This Changes EverythingSample

This Changed The Way We Live

We might ask ourselves, after Easter, what else is there to say? What is left but to know that we are made righteous and justified? Though the crucifixion occupies a large portion of the canvas on which that portrait of salvation is painted - it is situated in a grander landscape. The cross is not a past event that stays in the past; it is a past event that invades our past, present, and future. It changes how we live today; we are not to remain at the cross but live and walk it out daily. It's about living out the fullness of the cross!

Living out the Cross and Kingdom.

Mark's account of the crucifixion is filled with royal imagery. Jesus is given a purple robe, a scepter in his hand, and a crown of thorns on his head (Mark 15:17). Even as He hangs on the cross, the sign above His head reads, "The King of the Jews" (Mark 15:26). Mark is showing through irony that the one mocked as king is actually “King of Kings.” (Revelation 19:16). But He’s a different kind of king. The onlookers ridicule Jesus, saying, “Save yourself, and come down from the cross!” (Mark 15:30). Yet Jesus reveals His kingship not by coming down from the cross to save Himself, but by staying on the cross to save others.

After His death and resurrection, we now have the following:

• God's kingdom has come (Mark 1:15, Matt. 10:7).

The reign of sin and death is over. We are now made alive in Jesus. No longer separated, we are restored to God! (Romans 8:38-39 and Colossians 1:20).

• We are citizens of a new Kingdom (Philippians 3:20).

Because of the cross, we are now invited to live as faithful participants and subjects of the Kingdom of God, anticipating the king's final arrival.

• As citizens of this kingdom, we live a life devoted to the king.

We follow our king by taking up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). Just like our King, we know that glory will come in suffering at times (Rom 8:17). Martin Luther King Jr. said,"Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear always precedes the crown we wear." The Kingdom was established through the self-giving love of Christ, and it will be advanced through the self-giving love of his people.

• We live as ambassadors of His Kingdom in power and authority.

Jesus' life was not just one of teaching, but actions. Jesus wants us to live this out; He sent His disciples out in authority (Mark 6:7) and has given us that authority (Luke 10:17-10).

Jesus overcame sin and death so we would walk in freedom, the hope of eternal life as His ambassadors.

Prayer Point:

Jesus, I thank you that the cross has changed my life and the way I live my life. I can now live in freedom, in your self-giving love of Christ, living out your Kingdom as ambassadors. Thank you for the cross!