It's not only that Jesus would carry a cross. Everyone who comes to Him must carry a cross of their own. Jesus says the only way we live is when we die.
Scripture Focus: John 12:25; Matthew 16:24-25
"He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal."
"If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
Can I just tell you—it was true then and it's true now: Man by nature replaces a right view of God with their own ideas of what God will do for them.
The crowds were shouting "Hosanna! Save us now!" They weren't expecting a Savior from sin. They were just looking for a savior from Roman oppression. They wanted liberation. They wanted prosperity.
But Jesus came to die. And He says if you're going to follow Him, you have to die too. Die to what? Die to yourself.
When Jesus, who is the author of communication, repeats something over and over and over again, it's a statement of great importance. And I want you to dial in here because if you've grown up in the church, you could be in church your entire life without ever hearing these words of Jesus Christ. The broader evangelical world very rarely talks about this.
Matthew 16:24: "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me."
Luke 9: "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me."
Luke 14: "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."
We live in a world where people say, "I'm a Christian, but I'm not like that type of Christian." I want you to understand, according to the Lord Jesus Christ, whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. And a disciple is not a super saint. It's a follower.
In common vernacular when someone gets baptized or shares their testimony, we say things like "I became a Christian when" or "I became a believer then." Sometimes people even say "I gave my life to Christ."
Can I just ask you: Have you ever given your life to Christ?
That's what it means to be a Christian. It's to yield. To surrender.
This isn't in the fine print, my friends. It's so replete. It's just a tragedy that maybe this is the first time you've heard it or maybe you've gone so long without reminding yourself of this.
Jesus died once and for all for sin. How often does a Christian pick up the cross? Daily.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, "I die daily."
Which means every single day you have to take inventory—even of your ambition, of everything you're doing—and ask the question: Who am I living for?
1. Have you actually given your life to Christ, or are you just using Christian language while still living for yourself?
2. What would it look like practically for you to "die daily"—to pick up your cross every single day?
3. Who are you building a kingdom for this morning? Whose glory are you living for?
Stay dialed in