to see what the cross means. And fundamentally we saw two important things so far. The first thing is that the cross means the end of the self-centered way of thinking. Not until our whole thinking is transformed by the rejection of this self-centered way of living will that power become advanced in our life. We will not experience the power of the Lord's life.
So what does this cross in our life mean? It means the utter rejection of self-centeredness. And then yesterday we saw that the cross means also not merely the negative putting away of the self, but a positive offering up of ourselves to God. That we learn to hate what we love, not just to hate what we hate. That's easy. But what we mean by hate here is precisely this putting to death as a sacrifice for God. And so we know that the cross means sacrifice, as we were just singing at the start.
But today we have to move another step forward in understanding the cross. For if we stop there, we haven't yet finished understanding the cross. And when these three steps become a reality of the cross in us, then you will begin to experience that power, this living, this resurrection power of the Lord in your life. Until that time you will experience the power of God in your life. Only then can the Lord truly use you to become a channel of life.
To be a Christian without power is a Christian without life, you understand? A one without power is a one without life. Life has to do with power. You are alive, you can move, you can do things, you can think, you can run, you can talk, because life is a power. If you are dead, you will not function anymore. It also follows that the more this life is functioning in you, the more you are active, the more you have power, the more you can do things. But this power is not just something that you can do things so that you can enjoy yourself. It is that this power is to communicate life.
This point is brought out already in the Old Testament very clearly. In 2 Kings chapter 13, verses 20 and 21, there is a very interesting incident here. In order to understand this scene, you have to understand something about the custom of burial in Israel. That is why sometimes you need a Bible dictionary, otherwise you don't know how to figure out this event. Otherwise you are imagining that they are digging a grave here in the ground, and then this band of Moabites are coming, and so they take the corpse and dump it into another grave. And that grave happens to be Elisha's grave.
The problem is that he is talking about the bones of Elisha, which means that Elisha has died a long time already. Very hard to figure this picture out. But that is not the way the burial was conducted in Israel. In those days, they would carve out a chamber in the rock. Sometimes they are simpler and sometimes they are more complex. But however it is, in these chambers there are sort of shelves. Sometimes there are just square niches in the wall of the cave. But sometimes it is larger, like the whole length of a body.
Now clearly what was happening is that they were carrying this man into the cave to put him in one of these shelves. But when the signal came that the Moabites were coming, they did not want to go further into the grave because it will take longer to come out. And so the first convenient shelf there, they dumped him there. But that was Elisha's grave. And yet the body had already decayed clearly. But as soon as this dead person's corpse touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life again.
Which one was more frightening, this man who was resurrected or the enemy that was outside? But the point of this incident is this: it is that even the power of God still continues to work even through the dead Elisha. And through a dead person to bring to life a person who had died. A servant of God is meant to be a channel of life, you understand? God's power is working through you if you are a servant of God to bring life to others.
And so mighty was this servant of God Elisha with God's power, that even in death he could bring life to others. And the whole point is to remember the task of a servant of God and of every disciple is to communicate life. But if Elisha was a mighty servant of God, just look at the New Testament. Even greater in the New Testament, you find for example that Elisha again communicated life in chapter 4 of 2 Kings. And there in verse 32, we find him bringing to life the dead son of the Shunammite woman. But he had to do this, exactly like the bones, by direct contact. When the dead person touched the bones, the contact with the bones brought life. In the same way, this dead boy, what did Elisha do? He stretched himself physically upon this dead boy, physically communicating life to him.
When we come to the New Testament, we see the Lord Jesus raising the dead on three occasions. But we find that He does not need to touch the person. Such is the power that direct contact isn't even necessary. So in the case of the son of the widow of Nain, in Luke chapter 7 verse 14, He doesn't touch the dead person at all. All it says is that He touched the bier, that is the stretcher that carries the dead person.
We have already seen in the previous chapter, Luke 7, He didn't have to touch the person at all. In Luke 8, He raises Jairus' daughter by a gesture. The same is true in John chapter 11. In John chapter 11, He raises Lazarus by a word of command. He is speaking a word of power to the dead.
The same is true in fact of the apostles. So great was God's power working through the apostles that people only desired that his shadow would pass over them. They put the sick people there so that Peter's shadow just move over them and they would be healed. In this case, not even a word was spoken. Not only no touching, not even a word was spoken. Such is the power. We think again of the Lord's words, "Greater work shall you do when my power works through you." That is in Acts chapter 5 verse 15, about the shadow of Peter.
We see that also with the apostle Paul. Such was God's power working through him that again he did not need direct contact or even a word being spoken. You see that in Acts chapter 19 and verse 12. There it simply says that some handkerchief or some piece of cloth that had been in contact with Paul's person would be taken and touched some sick person, or somebody possessed with an evil spirit, and they would be instantly healed.
Of course we must have one precaution here. We must not suppose that power is to be measured by miracles. For example, through the spoken word that brings life to the hearers. John the Baptist, the Lord puts him on the level with Elijah or any other mighty prophet of God, because though he never did a miracle, his power was in the power of the word, in the power of the preaching.
Now here we must pause for a moment. We will ask ourselves, isn't this desire for spiritual power rather dangerous? May not such power bring pride? Wow, and all people crowding on the streets just hoping that your shadow would pass over them. This could be pretty dangerous. And people might even come to adore you and worship you. Remember when Paul did certain miracles, they came and knelt down at his feet to worship him, thinking he was some kind of god.
Is it dangerous? Yes, it is dangerous if you have no cross in your life. You will not have the power of God. You have the power of Simon Magus. He wants to buy this power with money. You don't get this power with money. You get this power only through the cross. And it is precisely in seeking for this power, if you have any selfish motive, God destroys it through the cross. Not until that cross purifies your heart will you ever have this kind of power.
So if you just have this longing for power, you won't get it. Not until the cross becomes an ever deeper reality. This is the wisdom and excellence of God's ways. He takes the selfishness of man and destroys the selfishness of man with that very selfishness.
Look at our text again today. We will go back to today's Gospel, Luke chapter 9. We already looked at it from one angle before. Now we need to look at it from another angle. Luke chapter 9 verse 23: "And he said to all, if any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it."
Here is the wisdom of God in the cross. You see, we start with a selfish desire to be saved. We want to get to heaven. We want to save ourselves. What's the difference from wanting to enjoy heaven in heaven from wanting to enjoy heaven on earth? Some people want to make a lot of money so that they can have heaven on earth. So the Christians don't want a lot of money. They just want heaven in heaven, not heaven on earth.
But He uses that very selfish desire to destroy your selfishness. This is the amazing thing about the cross. That is exactly the point when He says only when you lose your life, you lose yourself, you will get it. So He just says, you want to save yourself? You've got to lose yourself. Amazing, isn't it? What a wonderful God He is.
Now, unless you understand this point, you don't really understand the cross. So that even when you desire to be saved, you will not be saved until you lose your life. What does lose your life mean? What does the cross mean? Whole selfishness has to go with selfish ways of thinking, remember? You want to lose your life. Offer it up and sacrifice to God. You finish with your own life. So that you are no longer your own, as Paul says. You have been bought with a price. You give yourself, you belong to Him. If you are bought with a price, don't you dare to live for yourself.
You see how amazingly God works? Let me say it one more time. The very desire to save yourself, and that selfish desire to save yourself, God destroys your selfishness. He destroys that selfishness by the cross.
Now let us look at this passage again, and make sure that we understand. Here there are two crosses.
# The Cross to Bring Life to Others (Part 2)
He's carrying His cross in front, and we are walking behind with our cross. That's the picture here, isn't it? So the picture is that Jesus is carrying His cross at the front, and we are following Him. And we have to ask a question: if Jesus is carrying a cross, why do we have to carry a cross? What is the difference between His cross and our cross? We are constantly told that it is Jesus who died for our sins. It is His cross that saved us. Now if we are saved by His cross, then why do we have to carry a cross?
Now it is because many preachers cannot answer this question that the second cross can be just dropped out of the picture. Here's the question again: if we are saved by the cross of Christ and only by His cross, why do we need a second cross? This is a very good place, we will stop here. You can go back and think about the next one. After a few days, you will tell me what is the answer to that question. That would be a very good question to study. Think carefully about it. What is our answer?
Anybody like to offer an answer? Have you ever asked? If we are saved by His cross, why do I have to carry a cross? Why is it that I am carrying a cross? I mean, Jesus carried a cross. Put your burden down, He died. I'm not going to carry a cross. Is it because God rather likes you to suffer a bit more? It is good for your shoulder to carry something heavy? The cross means sacrifice, doesn't it? That's what the Bible tells us.
Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 9 verse 14. Here we read that Jesus there on the cross offered Himself up to God through the eternal Spirit. Just as we said yesterday, the cross is the offering up of ourselves to God. Why did He offer up Himself to God? Let us read on in the second part of verse 26: "But as it is, Jesus has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Well there we have it, the cross is sacrifice. So if Jesus has already made the sacrifice, what am I doing carrying the cross? What kind of sacrifice am I making? Sacrifice to God for what?
Yesterday we said that we offer up ourselves to God. We offer up our degree to God. You think God wants your degree? So you give Him your diploma. What does He want your degree for? What kind of sacrifice is that? It's not useful to Him. So you say, okay, I offer up my house to God. What does He want to do with your house? He wants to live in your house? So you offer yourself up. What does He want to do with you? You say He can have fellowship with me. Well, you must be very refreshing to have fellowship with Him. I ask you, how much fellowship does He get out of you every day? So you are thinking you are doing God a favor to offer yourself to Him.
Maybe the whole day you spend three minutes with Him. And you may be giving Him more problems, because you say, "Lord, I don't understand the Bible. Can you answer some questions for me?" So the Lord died for you, and He has to explain the Bible to you also. It is really a hard time for Him. So what is the cross supposed to mean? What is the sacrifice for?
Every day, and again the Chinese translation has changed it, what it says here is, "I die every day." Every day I die. So Paul is a sacrifice. He is dying every day. Let us turn to Romans 8, verse 36, so that you can clearly see that the cross has to do with sacrifice. I notice carefully, this time it is not saying only Paul is dying every day. "We, we all are dying, are being slaughtered like sheep." You can see that there is a sacrifice. The sheep are for sacrifice, slaughtered in the temple. This is a quotation from Psalm 44, verse 22.
"For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh." Do you understand this kind of language? If you don't understand this kind of language, it's because you don't understand the nature of the cross in our lives. It has to do with sacrifice. Jesus offered that supreme sacrifice for the sake of our salvation. Since we received what He offered, why do we again need to offer sacrifice?
What does sacrifice mean? We usually use the word "sacrifice" in a very diluted way. For example, I say, I didn't eat lunch today, I sacrificed. According to the Bible, that is not what sacrifice means. In the Bible, sacrifice is to offer something completely to God, and moreover, it is offered for the sake of others. Do you understand? That sheep was killed for its own sake? No, the sheep was killed to save sinners. Jesus was the supreme sacrifice. Was He dying for Himself? No.
It's easy. You know He died for us. He lived for us. Now do you understand what sacrifice means? It means that if you are a sacrifice, you offer yourself up to God for others. The point here is this: when you receive the life of Christ, you are to pass it on to others. That's the point of losing yourself. It's very important to understand.
Let me put it in another way. The Lord is saying this: I am carrying the cross, you are following Me. I die for your salvation. But I don't mean that I am giving you salvation you can keep to yourself. When you have received that salvation through My death and resurrection, you will also pass on that resurrection life, that salvation that you have received, through your life and death for others. You also become a channel of salvation to others.
In another way, you receive the water of life from Jesus. Through His broken body, from His heart there comes forth blood and water, atonement and life. Water being always a symbol of life, the symbol of the Holy Spirit who brings life. He gives us all this so that we pass it on.
I beg you to understand this. Because if you don't understand this, let me say to you very flatly, you will not even be saved. If you only want to save yourself, you won't be saved at all. If that's where you stop, you will stop dead right there. This is the point of the Lord's words here. I die for your salvation. You die to pass on that salvation to others. And it is in losing your life that you will gain it. Until you lose it, will you gain it? You will not be saved before you die. Do you understand this?
It is basic salvation in the teaching of the Lord Jesus. Jesus died to save all men. For that atonement, He covers the sins of all mankind. But all mankind is not saved. Because this life is transmitted from one to another, each one becomes a channel to pass it on to another. The calling of every Christian is to save others. This is the whole teaching here.
Not until you take up the cross in the sense that you are willing to suffer, to live and to die for the salvation of others, not until then will you even understand what salvation is about. The ministry of salvation is not just for Job. It is not just for me, because he is in full-time service.
In another way, Jesus is saying: Jesus saved us in order to make us saviors. Let's look for a moment at Jude verse 23. Jude is the little book just before Revelation. It is a very short book. It has no chapters, it has only verses. Verse 23: "Save others by snatching them out of the fire." And who is Jude asking that people should save others? Just look at the first verse. This is not a letter addressed to pastors. He is talking to all those who are called, the beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. Now if you are a Christian, then you are called and beloved. You will not be able to bear this kind of title unless you are doing this, saving others.
In the Bible, anyone who saves others is properly called a savior. Normally, we reserve that title for the Lord Jesus. But the Bible is not afraid to apply it to other people. Let me give you one example in 2 Kings 13, chapter 13, verse 5. Here you find that a king of Israel is called the savior of Israel, simply because he saved Israel from his enemies. We are to save others. That's our whole ministry entrusted to us.
If you as a Christian just live selfishly for yourself, you can forget about salvation. You have one primary calling and responsibility, to save others, to communicate this life to others. But as soon as you want to communicate life to others, you realize that you need power to do that. You just try doing it and you will see what I mean. That is why we have been talking about power. It is the power to communicate this life. This is the calling of a disciple.
And even in this communicating of life there is suffering. The biblical way of communicating life is to pass it from person to person. This is called discipleship, making disciples. So you take this disciple and he in turn becomes another savior. Because if he also doesn't become a savior, then he is not going to be saved either. Always remember the words in this text: only when you lose your life will you gain it.
And we saw that losing your life is not committing suicide. We saw that this losing the life is to offer as a sacrifice. We offer it to God, not because God wants our degree, our diploma, our house, our lives. It is so that we can, through offering it to God, bring salvation to others. But in this communicating of life there too you experience the cross. That is what Paul speaks of in Galatians 4 verse 19: "My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you."
We don't have time to explain this travail in childbirth, this suffering, this labour. We think that oftentimes the communicating of life is just standing on a platform and just talking to people, preaching the word and they are saved. Not quite as simple as that. That may bring a certain change in position, a readiness to become a disciple. The real labour is what Paul describes as being in travail, giving birth to another person, communicating life from you to the other person, bringing that other person into spiritual life, and being ready to suffer to accomplish that.
That is truly remarkable. I wonder if you understand what the Lord is saying to you. Remember clearly what the Lord says: except you take up your cross and follow Him, you will not be His disciple. But taking up the cross is a change of your thinking completely, from a self-centered way to a way of living for others.