CCOB Devotional

April 2006
THE CROSS OF CHRIST
GOD'S LOVE ON DISPLAY

On the night He was arrested Jesus rebuked Peter for drawing his sword, saying, "Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53).

Jesus did not surrender His divinity when He came to Earth, but out of obedience to His Father and because of His incredible passion for us, He chose to experience everthing that we go through: every temptation, every sorrow, every pain, every weakness. Hebrews 4:15 reminds us, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." Jesus completely identified with us in our humanity so that we could experience His life through the gift of salvation.


[Jesus] being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery
to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation,
taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness
of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obediant to the point of death, even the
death of the cross. - Philippians 2:6-8



The evidence of His love towards us was fully demonstrated at the cross. Jesus, despite the power and authority he had to overcome His enemies and free Himself from their shackles, chose rather to submit Himself to their brutality. "I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6).

Consider the reality of this for a moment. Suppose that you had Jesus' power and were able to call legions of angels to aid you in a difficult circumstance. Although nothing you or I face could ever compare to what Jesus suffered, it would be very tempting for us indeed to use the kind of power that He possessed for our own benefit.

True humility is the silence of the soul before God, when a person ceases to argue or debate but rests in His Word. - Alan Redpath

In my life, I know that even the most minor inconveniences, such as driving behind someone who is really slow, causes me to want to take action. If I had the power to beam some of those cars right into the next lane, it would be very tempting indeed. Yet despite the cruelty, pain, and injustice of the cross, Jesus never flinched. He never argued. Instead He laid His will down, and Scripture says He "opened not His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).

In Jesus' life, we see beautiful picture of what it means to be a yielded servant. His life also reveals to us (with more clarity than ever before) the hopelessness of our situation apart from Him. How can we, being full of selfishness, greed, pride, arrogance and every other "natural" human trait ever hope to reflect the image of Christ in our world? The key is that we need to fix our gaze upon Jesus, and take our eyes off everything else - He is the "author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). And the Holy Spirit bears witness of the reality and power of Christ's life. Only by yielding to Him will we be able to live the powerful and purpose-filled life we were intended to live. Only in humbling ourselves and receiving from Him will we be able to truly live for Him. Living the Christian life, therefore, is not our responsibility, as much as it is our response to His ability.

In Him,


Lloyd Pulley
Senior Pastor

The above is an excerpt from Pastor Lloyd’s book, Under His Influence, Yielding to the Work of the Holy Spirit. Click here for ordering information.



 
  He Who Was, Is, and Is to Come with Pastor Lloyd Pulley


Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega the Beginning and the End, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8). Jesus came as a lowly child in a manger (He who was), He resurrected from the dead and lives today (He who is), and will come again to receive us unto Himself (He who is to come). Join Pastor Lloyd for this celebration of Jesus, He who was, is, and is to come!


    Click here to purchase this package!

   
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