The Cross

1 Peter 2:^24-25 “He personally carried the load of our sins in his own body when he died on the cross so that we can be finished with sin and live a good life from now on. For his wounds have healed ours!” (LB)

Sõzõ is a fundamental concept that every believer needs to understand to have a meaningful walk with God. The concept of salvation and saving is consistent from the beginning to the end of the scriptures. Man always gets into trouble, so we need a saviour. The first trouble man got into was the trouble of disobedience to God. Jesus came to save us from the penalty of sin, the pollution of sin, and the power of sin. When we examine the lives of everyone that walked with God, we see that God had to come in and deliver, come in and save, come in and set free, and come in and snatch repeatedly. In the New Testament, Jesus bought the different components of salvation together in one package.

In Acts 4, Peter used the same word Sõzõ interchangeably. So, salvation, healing, to be saved, and to be delivered is the same word, the same package. In other words, the full spectrum of Sõzõ is to be saved, to be kept, to be preserved, to be delivered from all kinds of peril even physical peril. Let’s say, when armed robbers go to someone’s house and the person prays to God for deliverance, guess what? That situation is covered under Sõzõ, that deliverance has been paid for. Sõzõ means to be rescued, to be set free or released, to redeem, to buy back, to pay a ransom for, to restore, to keep safe and sound, to heal, and to make whole. We need to give time to recap what we have learnt so far because Sõzõ is a key foundational concept.

When we embrace the fullness of what was done for us on the cross of Calvary, we begin to walk in the reality of the full spectrum. You cannot worship God effectively if you do not appreciate the cross of Calvary. Similarly, you cannot serve God effectively if you do not understand and appreciate what happened on the cross of Calvary. You cannot even begin to walk with God meaningfully if you do not experience the cross. I know some believers say that we should live a ‘crucified life’. But I think God wants us to, yes, be crucified with Christ by embracing Him. But God wants us to go beyond that and live a resurrected life.  Jesus did not stay on the cross, He was resurrected, and He wants us to live a resurrected life. What God wants is for us to look back at the cross and embrace the work that was done on the cross of Calvary.

Prayer (hymn): 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.

Forbid it Lord that I should boast save in the death of Christ my Lord.

All the vain things that charm me most I sacrifice them to His blood. Amen!