Why I'm still amazed at the CrossWhen I survey the wondrous Cross, where my Saviour died... Jesus paid it all... It is the most influential event in human history. It is one of the most discussed, studied, reenacted, sung about, and poetically lauded ideas in human literature, its theme of personal mortal sacrifice being echoed countless times. It is the centerpiece of human relationship with the divine. There's never been anything like the Cross of Christ. There never will be again. It towers over time and eternity, the inescapable emblem of love, sacrifice, wrath, redemption, and victory. Someone giving himself to save others is a universally appealing idea. It runs like a golden thread through literature in every age and every culture—perhaps because we're made in His image, and the ethic of laying one's life down for others appeals to some shred of His character, still latent in us after the Fall. The magic of Easter first captured me as a young child, attending a Southern Baptist church with my mother. All these years later, I still tear up "when I survey the wondrous Cross". I'm listening to a song called, "It Took a Lamb" as I write here in a coffee shop in Pretoria, and I'm barely keeping myself together. Honestly, I'm still shattered. Overcome. Overwhelmed. Awed. Flattened. It simply never gets old. Why am I still amazed by the Cross? It's so personal.Really. If I were the only human, Jesus would have come to earth and died to pay for my sin. Just. For. Me. This is historical fact: the Son of the living God came to earth and lived a smashingly successful and unprecedented blameless life. Right in His prime, He allowed a political and religious conflict to sweep Him into a public execution--which was His intention the entire time. It's why He came! Think for just a minute what it cost Him to even come down here (yes, Christmas still gets to me, too). Then to remain focused and undistracted by the success and popularity of His ministry of teaching and miracles. He didn't come to build a ministry. He came with one thing in mind: you. What a Savior! It's so devastating.I like it when my team wins. I really like it when my team wins big. I'm a lifetime Houston Astros fan (still drunk from the 2017 World Series!!). I remember the first time my team (finally) won a playoff game. It was 2004. We were playing the Braves--those Braves that knocked us out three times in previous years. I hated the Braves. Game 1, 2004 NLDS. I listened to most of the game in my truck, running errands for work. This was no 2-1 or 1-0 nailbiter. They destroyed those Braves. 9 to 3. It was so awesome. I was screaming in my truck. That game was amazing! At the Cross, Jesus completely ended sin's authority in our lives. In satisfying the requirements of God's wrath, He not only enabled our escape from its consequences, but then He placed back in our hands all authority on the earth over sin and the powers of hell. Then, to top it off, He rose from the dead, and shared his victory over death and the grave with us, too. There's no bloodier battleground than the Cross, and there's no champion bigger than Christ. What a Savior! It's so all-encompassing.I remember singing in that Southern Baptist church: Jesus paid all! Revelation 13 describes Christ as the Lamb who was "slain from the foundation of the world." The Cross is actually an eternal event: although we have a specific point in our historical timeline where it "happened", there is an eternal aspect in which God made His decision and laid down His life before He created the universe (in much the same way he chose you and me for Himself before creation, see Ephesians 1:4). What does that mean? Before you or I ever made one choice for wrong or right, Jesus paid for our sin. All of it. My sin. Yours. Hendrick Verwoerd's sin. Ted Bundy's sin. Adolf Hitler's sin. All of it. Every. Sin. In human history. So that for any one of us who wants to reconcile with our Father who created us and chose us, all that is required is to acknowledge what He did and surrender to Him as Lord. Jesus paid it all. Isn't it amazing enough that He paid for all our sins against Him? But He didn't stop there. In Paul's letters, several times he points out that in Christ there are no more divisions. No more Jew and Gentile. No more male and female. No more slave and free. In one of these passages, where he is specifically discussing Jew and Gentile, Paul says this: For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall... He Himself is our peace! What has He done? He has paid for all our sins against one another! Individuals have hurt one another. Whole people groups in our past and recent history have committed evil, violence, and unspeakable atrocities against other people groups. How can anyone ever pay for that? Can we punish anyone enough to make up for what happened? Who can make it right? Jesus. Paid. It ALL! He has paid the price! Because of Him, we can come to the Cross, all of us on this big beautiful planet, and we can be one. He Himself is our peace! What a Savior! I'll never get over it. Jesus is my hero. The Cross is the most amazing event in history. Happy Easter!
Words & Music by Mike Noviskie & Dan Erickson (When I Survey the Wondrous Cross written by Isaac Watts, 1707) Verse 1When I survey the wondrous Cross Where my Savior died My richest gain I count as loss and throw away my pride I see from Your head, Your hands and feet Sorrow and love pour down Here perfect love and sorrow meet and thorns make a Victor's crown Chorus 1I am free from the shadow of my sin You've won it all You've won it all Your victory is where I start again You've won it all You've won it all You've won it all Verse 2Here at the Cross our seas of pain Forever drain away Oceans of war and waves of hate All break on Jesus' name Chorus 2We are free from the shadow of our sin You've won it all You've won it all Your victory is where we start again You've won it all You've won it all BridgeGreater than all our shame
Deeper than all our pain Your Cross is big enough Your Cross is strong enough You've won it all You've won it all Unmatched. Unequaled. Boundless. Deep. We run out of words to describe the love of God. His love is the superlative to end all superlatives, and the more we encounter it, the more we grasp for a picture that can begin to do it justice. Several thousand years ago, the psalmist wrote, "...your love is better than life." Over the intervening centuries, hundreds of songwriters have grappled with the limits of their languages to capture the immeasurable, inexplicable love of God. The crescendo continues in the 20th century. Kathy Troccoli famously released a song called, "Stubborn Love." David Meece tried to capture the great lengths of God's love with "We Are the Reason." Chris Bowater, one of the fathers of modern worship in the United Kingdom, wrote, "Oh, the deep, deep, love of Jesus! Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free. Rolling like a mighty ocean in its fullness over me." Of late, songwriters are more overwhelmed than ever. "Heaven meets earth like a sloppy, wet kiss, and my heart turns violently inside of my chest," cries John Mark McMillan. Chris Tomlin, trying to capture the boundless power and volume of God's love, writes, "Your love is like a waterfall, running wild and free!" Cory Asbury is beside himself experiencing God's love: "Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God! How it chases me down, fights til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine!" What is it about this love that captivates us so? I could go on forever, but here are three things, for me.
Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers that they "may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge..." I pray that you experience His love in deeper ways than ever before. Go ahead: surrender to His indescribable, reckless love. Let it wash over you and embrace you. It's okay to be beside yourself. He has that affect on us. What is it about God's love that captivates you?
Just over a week ago I landed in Johannesburg after fifteen weeks in Texas. Thank you to everyone we got to spend time with during our fund raising season. It was wonderful to reconnect. It's great to be back at work doing what we love to do! Chandra has begun a ladies' Bible study for the community surrounding Berakah, and we're looking at starting a men's study with Mike in the near future. Pray for great fruit to come from these times of intimate discipleship! Thanks to everyone who makes our work possible, and especially to those of you who are new to our sending team! You are a powerful team of givers making a powerful difference in South Africa. We love what we get to do, and you are here with us, every step. New equipment, health, and safer play
Watch this space :-)We've just had our first meeting with The Bigger Picture, the newly founded ministry birthed out of our recent trips to other nations. We are planning to revisit the church networks in the DRC, Angola, and Mozambique with deeper training for pastors and leaders. Starting small and dreaming big!
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Mike & Chandra Noviskie,
missionaries to South Africa CCF Missions is a ministry of Christian City Fellowship. |