A year, or so, ago my youngest son erected a cross; made from wooden planks from a broken part of our fence. It was constructed by a few nails and some white paint. The paint has since faded, and the nails holding the cross together have turned loose or broken. All that remains is a scarred single plank, surely not recognizable as the symbol it once was.
With the once beautiful representation of, and now brokenness of, Adam's cross ....and as we celebrate Christ' glorious, profound, unimaginable resurrection I am reminded of this simple reality. The cross will not carry you nor I. It is not sufficient to do so. It is ill-equipped to do so. ONLY Christ can carry us.
The cross won't carry you
The cross is broken. A man-made device, intended for destruction, the cross is only as powerful as it's creator makes it. It proved itself to be fallible, temporary. And while man constructed the cross ....it could not exist short of the very elements by which its ultimate Creator designed them. What man intended for evil ....God meant for good! (Gen. 50:20) Just as Joseph, in the Genesis story, stated in relation to the evil his brothers intended against him ....he knew that God had another use for his situation.
Your struggles won't carry you
You are broken. Whatever things we conquer and struggle through in this life, death ultimately comes, defeating any victories we manage. We have all sinned against God Himself, and have fallen short of His glory and His standard (Rom. 3:23). There is no good we can do which will defeat the ultimate response to our fallen nature .....death.
Only Christ', Himself, and His sacrifice will carry you
Christ "became" broken, for our sake and our inability to establish any real good for ourselves. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our sins (Isaiah 53:5).
Living life ,for whatever opportunity it can bring, is fruitless and pointless. The only eternal good we can do is surrendering to Christ, who can carry you, and who did carry your sins. A broken tree, a broken body, a living Savior for our brokenness. He "is" alive! Hallelujah, He is alive!
