The Key to Following Jesus
Reading the Bible daily does not save us.
Praying daily does not save us.
Going to church does not save us.
Giving to the poor does not save us.
Faith in the blood shed by Christ on the cross, for our sins, is the ONLY thing that saves us.
The cross should be the center and focal point of a Christian’s life.
The cross is the key to following Jesus.
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve,ย and to give his lifeย as a ransom for many.โ
Mark 10:45
Jesus came to give his life as a ransom and final sacrifice for our sins.
Let’s look at theย death of Jesus on the cross in Mark 15 together:
24ย And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25ย And it was the third hourย when they crucified him. 26ย And the inscription of the charge against him read, โThe King of the Jews.โ 27ย And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.ย 29ย And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, โAha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30ย save yourself, and come down from the cross!โ 31ย So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, โHe saved others; he cannot save himself. 32ย Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.โThose who were crucified with him also reviled him.
33ย And when the sixth hourย had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.ย 34ย And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, โEloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?โ which means, โMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?โ
35ย And some of the bystanders hearing it said, โBehold, he is calling Elijah.โ36ย And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, โWait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.โ
37ย And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.
38ย And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
39ย And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way heย breathed his last, he said, โTruly this man was the Sonย of God!โ
After Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last breath – Mark 15:38 tells us the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
Some facts about the temple curtain:
- It was 60 feet high.
- It was 4 inches thick.
- It separated the Holy of Holies where God dwelt, from the rest of the temple.
- Only the High Priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies once a year to make atonement for Israel’s sins.
- It signified man separated from God because of our sin.
The temple curtain was thick like a carpet and torn from top to bottom making it impossible to have been torn byย human hands.
God Almighty tore that curtain in two, giving us an “all access pass” to the veryย throne of God Almighty – maker of the heavens and the earth!
WOW!
The cross of Jesus has brought us into the very presence of God!
Everyday we can bow our knee in prayer through the name of Jesus and talk to our Heavenly Father – the King of Kings!
Jesus loves you!!!
We no longer need a priest – Jesus is our High Priest.
We no longer need a lamb – Jesus is the lamb.
We no longer need the shedding of blood – Jesus is the final sacrifice.
All our sins are forgiven because of His blood!
It is finished.
Paid in full!
Sweet victory in Jesus!
The key to following Jesus is the cross.
Jesus is our example of obedience andย Jesus said in Mark 8:34: โIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
This is not an invitation to a party. ย A call to take up the cross, is a call to come and die. ย It is a call to deny all of our selfish desires and be willing to follow Jesus.
Itโs Fridayโฆbut Sundayโs coming!
Have a great day of Celebration this Sunday.
He is Risen!
Andย Because He lives…
I can face tomorrow!
Walk with the King,
Courtney
**Chime In**
How has the cross of Jesus changed your life?
For Further Reading
The GMG Leadership Team is Blogging Through the Bible Too! Visit their blogs here:
Becoming a Godly Wifeย โ Bridget
Misty Leaskย โ Misty
Rosilind Jukicย โ Rosilind
Worshipful Livingย โ Mandy
What’s Next After Mark?
We will begin the Book of Deuteronomy on April 11th! ย If you have never studied this book of the Bible before – now is the time! ย Invite your friends and join us!
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The Cross has totally changed my life. Yes, Jesus requires everything but He is the pearl of great price. Finding Him was finding everything I was looking for but didn’t know it. He is worth everything… and worthy of our all. What a King to pledge our allegiance to!
I’ve wrote here how praying one promise of the cross a day transforms my day. I love this daily habit! http://arabahjoy.com/how-praying-the-promises-of-god-each-morning-transforms-my-day/
Without the Cross of Jesus, I would be wandering lost on this Earth. I am so grateful to have grown up hearing the message of salvation each and every day. And I feel blessed that I will be able to worship both today – Good Friday – and Easter Sunday at my home church with my parents and siblings.
Yes the cross on which a perfect soul, was turned into sin, so that we may have eternal life. Believe and live amen
I woke up, this morning, thanking Jesus for what this day represents. I thanked Him for being beaten, bruised and battered for an old sinner like me. I thanked Him for his precious blood that was shed for me and all mankind. I thanked Him for dying for me. He didn’t have to, but He did it because He loves us so much!! Thank you Jesus for your great sacrifice! I love you so much!
Just wondering if you edited this imagine? I originally saw it on another blog. We should all be considerate and give credit where credit is due.
Hi Ashley,
Yes – I made this image and used it first here a year ago in 2015: https://womenlivingwell.org/2015/04/its-friday-but-sundays-coming-reflections-on-the-cross/
I suppose I should have put on the image that it is a quote of S.M. Lockridge’s – so sorry I did not give him credit. Here is a link to his famous sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YByT6wfdhJs
Lots of Love,
Courtney
Seriously? Courtney wasn’t taking credit for the saying in any way. It’s a beautiful saying that fit what she was talking about, so she forgot to give credit to whomever first said it. It wasn’t done with malice. We should all be concentrating on her message, not insignificant little details.
god is my everything if he should be taken away from me i will be left with nothing i love jesus
That reading was awesome. I really appreciate your words and mostly Gods words that stood out to me.
I am forever greatful for the cross. I pray I can give God what he has given me. I pray that if there ever comes a time to where my life born my families life depends on if I am a Christian I will stand in courage and defend my Lord.
I am blessed to have Christ in my life. He has changed me in so many ways. I pray for those who don’t see the beauty of Christ in their heart for that one day, they wake up to see and feel what we see in Christ. Then, they too, will be saved and made whole being connected to God.
WOW!!!!! I finally was able to get in my quiet place and catch up on all my reading and all my GMG post and I’m sitting at my little table in the corner of my Starbucks SHOUTING !!!!!!! THANK YOU JESUS!!!!! Thank You Jesus for the Blood Thank you Jesus for saving us!!!! Courtney! I am so thankful for you and your willingness to except God’s call to help Women like me embrace God’s word and and understand God’s Word!!! And for helping us to be the Women that God called us to be!! I am overjoyed by Women living Well!!!this Morning I have met some awesome ladies and have encouraged a lot of ladies to join in!!! Ladies Enjoy Your Easter I am soooo looking forward to our journey of us studying and applying Gods word to our lives!!! Abundant Blessings to you all!!!
The key to following Jesus is the cross.
This is not an invitation to a party. A call to take up the cross, is a call to come and die. It is a call to deny all of our selfish desires and be willing to follow Jesus.
Powerful, thank you for the post.