The Powerful Sign of the Cross

[Greg Gordon]

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. - Colossians 2:15

A sad occourence in some circles is the diminishing of the cross of Jesus Christ. We see in many Churches the cross being taken down in sanctuaries, other symbols being used in its stead. There are other more extreme cases where believers start to think of the cross as pagan, unbiblical and even not a cross but a pole as Jehovah Witnesses teach. This should not surprise us that there is enmity and division over the cross as a symbol as it bears the very message and death of the Person of God for a lost humanity. The enemy of our souls knows this and has and continues to oppose or pervert and mis-use its symbol.

The cross gives us a powerful message and truth in visible form when looked upon. It says that the eternal God became flesh and submitted himself to death on the cross for humanity. It was death being trampled upon by the death of God. It was the triumphing over demonic hosts in the unseen. It is the love of God and forgiving of sins. Its very symbol speaks to the believer of life, the unbeliever of God's love and the demons of their defeat.

When I was in a certain city, the Holy Spirit bore witness in my heart to wear a medium size cross around my neck with large rope. I was actively evangelizing unreached Punjabi peoples in the area with the Good News of Jesus. When I obeyed God and wore the cross an amazing thing happened, everywhere I went the Punjabi people seemed to see me very clearly and where drawn to me. I remember countless times in daily life where they would just stare and after I finished what I was doing, I would go and hand a scripture booklet to them. What that experience spoke to me was that bearing the cross of Christ in reference in a physical way had a spiritual impact. Whether they looked at me with my long beard and cross as a holy man or devoutly religious, I am not sure. But I could not deny the difference it made. It also made me councious that I was a bearer of this message of the Cross to the people daily.
Another way the symbol of the cross was used in the early Church was by tracing it on the forehead and other ways. This practice began with water baptism and later became an accepted way of acknowledging the Lord and the death of Christ. Cyril an early church leader in AD. 310 wrote: "Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow, and on everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we rise up; when we are in the way, and when we are still." Martin Luther as other protestants carried on this tradition of the sign of the cross. Luther said, "In the morning, when you rise, you shall make the sign of the holy cross, and you shall say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then, kneeling or standing, you shall say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer." This way of doing the sign of cross was to touch the fore-head, then the belly, then left shoulder, then right. This motion made a cross and it signified many things including, (1) acknowledging the Lord (2) declaring triumph over the enemy (3) testifying that our body, spirit and soul belong to God (4) putting in remembrance the death of Christ.

Should all believers wear crosses, have cross symbols in their home or church, or make the visible sign of the cross daily? This question should make us ask another question first, Do I daily remember, praise and thank God for the Cross of Christ? Is it always in my remembrance? All of these traditions of the symbol of the cross are servants to the greater reality of the very death of Christ for each of us personally. Life, time, work, vocations distract us at times from the very purpose and person that everything is all about. M. Basilea Schlink says, "You were created and redeemed to focus on Jesus – on Him alone." St. Paul the apostle said that the cross was everything to him, it was his focus and boast (Galatians 6:14).

Let us remember daily that it is this powerful cross that frees us from sin, satan and our own very self. Let it be in our gaze daily in all the motions of life. And hear the voice of your Lord saying "Remember Me", "Remember what I did for you." Yes, Lord we will remember you, let us not lose the wonder and holiness of your Cross.

 

[tadoflamb]

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. - Colossians 2:15

A sad occurrence in some circles is the diminishing of the cross of Jesus Christ.

That's because you've taken Christ off the Cross.

 

[Greg Gordon]

brother,

historically the cross was an empty cross, meaning that early believers had the symbol as empty because Christ was risen and resurrected. It proclaimed the victory of the cross. Later in church history cross is picture on the cross.

 

[Anna Scott]

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. - Colossians 2:15. . . . . . .

Greg,
That was so beautifully written and truly inspiring.

Catholic author Scott Haun wrote in his book The Lamb's Supper:

Saint Cyprian of Carthage, in the third century, wrote that “in the … Sign of the Cross is all virtue and power…. In this Sign of the Cross is salvation for all who are marked on their foreheads” (a reference, by the way, to Revelation 7:3 and 14:1).

A century later, Saint Athanasius declared that “by the Sign of the Cross all magic is stopped, and all witchcraft brought to nothing”. Satan is powerless before the cross of Jesus Christ.

Satan is truly powerless before the Cross.

 

[sunshineforJesus]

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. - Colossians 2:15

A sad occourence in some circles is the diminishing of the cross of Jesus Christ. We see in many Churches the cross being taken down in sanctuaries, other symbols being used in its stead. There are other more extreme cases where believers start to think of the cross as pagan, unbiblical and even not a cross but a pole as Jehovah Witnesses teach. This should not surprise us that there is enmity and division over the cross as a symbol as it bears the very message and death of the Person of God for a lost humanity. The enemy of our souls knows this and has and continues to oppose or pervert and mis-use its symbol.

The cross gives us a powerful message and truth in visible form when looked upon. It says that the eternal God became flesh and submitted himself to death on the cross for humanity. It was death being trampled upon by the death of God. It was the triumphing over demonic hosts in the unseen. It is the love of God and forgiving of sins. Its very symbol speaks to the believer of life, the unbeliever of God's love and the demons of their defeat.

When I was in a certain city, the Holy Spirit bore witness in my heart to wear a medium size cross around my neck with large rope. I was actively evangelizing unreached Punjabi peoples in the area with the Good News of Jesus. When I obeyed God and wore the cross an amazing thing happened, everywhere I went the Punjabi people seemed to see me very clearly and where drawn to me. I remember countless times in daily life where they would just stare and after I finished what I was doing, I would go and hand a scripture booklet to them. What that experience spoke to me was that bearing the cross of Christ in reference in a physical way had a spiritual impact. Whether they looked at me with my long beard and cross as a holy man or devoutly religious, I am not sure. But I could not deny the difference it made. It also made me councious that I was a bearer of this message of the Cross to the people daily.
Another way the symbol of the cross was used in the early Church was by tracing it on the forehead and other ways. This practice began with water baptism and later became an accepted way of acknowledging the Lord and the death of Christ. Cyril an early church leader in AD. 310 wrote: "Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow, and on everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we rise up; when we are in the way, and when we are still." Martin Luther as other protestants carried on this tradition of the sign of the cross. Luther said, "In the morning, when you rise, you shall make the sign of the holy cross, and you shall say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then, kneeling or standing, you shall say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer." This way of doing the sign of cross was to touch the fore-head, then the belly, then left shoulder, then right. This motion made a cross and it signified many things including, (1) acknowledging the Lord (2) declaring triumph over the enemy (3) testifying that our body, spirit and soul belong to God (4) putting in remembrance the death of Christ.

Should all believers wear crosses, have cross symbols in their home or church, or make the visible sign of the cross daily? This question should make us ask another question first, Do I daily remember, praise and thank God for the Cross of Christ? Is it always in my remembrance? All of these traditions of the symbol of the cross are servants to the greater reality of the very death of Christ for each of us personally. Life, time, work, vocations distract us at times from the very purpose and person that everything is all about. M. Basilea Schlink says, "You were created and redeemed to focus on Jesus – on Him alone." St. Paul the apostle said that the cross was everything to him, it was his focus and boast (Galatians 6:14).

Let us remember daily that it is this powerful cross that frees us from sin, satan and our own very self. Let it be in our gaze daily in all the motions of life. And hear the voice of your Lord saying "Remember Me", "Remember what I did for you." Yes, Lord we will remember you, let us not lose the wonder and holiness of your Cross.

I love this.

 

[Anguspure]

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. - Colossians 2:15

A sad occourence in some circles is the diminishing of the cross of Jesus Christ. We see in many Churches the cross being taken down in sanctuaries, other symbols being used in its stead. There are other more extreme cases where believers start to think of the cross as pagan, unbiblical and even not a cross but a pole as Jehovah Witnesses teach. This should not surprise us that there is enmity and division over the cross as a symbol as it bears the very message and death of the Person of God for a lost humanity. The enemy of our souls knows this and has and continues to oppose or pervert and mis-use its symbol.

The cross gives us a powerful message and truth in visible form when looked upon. It says that the eternal God became flesh and submitted himself to death on the cross for humanity. It was death being trampled upon by the death of God. It was the triumphing over demonic hosts in the unseen. It is the love of God and forgiving of sins. Its very symbol speaks to the believer of life, the unbeliever of God's love and the demons of their defeat.

When I was in a certain city, the Holy Spirit bore witness in my heart to wear a medium size cross around my neck with large rope. I was actively evangelizing unreached Punjabi peoples in the area with the Good News of Jesus. When I obeyed God and wore the cross an amazing thing happened, everywhere I went the Punjabi people seemed to see me very clearly and where drawn to me. I remember countless times in daily life where they would just stare and after I finished what I was doing, I would go and hand a scripture booklet to them. What that experience spoke to me was that bearing the cross of Christ in reference in a physical way had a spiritual impact. Whether they looked at me with my long beard and cross as a holy man or devoutly religious, I am not sure. But I could not deny the difference it made. It also made me councious that I was a bearer of this message of the Cross to the people daily.
Another way the symbol of the cross was used in the early Church was by tracing it on the forehead and other ways. This practice began with water baptism and later became an accepted way of acknowledging the Lord and the death of Christ. Cyril an early church leader in AD. 310 wrote: "Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow, and on everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we rise up; when we are in the way, and when we are still." Martin Luther as other protestants carried on this tradition of the sign of the cross. Luther said, "In the morning, when you rise, you shall make the sign of the holy cross, and you shall say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Then, kneeling or standing, you shall say the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer." This way of doing the sign of cross was to touch the fore-head, then the belly, then left shoulder, then right. This motion made a cross and it signified many things including, (1) acknowledging the Lord (2) declaring triumph over the enemy (3) testifying that our body, spirit and soul belong to God (4) putting in remembrance the death of Christ.

Should all believers wear crosses, have cross symbols in their home or church, or make the visible sign of the cross daily? This question should make us ask another question first, Do I daily remember, praise and thank God for the Cross of Christ? Is it always in my remembrance? All of these traditions of the symbol of the cross are servants to the greater reality of the very death of Christ for each of us personally. Life, time, work, vocations distract us at times from the very purpose and person that everything is all about. M. Basilea Schlink says, "You were created and redeemed to focus on Jesus – on Him alone." St. Paul the apostle said that the cross was everything to him, it was his focus and boast (Galatians 6:14).

Let us remember daily that it is this powerful cross that frees us from sin, satan and our own very self. Let it be in our gaze daily in all the motions of life. And hear the voice of your Lord saying "Remember Me", "Remember what I did for you." Yes, Lord we will remember you, let us not lose the wonder and holiness of your Cross.

It is good to identify publicly and openly with Christ.
Yet so few of us do. I often walk through an airport and wonder: Where are all the Christians? Statistically there must be +/- 10% but that 10% is completely invisible.
For this reason I commonly wear either a large cross with a verse on it or an Ichthys, also clearly visible.
Yet up to now I have never been approached or otherwise recognized as a brother in Christ by anyone in an airport. Perhaps it's just that Christians don't travel, perhaps I really am alone.

 

[Catherineanne]

It is good to identify publicly and openly with Christ.
Yet so few of us do. I often walk through an airport and wonder: Where are all the Christians? Statistically there must be +/- 10% but that 10% is completely invisible.
For this reason I commonly wear either a large cross with a verse on it or an Ichthys, also clearly visible.
Yet up to now I have never been approached or otherwise recognized as a brother in Christ by anyone in an airport. Perhaps it's just that Christians don't travel, perhaps I really am alone.

If I saw someone wearing a 'large cross with a verse on it' or worse still, a fish, I would steer well clear.

Perhaps those other Christians don't wear their faith on the outside, but in their hearts. Perhaps they have packed the crosses for safety in their luggage. Perhaps they don't own one.

Who knows? Does it really matter?

 

[Catherineanne]

That's because you've taken Christ off the Cross.

Clever trick if any of us can make Christ go where he doesn't want to, or take him from where he wants to be.

With or without the figure of Christ, the cross retains its strength.

 

[Anguspure]

If I saw someone wearing a 'large cross with a verse on it' or worse still, a fish, I would steer well clear.

Perhaps those other Christians don't wear their faith on the outside, but in their hearts. Perhaps they have packed the crosses for safety in their luggage. Perhaps they don't own one.

Who knows? Does it really matter?

Perhaps, who am I to judge.

Either way I see no evidence of the presence of any believer in Christ whether by clothing or by fruit of the Spirit in any public arena that I visit and neither do any of the lost ones I live with.
All they know is me, but I'm just one strange person alone on the fringe certainly not identifiable with most religion.

Holding ones faith in the heart may keep a person safe from judgment and persecution on the street but it does nothing for the promotion of Christ Jesus as the Savior and Lover of mankind.

If a person who does not wish to identify publically with Christ does something good to me I simply think: "what a nice person", but when a person who is identified with Christ does the same thing I think (as a nonbeliever): "well maybe them God botherers ain't such bad people after all".

 

[Willing-heart]

The cross is just a symbol! Powerful symbol but just a symbol and the meaning of that symbol is found only in the one who paid the wages of our sins by shedding his blood on that cross. There is no symbol on earth that is more powerful, confronting, and inviting than the cross of Calvary.
The Power of the Cross ✞

 

[Catherineanne]

Perhaps, who am I to judge.

Either way I see no evidence of the presence of any believer in Christ whether by clothing or by fruit of the Spirit in any public arena that I visit and neither do any of the lost ones I live with.
All they know is me, but I'm just one strange person alone on the fringe certainly not identifiable with most religion.

Holding ones faith in the heart may keep a person safe from judgment and persecution on the street but it does nothing for the promotion of Christ Jesus as the Savior and Lover of mankind.

If a person who does not wish to identify publically with Christ does something good to me I simply think: "what a nice person", but when a person who is identified with Christ does the same thing I think (as a nonbeliever): "well maybe them God botherers ain't such bad people after all".

'God botherer'?

What is this, 1990? Good grief.

 

[Anguspure]

'God botherer'?

What is this, 1990? Good grief.

I have heard this terminology in reference to the religious orientation that I hold about half a dozen times in the last month.

So I can report that the label is alive and well here in the land of Oz.

It is interesting that the name "Christian" was originally meant as a derogatory pun on the Greek term that meant "do gooder". What new derogatory label has been invented since 1990?

Perhaps the worst I have heard of late is simply calling a person "religious" which puts everybody that considers or has an opinion on the question of the supernatural in the same box. I have even heard the likes of Richard Dawkins being referred to as "religious" because he has an opinion on the subject