Jesus the Light 3 Stumbling Block of the Cross
A Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offense 1 Pet.2:8
Man, by nature, hates the cross. Interwoven into every fiber of his being is the continuous thread of self-preservation. This is what occupies his waking existence from the cradle to the grave.
And with this Ephesians 5:29 agrees: “No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it.” We seek the ease of the soft, the simple, and the sweatless.
So ingrained is this notion of Self having first place, that any suggestion of suffering or death meets with immediate and instinctive reproof. We will spare Self at all costs; and Self, to survive, will put on a thousand masks.
It is unimaginable to the natural mind that a cross could ever be the will of God for anyone. Yet it is; it was for Jesus Himself, though Peter could not conceive that it could ever be so. He even reproved the Lord for such a “misguided” concept.
But Jesus rebuked him and all who hold such a deceived idea. Mk.8:33: “He rebuked Peter, and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of man.’”
The conclusion is obvious: Avoidance of the cross is at the prompting of the devil. God’s way is to put Self to death along with the flesh and all that we are by nature. It is the way of man, in concert with the evil one, to save, preserve, and rescue ourselves.
It is thus that the stumbling block is encountered. Hatred of Self and love of Self cannot co-exist. Inbred in each is the destruction of the other. No treaty of toleration can be drafted between the two. The cross deals death blows to the self-centered of every generation.
You rather must hate Self as your worst enemy in the spiritual life. You must see it as that which is condemned by God Himself as being fit only for a cross. A follower of Christ must reject his own opinion, perspective, and inclination in the strongest possible way. Only then can Christ’s Word be followed.
Our own self-conceived agenda, our own natural desires for pleasure, prosperity, power, possessions, and pride are what must be crucified. Truly, for a disciple, there is nothing else to boast in, “except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” -Gal.6:14.
And Jesus declares that there are no other types of genuine Christians. Lk.14:27: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
Crosses were reserved for the worst of humanity’s criminals. By the means of a cross, they thus expired: unpitied, rejected, scorned, hated, and tortured. All that they were in themselves came to an abrupt and violent end; the cross put them to death.
We dislike this immensely. We would rather be spared this treatment at the hands of men and of God. But avoidance of the cross will not make us disciples.
The words of Jesus are painfully clear in Mk.8:34,35: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it.”
This is the stumbling block of the cross. We wish to spare our lives; the Lord desires to crucify them. We want to preserve ourselves; the Lord says we must deny ourselves. We esteem ourselves highly; God declares that Self is nothing more than condemned criminal activity.
Self is always opposed to the cross and the cross is ever the death of Self. The conclusion of 2 Cor.5:15 is this: “That One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” And it is the cross that executes Self with its 1,001 branches of self-confident reliance.
The stumbling block is Christ and Him crucified. Strange, isn’t it, that Christ would be a stumbling block to those laying claim to His Name? Yet He is.
This generation thinks it does not need Him. We have chosen instead a vast array of foolish substitutes. The gospel, the “power of God unto salvation” -Rm.1:16, has nicely been set aside by our fleshly alternatives.
Reliance upon Self, in any degree, is a corrupt, powerless, and impoverished slavery. Adding religious activities to it only worsens our condition.
Will clinging to a shadow in the presence of the reality commend you to God [Col.2:17]? Or what of careful observance of religious festivals, dietary rules, and church meetings “in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men” -Col.2:16-22?
The answer is plain from Col.2:23: “These are matters which have the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and false humility, and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”
The flesh cannot conquer the flesh. It cannot improve itself one bit, for Rm.7:18 says, “in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing” -Rm.7:18.
These are sobering realities. Some of the strongest language in the Scriptures is reserved for those placing confidence in the flesh: words like “accursed” -Gal.1:8,9, “false brethren” -Gal.2:4, “fools” and “bewitched” -Gal.3:1, “worthless” -Gal.4:9, and “slavery” -Gal.5:1.
Those not denying Self “have been severed from Christ” -Gal.5:4. These have “fallen from grace” -Gal.5:4, and discover to their everlasting ruin that “Christ will be of no benefit to them” -Gal.5:2.
If you have Christ, what need do you have of self-effort? This thing of salvation is no cooperative endeavor; it is not, “Just do your best and God will make up the rest.”
Gal.2:21: “I do not reject/nullify/frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain/needlessly.”
But the Lord Jesus has not died in vain. The fact of His crucifixion settles the question of right standing with God once and forever.
All self-effort through religious observance is what sets aside the cross as meaningless. And it is the cross that sets aside, rather, puts to death under the severest judgment, all that man is in himself.
Of what use are your codes and rules, promises and formulas, steps and systems, or ceremonies and routines, catechisms and traditions when you are helpless and corrupt criminals fit only for crucifixion?
How shall an external token act of religious devotion such as fasting or tithing, or night vigils, do one thing to effect the needed radical transformation of an unclean heart? One may boast in these devoted acts with a fair degree of outward show, all the while the heart is full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
We have stumbled over Christ and Him crucified. The cross is a reproach unto us, but we think there is little reproachable in ourselves. Self is exalted, Christ is degraded, while we esteem ourselves and dishonor the Lord Jesus.
Rm.9:32,33 says we have “stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a Stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” But he who relies upon Self will not only be disappointed, but he shall be scattered like dust [Mt.21:44]. And blessed is he who does not stumble over Me – Mt.11:6.
Copyright Steve Phillips 2019