Dealing with Crucifixion in a Gospel of Grace
Why Jesus tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him
The cross is an instrument of torture associated with pain and suffering. So what’s the place of this contraption of pain in a gospel of love?
It’s difficult to associate God with suffering. The world has its fair share of evil. So the general idea is that we come to God to escape evil.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NIV)
Jesus emphasized the presence of suffering on earth and never minced words about it. We will experience troubles and some would be a direct result of being His disciples.
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. (John 17:14–15, NIV)
God didn’t call us to avoid trials pre-eternity but to overcome. The point of Christianity is to show the world a better way of navigating this life that gives hope of something more valuable beyond this life.
