The Cross

This week, we begin a new devotional series all about The Cross of Christ. It's sure to be incredible as we look at the greatest act of love the world has ever known. Today's devotional is from Connie Hartman. Check it out.

Ephesians is my favorite. It is so marked up in my Bible, I may have to start over with a fresh copy. I have underlined, boxed, circled, starred it and written in the margins.

It is so easy for me (dare I say, us?) to forget our identity in Christ. However, it is ridiculously easy to believe that our identity is instead in our own abilities or inabilities, lies we believe about ourselves, or sins with which we struggle. But in Ephesians, we’re reminded of so many important truths about who we are, truths that would not even exist without The Cross. For example:

We are not only wanted, we were purposely chosen and planned for before the foundations of the earth.

We are adopted co-heirs with the Son of the living God.

We are loved-lavishly, richly, extravagantly.

We are redeemed, forgiven, and restored.

We have within us-because of the Holy Spirit-the same power that raised Christ from the dead.

We are unified as the body and family of Christ, regardless of background, race, culture, or geography.

We are securely in Christ-nothing can touch, let alone destroy that security.

...Just to name a few.

So to put that into other words, we are screw-ups who have all kinds of issues, but have somehow found favor with the King-est of all kings. That King decided that, despite our dysfunction, he wanted to make us His own. Not just that, but He had always planned on doing so, way before we even existed or began to make the choices that separated us from Him. He is beyond in love with us, so much so that He sent His Son to die in order to rescue us from the messes we made; took our guilt as His own in order to sweep it out of our lives forever. As if that wasn’t enough, He also made us co-heirs with His son, and as a down payment of the future inheritance that goes with that status, gave us His Spirit to prove that He is always with us. Always. It doesn’t even end there. That Spirit means power, immeasurable power beyond anything we will ever comprehend or fully know how to access. He has indeed made us His own, along with a worldwide family of other co-heirs who, like us, are beneficiaries of this extravagant, unbelievable, nonsensical love that He showers on us at every turn.

Without the Cross, none of that would be true. The Cross is the vehicle God used to set us free to live a new, redeemed identity.

That is truth we need to remember. The truth of our identity in Christ is powerful, and our enemy knows it. He will try at every turn to convince us to forget it or even doubt it. And we will forget it and doubt it. But that doesn’t mean it has changed. We are still loved, chosen, redeemed, and sealed. Read it often, remind yourself often, especially when it’s hard to remember or hard to believe. You are loved, chosen, redeemed, and sealed-because of the Cross.

- Connie