Lesson 7 The Cross Cleanses Us
Question 6
Looking at the Cross
Do you see what Jesus is doing on the cross, friend?
He is removing your every stain, washing you clean of your sin, straightening you out, He is making you pure, He is taking your sin away and making you holy.
And this cleansing is what we need to experience by faith because it will wash us clean and change our hearts. This picture, what we have seen today, is the power of God to change us at the core of who we are (1 Corinthians 1:18), changing our very desires and loves and passions. It humbles us and breaks us, then it lifts us up and remakes us.
And this is what will give us the power to put to death our wrong desires, crucifying them on Calvary's tree, running them through with a sword, and throwing them away on the sin heap of the cross. Let Jesus’ love for you burn so strongly in you that you become violent to your lusts and radical in your battle plans against it.
Friend, stay here at the cross and just look! Wash here in the cleansing fountain, let it become real to you that Jesus' blood has completely forgiven you and removed your sins from you. Receive Jesus' love here, receive His forgiveness of your every stumble, your every fall, your every sin that has harmed others. It harmed Jesus more than anyone, but He has forgiven you completely and died to wash you clean, make you pure, iron out the wrinkles, and give you a new life.
You are a visual person, no doubt. Instead of picturing alcohol, drugs or cigarettes, change that visual image to be that of the cross! See it with the eye of faith! Savor it! Wash in it! For it is a cleansing fountain for you!
And you know what's going to happen? The longer you stay here and examine the cross, the angrier you're going to get at your sin, and the more holy power you will experience to hunt it down and drive a stake through its heart. The cross makes us want to be warring against our flesh!
***To be clear, I'm referring to killing sin here, not any human being. It should go without saying, and yet it bears repeating that we are never to do any violence whatsoever to any human being, including ourselves.***
This principle of freedom is the first and most important - Washing at the cross. Do you see the importance of it?
As we continue in these lessons, we will also see that the power of the Holy Spirit resides at the cross, and that there is power in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and that all this power is available to everyone who believes. Ephesians 1:19-20 tell us about God's "incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms."
I told you that my step-dad was 17 years sober while on Antabuse and going to AA, but then died one day in a drunken stupor. I remember talking with him about Jesus, and he said these words: "Yes, Jesus is our example, I get it, but Jesus was God. I'm just a man, how am I supposed to live like that!" and with that, he rejected the power and life available to him.
My step-dad completely missed the point of what Jesus came to do. Christ was not merely our Example, but rather all of Christianity should be viewed as a rescue! See it right here: "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father" (Galatians 1:3-4). Yes, He came to rescue us, save us (Matthew 1:21), free us from captivity (Isaiah 61:1), pay our penalty through death (Romans 3:25), and exonerate us before God the Father (Romans 4:25).
And the cross of Christ not only pays the penalty of our sin, it breaks the power of it!
We'll talk more about this in the upcoming lessons but check right now to see if you have believed wrongly too, missing the power of the cross, the power of the Holy Spirit, and therefore living a defeated life. See if you can focus on the cross and the powerful results of it and experience the Holy Spirit as you look.
Question 6. What did you learn in this lesson and how will you apply it in your life?
Log in / create an account to enroll or continue where you left off.
Djamila writes:
"I have learned that Jesus did not only die so I can go to heaven but he died to make me holy and righteous. I, similarly to your step-dad, saw Jesus as the righteous one and myself as the defeated sinner that just tries her best. This lesson has shown me that Jesus gives me power over sin, that I can triumph as long as I focus on the Cross and what it means instead of focusing on my sin and on trying my best not to sin again. I am indeed free and I have to fully allow the Holy Spirit to work in me and allow the power of the cross to become evidence in my life. I need to believe that I can hate the things that once brought me comfort and Jesus can become my only source of comfort."