Although I’ve been a Christian most of my life, the Cross did not bear much significance to me until quite late in my walk with God.
Coming from a non-Christian family, I first got to know about Jesus when I started attending Sunday School at about six years old. 2 years later, a Sunday School teacher led me to invite Jesus into my heart as I was going through a period of rebellion against my parents. Then at age 10, another teacher asked me if I would like to receive the gift of eternal life, and I did. But without proper follow-up and discipling on both these occasions, I was quite oblivious to the full ramifications of Jesus dying on the cross although I had clearly become a believer.
I am quite certain my salvation experience is not unique. Many of us recognize the Cross and identify it with Jesus and Christians. But knowing about the Cross is not quite the same as understanding the Cross.
Being asked to re-examine what the Cross means to me during this season of Easter, the word that fully encapsulates the work of Christ on the Cross, for me, is – SELFLESSNESS.
Someone told me years ago, the symbol of the Cross is simply the cancellation out of the letter “I”. When you put the minus sign over the letter ‘I”, you get the Cross. On a metaphorical level, the crossing of the letter “I” delineates the idea of obliterating the “self” in me.
Jesus Christ going to the Cross was the ultimate act of selflessness.
The Gospels reveal to us, apart from His one weak moment at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus harboured no thoughts about Himself over what He had to endure on the Cross. His thoughts were only of us and for us. Even to those who were violent and cruel towards Him, He called out to the Father to forgive them, because they knew not what they did.
If for one absurd moment, I were to imagine that God had chosen me to be crucified to save the world, it is most likely I would draw all attention to myself; milk all the sympathy and pity I can get from everyone I meet. Surely I would be tempted to lay the whole guilt trip on every human on the face of the earth about what I would be suffering for his or her sake. Isn’t it amazing how self-centred we can get when carrying out a so-called “selfless” act for others?
But it was not like that with Jesus. There was no “poor me”, “why me” moments with Him. The Cross meant death for Him; but He cared more that the Cross would mean life for us.
Today, because I accept the necessity of the Cross for my eternal life, it follows that I too must accept the demand of the Cross for selflessness. As Christ died to Himself for me, I too must die to myself for others.
Galatians 2:20 puts it into perspective.
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
I try to emulate Christ’s selflessness daily by inculcating these 3Gs into my life:
Gratitude…
I need to be grateful for the life, people and gifts that God has entrusted to me. A life of gratitude ensures I remain humble and not self-focused.
Grace…
I was reminded recently that Grace is not so much about getting away with our weaknesses and sins because God loves us and can extend His forgiveness to us again and again. Grace is asking God to equip us to do what we find difficult or impossible to do on our own ability and circumstance.
For me, every day is a constant struggle to “kill” myself. Not suicide! But on shifting the focus from my “self” to others. I need the Grace of God to do that as I live out each day – meeting the needs of my family, loved ones, cell members, neighbours, etc.
Gospel…
I want to ensure the Cross remains relevant and central in my life and in the lives of those around me. That means the Gospel cannot be left on the shelf, taken down and dusted off once in a while to be shared during a compulsory training to share the gospel.
As much as I fear sharing the Gospel as anyone else, it is the love of Christ that constraints me to be selfless to save the lives of those who do not know about the Cross to ensure they do not miss out on Heaven.