A Saturday Evening Meditation

“The Cross is rough and it is deadly, but it is effective. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that, the pain is forgotten for joy as the veil is taken away – and we have entered, in actual spiritual experience, the presence of the Living God” (A.W. Tozer).

As I read those words by Tozer, I was overcome with thanksgiving for Jesus and for the truth that He endured the cross—crucifixion—for me! He endured the horror, the shame, and the pain that should have been mine. He was beaten, stripped naked, nailed to a Roman cross, and left there to die—for me. “He Himself bore my sin in His body on the cross, that I might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds I am healed” (1 Peter 2:24; personalization, mine). How incredibly wonderful and grace-filled!

Although it sounds a bit strange to the ear that cannot hear, I was crucified in Him; i.e., the man that I was in Adam was crucified in Jesus when He was crucified. That Adamic man no longer lives; He is dead—graveyard dead! However, I must reckon it so if I am to live as a new creation in Christ Jesus and this is where the difficulty lies. Experientially knowing this death is very difficult because my flesh is so unbelievably strong, or to say that another way and to use the words of Jesus: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). In other words, my flesh will fight to the finish!

Tozer is correct: The Cross is rough and it is deadly, but it is effective; God designed it so! There does, indeed, come a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies; God sees to it! However, when the new life comes, the veil that blinded us from truth is taken away and our pain is replaced with joy because we have entered the presence of the Lord, in actual spiritual experience.

Although His work is finished, He will not finish with me until He gets me home. I wish I could tell you that He has finished with me and I can now see clearly through the veil that once blinded me to truth, that my pain has been replaced with joy, that I have entered into His presence in actual spiritual experience; however, I cannot. I wish I could tell you that my flesh has finally died but you would know the truth. About all I can tell you is this: I know that His work is finished; I know that the joy is much brighter that it used to be; and I know that I am very glad that He promised to get me home before dark!

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