May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.- Galatians 6:14
The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self. - Albert Einstein
The cross was an amazing act and is a constant symbol of sacrifice. What Christ accomplished on the cross and through the cross was far more than forgiveness ... it was Freedom.
Freedom from sin and death. Freedom to live. Freedom to love and be loved.
As Aslan says to Lucy and Susan after he is raised from his death on the stone table (the cross) in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe ...
At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise—a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant’s plate ... The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.
“Who’s done it?” cried Susan. “What does it mean? Is it more magic?”
“Yes!” said a great voice from behind their backs. “It is more magic.” They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
“Oh, Aslan!” cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad...
“But what does it all mean?” asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.
“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.”
There is much to boast about when we talk about God’s love and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Things that not only need to be remembered but celebrated everyday. Like “V-Day” was to World War II and the deliverance of a continent from Nazi rule, and much like our own July 4th celebrating our nation's “independence" from an oppressive rule of another earthly kingdom, Easter is the celebration of our independence against the kingdom of darkness and the invitation to declare our Dependence to the God who with His son Jesus, ransomed us to Himself. An act that would declare our worth and value once and for all.
In the Kingdom of God, every day is Dependence Day!
Every day death is working backwards and we are becoming more and more alive ... who we truly are!
And that is something to celebrate!
But far be it from me to glory [in anything or anyone] except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) through Whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! - Galatians 6:14 AMP
The Daily Prayer - Paragraph 4
Jesus, thank you for coming for me, for ransoming me with your own life.[15 ] I honor you as my Lord, I love you, worship you, trust you. I embrace[16] you as my redemption, and I receive all the work and triumph of your Crucifixion, whereby I am cleansed from all my sin through your shed blood,[17] my old nature is removed,[18] my heart is circumcised unto God,[19] and every claim being made against me is disarmed. [20] I take my place in your cross and death, whereby I have died with you to sin and to my flesh,[21] to the world,[22] and to the evil one.[23] I take up my cross and crucify my flesh with all its pride, unbelief, and idolatry. I put off the old man.[24] I now bring the cross of Christ between me and all people, all spirits, and all things. Holy Spirit, apply to me the fullness of the work of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ for me. I receive it with thanks and give it total claim to my life.
An excerpt from The Daily Prayer Memory Verse Cards.
