The Cross as our Beginning Point

Men have to learn to see the cross as a beginning point, and not an end.  Churches upon churches teach salvation to men and then take them no further beyond the baby steps of faith.  The Church is the place to mature and equip Christians to overcome, and to rule with Christ. 

When the Jews sought for their Messiah, they were looking for the beginning of freedom, and a closer relationship with God.  He had promised to live amongst them. Somehow men have changed that Messiah to a figure stuck to the Cross.  He has risen.  The Apostles spread the news about His resurrection and the power of a changed life across their known world.  Leaving sin and the worldliness that so entangles us behind is futile if we stop at the cross and go no further.  There is the life of Christ to be lived, and He wants to live that life in us, and with us.

God is at work amongst us to build our faith for a kingdom wherein He reigns.  He works in our lives to broaden our vision, for His plans are so much more than what we see.  He invites each believer for a personal glimpse of His nature and the works appointed to us, if they are interested.

Salvation is the beginning of sanctification, and not its end.  Those who are cleansed, who wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb will enter into His holiness, becoming more and more like Him.  They will find the works appointed for these difficult times.

We’re looking forward to the City built by God, not a church whose members are counted each Sunday.  We will get to His City if we each mature in stature, building together with those gifts whereby we nurture one another.  Those who want to be in the image of men will not get to His City; only those who are becoming the image of Christ.  The pastors and teachers that produce cookie-cutter Christians have no vision, for they have plucked out their own eyes, the Spirit of Prophecy.  Until they learn to submit to the Head and serve their congregations as serving the Lord, they hinder Christians more than help them.

Let us re-examine our works today and the motives whereby we serve the Lord.  Many orbit around His City but do not have the power of a holy life, and it takes power to break through the orbit and reach the City.  God is finding many weak churches and ministries.  He is amongst us to strengthen that which is yielded up to Him.  Amen.