+DEV+ Worship and the Cross

Date: November 8, 2011 12:19 AM
Topic: +DEV+ Worship and the Cross

Worship and the Cross

"Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.'" (HEBREWS 10:5)
Scripture Focus: Luke 23:26-49, Hebrews 10:1-10

It didn't look much like a church service. In fact, the lonely, windswept hill of Golgotha outside the city gates of Jerusalem was the last place we might expect anything of religious significance to take place. Yet despite all appearances to the contrary, it was there that the most significant act of worship in the history of the world took place. For it was there that the Messiah offered His body as a sacrifice.

It may have appeared to some that Jesus was taken to the cross against His will - that somehow the Romans and the Jews had gotten the better of Him. But that was certainly not the case. In fact, Jesus was doing exactly what He had come to do. He was taking the body His Father had prepared for Him and laying it down as a substitute for sinners. And, friends, it is from that act of worship that all of our worship must flow. His worship on the cross qualifies and inspires our worship in the church. Your church may have a cross on its wall or in its decor somewhere. When you see it, remember how Christ came into this world to redeem us.

Insight: "When I survey the wondrous cross/on which the prince of glory died/my richest gain I count but loss/and pour contempt on all my pride." (ISAAC WATTS, 1707)