The word cross comes from the Latin word crux which can also mean a contradiction. This correlation is relevant, for the cross truly was a contradiction. Hebrews 12:3 urges that we consider the One who endured such “contradiction of sinners against Himself” lest we be wearied and faint in our minds.
When we see the God-ordained contradiction of the cross (and really, the whole of what we call Christianity) it will prevent us from losing heart, from becoming so easily discouraged by the negative affairs of life. If God is involved in our lives, if we belong to the Kingdom of God, we go by a different standard than the world system. What seems like defeat to the world may rather be success for us. What appears to be loss may truly be gain. So we cannot judge the events of our lives from a carnal perspective. Isaiah 55:8-9 declares that as high as the heavens are above the earth, so God’s ways are above man’s ways, and His thoughts are above man’s thoughts.
Everything about the precious Son of God was a contradiction…from the very beginning. In His former estate, He possessed all things in heaven and earth, yet He condescended to be born in a borrowed stable. In the heavens, He was clothed with the indescribable radiance of Shekinah (brighter than ten million suns) yet He divested Himself of such glory to be wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Absolute infinite knowledge was His, yet He took upon Himself the finite limitations of an infant’s undeveloped mind. He was the Sustainer of all men, yet during all His youthful years, He made the choice to be dependent upon Joseph and Mary for His sustenance. The heaven was His throne and the earth was His footstool, yet during His earthly ministry He confessed, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air their nests, but the Son of man has not a place to lay His head.”
Many of the Jews who heard this itinerant preacher’s message just could not accept the blaring contradictions it promoted. He called Himself the Servant of all. How could He then be their Messiah-King? He preached that they should love their enemies. How could He then deliver them from Roman domination and restore the kingdom to Israel? They “stumbled at that stumblingstone” and furthered the contradiction by rejecting the Prince of Life and nailing Him to a tree. (Ro. 9:32) It was during those horrid hours of agony that eternity and time “crossed”, spirituality and carnality came into direct confrontation, love and hate clashed, purity and sin collided. For He who knew no sin became the sum total of sin. The One who was Life itself tasted death for every man. The Conqueror of all conquered all our foes by allowing Himself to be conquered. He became “a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree)” that those who call on His name might be “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.” The
This divine mystery did not slow to a halt at the hill called Calvary, for the cross - the contradiction of all ages - must be raised high in the life of a believer until its sacred form overshadows all that we are. To receive of its benefits, we must conform to its character - and again, that is one of contradiction.
Matthew 23:12 promises that only those who humble themselves shall be exalted. 2 Timothy 2:11-12 reveals that only those who die with Him, will also live with Him; only those who suffer with Him, will also reign with Him. Romans 6:4-5 bluntly declares that only those who are buried with Him can expect to be raised up with Him to walk in “newness of life.”
Jesus summed up this mystery of discipleship when He explained—“He who finds his life shall lose it, and who loses his life, for My sake, shall find it.” (Matthew 10:39) The world system is bent toward self: self-gratification, self-promotion, self-esteem, self-awareness. But Jesus told His own that, on the contrary, they must “deny self.” This goes against the grain. But heaven’s viewpoint and earth’s philosophy have always been diametrically opposed to one another. And whenever the two meet - in the heart of any heaven-bound pilgrim—it creates a cross, a crux, a contradiction—that must be, not only dealt with, but embraced with fervor.
How could the tender Lamb of God bleeding to death as He “walked the wood” ever become the majestic Lion of the tribe of Judah ascending back to a heavenly sphere? How did Life conquer death by surrendering to its embrace? And how can beggars of the earth be lifted from the dunghill of sin to inherit the throne of glory? The answer to these questions—as well as all other mysteries—can only be found one place: the cross.