1 Peter 2:19-25

1. Today is Palm Sunday and the beginning of the Passion Week in which we Christians deeply appreciate the passion and cross of Jesus for us and sincerely renew our dedication of love and obedience to Him.

3. Verse 21 says that "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps." His Cross is necessary not only for our justification (forgiveness of our sin and reconciliation with God) but also for our sanctification(liberation from sin and imitation of Christ). The cross is the way to cleanse our sinful nature and dedicate ourselves for the Kingdom of God. Therefore, to His followers for wrong reasons and false salvations, Jesus declared that "anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."(Mt 10:38); "anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."(Lk 14:27); "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."(Lk 9:23, cf. Mk 8:34)

4. Then, what is our cross to bear? First, our cross is to follow Jesus’ example and totally devote ourselves to fulfill our life mission given by God whatever comes in this course. "Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him."(Heb 5:8-9) He had obeyed in every moment and every way to fulfill His mission even to death on the cross. "He humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!"(Phil 2:8) To carry our cross is also to carry our mission in the way of suffering and even death. Christ and we are in the same school of obedience training in the way of mission fulfillment. Our mission is for our family, society, world, church to realize His will and His Kingdom on the earth. The cross is for reconciliation and love: "in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.(Eph 2:16); "through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."(Col 1:20)

5. Second, our cross is to deny ourselves and live a life for others-God and neighbors. Jesus clearly said that "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."(Mt 16:24) With self-denial, carrying our cross and following Jesus is impossible! And, as our self-denial expands, our cross bearing grows. We deny ourselves and we die! We die to our own ambition, self-centered life, worldly pleasure, and sinful desires: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."(Gal 5:24); "the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."(Gal 6:14) Only Christ lives in me as I die in Christ: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."(Gal 2:20)

6. Third, our cross is to cleanse our sinful nature and restore our image of God. Our cross and suffering powerfully teaches humility over pride, accepts suffering and punishment with gratitude and courage, disciplines us for right orientation, and purifies our soul by verifying our deep motives of life and thought. God our Father loves us but does not overprotect us because he wants to make us His qualified children like Jesus. Moreover, our cross is the way to glory in the heaven: "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."(Rom 8:17-18)