“Do you understand the heaviness you feel when you labor for others in prayer? Multiply that times every person who ever was or will be born, and you will begin to understand what Jesus went through at the cross. He carried your sin and the sins of all others. All the horrors of darkness were placed upon Him. To bring you to Me, I had to look away from Him, for darkness can have no association with light. Our grief won your freedom.”

Luke 9:23-25 AMP

23) And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also].

24) For whoever would preserve his life and save it will lose and destroy it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he will preserve and save it [from the penalty of eternal death].

25) For what does it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and ruins or forfeits (loses) himself?

2 Cor. 5:21 AMP

For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].

Galatians 2:20 AMP

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]: it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Ephesians 3:10-12 AMP

10) [The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities (principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.

11) This is in accordance with the terms of the eternal and timeless purpose which He has realized and carried into effect in [the person of] Christ Jesus our Lord.

12) In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).

The cross! The cross! The cross! The central theme throughout all of creation! Eternity past looked forward to it. Eternity future will look back upon it as pivotal. Angelic creations learn and marvel at its work. Mankind benefits beyond measure. It is why we can even see the need to come to God and have the right to do so.

The cross! Without it there is no hope. Because of it, life can go on as planned by God. It is a place of death that brought us life, an altar of sacrifice that won our freedom, a moment in history that all of history remembers.

The cross! It is where the Innocent was put to death for the guilty by the guilty, who claimed innocence. It is the only accepted ticket to the marriage supper and the key to preparation for it. We must never forget its worth, minimize its importance, or side with those who do. We must take up our cross because Jesus took up His.

Teach me and change me, Lord,

Jim Corbett