Site has moved

Dear all,

For various reasons I have re-branded this blog at the following address:

http://christcentred.wordpress.com

The new blog already has twenty two posts, with lots of Christ centred post to get your teeth into.

If you have subscribed via email, click here and the posts from the new site will be forwarded to you.

Why did Jesus die on a cross?

If your not a Christian and your interested in Christianity or you want to at least understand Christianity then this blog's for you. It's what we call the gospel which means the good news. It's what Christianity is all about.

You may have noticed that Christians wear crosses or have crosses on their buildings. Maybe you've seen something like the Passion depicting the crucifixion. Maybe you've heard people talk about Jesus "dying for your sins". What on earth is it all about?

There's really two things you need to know:

1) People cannot get to God
God is the perfect one, the creator of the world. He made everything good and will one day destroy everything that's bad. He is so incredible that we can't even imagine how great he is. Imagine all that is good in the world: beautiful landscapes, love, friendship, whatever is good he made it. And what's more he made it out of nothing! Now come on if this is true you really want to know this guy. You could spend eternity with someone who is this amazing!

There's a problem though. You are God's enemy. Everything you do is in rebellion to God's perfect plan. God brings only good. You, and I, bring only evil to the table.

"Wait up" you might say "I'm only evil? Come on! I sometimes help old ladies cross the road. I give money to charity. Grief, I didn't even have sex before I was married like everyone else in the world. Sure I'm not perfect, but I'm not only evil."

Ok let's check you up against God's plan. God's plan for your life can be summed up in two rules. First is love others. Okay giving to charity and helping a little old lady are fairly loving things to do, on the outside. But God can see your inside to. Let me ask you a question. Did you ever do anything without a little selfish motive in your heart? I don't know how good a person you are, but if I'm honest at the back of my mind there's always a false motive.

"Oh I could help that old lady, I'd look so good then."
"Ha I'll show them I care about the earth. Just watch me donate money to charity!"
"It'll be so much easier to deal with my parents if I don't have sex before I'm married. And hey maybe sex in marriage is actually better!"

Maybe your a bit of do-gooder who never has any selfish motive. But then wonder this: have you loved your neighbour the best way you possibly could? Did you help the old lady cross the street, staying around to listen to her talk about her late husband and invite her out for coffee the next day because you realise actually she's incredibly lonely? Did you do the very best you could? That's the standard God expects. Have you met it? I know I sure haven't.

If that's not depressing enough. The second big rule in the Bible is love God. Not just any God. The real God. The God who has revealed himself in the Bible. Allah or Vishnu won't do. It's got to be the God of the Bible.

"Well I go to church, sometimes read my Bible, sometimes pray, try my best to obey the rules of God." But the Bible says you've got to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Everything.

Again that means you've got to have loved God the most you possibly could have. Have you told of his great deeds to everyone you could do? Have you spent time with him as much as you could? Has every thought that's passed through your mind been coloured with love for God?

Let me break it to you. You have never loved your fellow human beings as you should. You have never loved God as you should. How do I know? Because he told me so:

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12 ESV)

You can't get to God. Neither can I. Neither can anyone else. Whatever they are a fascist dictator, a school child, a president, a widow, an eco-warrior, or even a pastor of your church, they cannot get to God. Unless you've loved both your neighbour and God perfectly you are part of the problem. You are part of the reason that the world is such a mess. And you deserve to never ever be with God, the most wondrous being in the universe. We all deserve this.

But luckily there's some good news...

2) God can get people to God
There is a way out. You can meet this great God.

You see what happened is this. You deserve to be cast out from God's presence. You are God's enemy and should just be got rid of. But God loves you so much he gives you a second chance.

Now God can't just let people get away with being evil, that would be chaos. Heaven would not be heaven and he wouldn't be God. God has to be just, because justice is perfect. He has to punish your crime.

But what God did is he became man. God has three persons within his oneself, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. All three are God. The Son came down to earth, with the full backing and help of the other two, and became a human being. His name was Jesus. God himself came to earth.

Of course being God he lived a perfect life. He never did anything wrong. He loved others so much that he healed their diseases and pointed them to the perfect God and his perfect way, the most loving thing anyone can do in a given situation. Oh and how he loved God. He never shut up about how amazing he was! This guy lived the perfect life.

Yet he was killed on a cross. He was put to death.

Now remember this man is God. He could've escaped with a click of his fingers. So why did he stick it out?

This is why. Jesus offered himself to die the punishment we deserved. It wasn't the nails that killed him that brutal day. No, death on a cross took many days. What killed him was God's anger. You see we all faced God's anger, to be cast from his presence. Yet Jesus said that he would die in place of us. He would face the fullness of God's wrath, even though he was God! He was only acceptable because he was perfect. The perfect God's death was the only thing that could pay the price of millions of people's wrong doing.

Then he rose from death three days later to prove himself to be God and he poured out his Spirit on his followers and told them to go out into the world and tell people that he had taken their punishment away so they could get to God.

That's what I'm doing now. I too am a failure. But God showed me in his good news that Jesus had taken my punishment away. All I had to do was believe it was true, hate my evil doing and begin to turn away from my wrongs and start to do what is loving to God and humans.

What is most loving for me to do is to tell you that you don't have to face the punishment for all the evil you've done. All you must do is what I did. Believe Jesus took your punishment on the cross, believe you free to come to God and start to go his way.

If you have believed drop me an an email I'd love to tell you what to do now. Also if you have any questions drop me an email, I'll see what I can do to help.

Jesus dying on the cross is the most amazing thing you'll ever here. That's why the cross is good news. That's why Jesus died on the cross.

In Christ
Tim

P.S. If anything in this was unclear please send me an email so I can make it clearer for everyone. This is something I really need to explain right

Why Blog Cross-Centredly? Part 3

Reason 3: To Focus My Heart


It's been a while since I last posted, I apologise for those who've been waiting for the next part of this series. One of the most scary things about beginning a blog is the temptation to do too much. You want readers, so you want to post interesting and exciting posts regularly. Or do you?

Augustine said that he wrote to learn. I wonder how many bloggers would agree with that. I know whenever I have to prepare something for someone else I end up learning much more than they do.

Now this all sounds hopelessly selfish, and it is not my only motivation (as I will go on to explain in coming posts). However, there is something about writing which helps us learn a great deal.

I found in considering what to write here as this blog continues to grow that my own thoughts have been focused more on the cross. How great a thing the cross is, but how quick I, a feeble human being, will often forget about it. Writing a blog that openly proclaims to be cross-centred in everything it does will hopefully constantly rebuke me from going a different way. There are many foolish distortions of Christianity we often into, where we hero worship sound men and women or desire to show our own greatness. None of this can happen if we look at the cross.

How good it will be for my soul if I am regularly having to draw my focus again to the cross. I pray that many of you will join me in this too. Let's consider every blog in it's light. In fact let's consider everything it's light I hope. But let's get our stubborn heart under control. Write with the cross in central view that we may

This blog is the third part of a series of blogs entitled "Why Blog Cross-Centredly?". Keep an eye on this blog for the next answer to this question "Part 3: To Focus My Heart" by subscribing to our feed.

The Cross in Creation

If you have been reading this blog recently you may have noticed that I've been doing a lot of talking about why one should blog cross-centredly, but haven't really shown you how that looks in practice. Well today will hopefully turn the tide. I want to share with you something revealed by the Holy Spirit this morning as I did my Bible Reading in Genesis*.

God's Word is focused around one story: God's relationship with his people and the climax of this story is Jesus dying on the cross. All the way through the Bible is building up to this great event, and after it the Bible glories in Jesus' work there.

It is no different in Genesis, indeed it is a very good example. We see God make his first promise to defeat Satan (Gen 3:15); saving people from death (Gen 5:24); and choosing a people for himself (Gen 12:1-3);. Yet when we come to Genesis 1 it's very easy to wonder where on earth God's master plan fits in. Surely it's just about creation, nothing to do with God's plan of salvation.

Oh how wrong we are...

The Holy Spirit wrote this book from start to finish, and he knew what he was going to write centuries later. He knew Jesus would come to save his people from sin. As he was giving these words to Moses he was laying down the foundations for the rest of the Bible. Indeed as every great author does, the Spirit used his first chapter to show us about the key character in this epic tale: God. **

I could mention many of the things that the Bible is teaching us, paving the way for the cross here. But I'm just going to mention one. Consider these verses:

"In the beginning, created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." (Gen 1:1-2 ESV)

Pay attention to the italics part there. It says the earth was "without form and void". Try and think of something now that doesn't have a form. I think you'll struggle. Everything has a form. All substances on Earth (in solid state, liquid state and gas state) have a form. It may not be a solid form, it may be change from second to second, as a liquid or a gas does. But it has some form. Moreover nothing is void. Void, my Concise Oxford Dictionary reliably informs me, is "empty, vacant". The only thing that is void and without form is nothingness. Void is the absence of anything, so the only thing God had was nothing.

Now my understanding of the Big Bang theory is that for it to happen there had to be some basic elements to start with. A few gases collided together, made a big bang and eventually everything existed. Now admittedly it's very difficult to make a universe out of a few gases, but the truth is actually even more amazing. God used void, that is nothingness, to create somethingness. He is so amazing everything came out of nothing.

Fair enough, God is established as an amazing guy. But what does this have to do with the cross?

God tells us in Jeremiah, "...my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise' - in doing evil! But how to do good they know not." (Jer 4:22, ESV).

Then Jeremiah cries out "I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light" (Jer 4:23, ESV). Yes Israel's sin is hopeless, like the earth without form and void (notice same words as Genesis 1). And let's face it, it is the same with us. We are just like the earth before God came along. There are no raw materials for us to be created with. Everything about us is nothingness in God's terms. We have nothing that can save us. Just like Israel's condition and the world's condition before creation, there is nothing in us.

But don't you remember something? God made something out of void, yes something out of darkness. We are void, we are nothing. We have no way of becoming light, we are dark. But God can do it! He created a world out of nothing, surely he can save us!

Oh yes he can! Indeed he already has. Look at yourself. There is nothing to redeem me. I am the void before creation. Yet God can make something out of me! How does he do this? We learn later that he does it by the cross; Jesus dying for my darkness and giving me his light. Indeed we can say with Paul: "For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone light in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6, ESV).

Yes, even in Genesis 1 the Holy Spirit was writing so that you may know the way to save yourself from where you naturally are. Are you a Christian, a child of the living God? If you are not, you are never going to find him. You are utter darkness. But I have good news for you, God created the world out of nothing. He can make you, a person who is nothing but darkness, be a light for him in this world.

Trembling at his Word
Tim

P.S. Sorry for all the made up words: centredly, nothingness and somethingness. But Shakespeare did it so why can't I?

* When I say revealed by the Holy Spirit I am not speaking of anything beyond the usual processes of my mind. I didn't enter a trance or hear a word from heaven. But I will certainly not ascribe it to myself. It is the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible (2 Tim 3:16), and it is the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to understand it (Eph 1:16-18) so I'm not going to be so presumptuous as to make it sound like I figured this out. It was revealed by Him. Praise be to God!

** Again to save you from worry, by comparing this to a story I'm not saying the Bible's tales are made up. No, they are historical fact. Yet not everything in history is included in the Bible, not even everything about Jesus (see John 21:25). The Holy Spirit dictated what would be in the Bible, and so we much pay attention to what he chose to include. Therefore we can talk of him as an author, not telling a made up story, but rather writing an account of events as they truly happened, but selecting them for his ultimate purpose, to show people Jesus.

Why Blog Cross-Centredly? Part 2

On Monday we looked at the first reason why I, and you, should blog cross-centredly. The reason was I love the cross, it is the most exciting event in history and I want to think on it again and again. It is my salvation and it shows God's love for me. It therefore should be central to all I do. What other reasons are there for bloggin cross centredly?

Reason 2: Denying Myself
It is very easy for a blog to become all about the writer (or chief writer). They talk about their life, what they have learnt, what they are interested in. This very quickly begins to point the finger to me. This would be bad for you, but most of all it would be bad for me. I do not need to be puffed up. How can I distract the attention from myself to God?

Easy I point to the cross. There my sins are on full view. I was so sinful that the God who created the universe had to die for me. Jesus had to face the fullness of Fathers' wrath because of how evil I was. If I blog in such a way I point to the cross nobody will look to me. They will surely be lead to say "What a sinner he is, but what a great God Jesus is!" Is that not what we want? To point people to God?

I challenge other Christian bloggers to make a point of preaching the cross. Deny yourself and your glory and point rather to Jesus. Let's not try to be the best bloggers on the planet, with witty posts and a readership in the thousands. Let's rather try to point to the cross.

Yours in Christ
Tim



This blog is the Second part of a series of blogs entitled "Why Blog Cross-Centredly?". Keep an eye on this blog for the next answer to this question "Part 3: To Focus My Heart".

Why Blog Cross-Centredly? Part 1

Perhaps looking at the title of this site you are a wondering why anyone would want to focus an entire blog around one subject. Talk about stifiling creativity! Fair enough for a person to find Jesus' death on the cross interesting, even life changing. But why on earth should it be the centre of everything? Why do I want to blog cross-centerdly?

Over the coming days I hope to go some way to explain my motivation for doing so, and I hope, if you are a blogger, you will join me in deciding to blog cross centerdly.

Reason 1: I love the cross!
My first reason is very simple. I love the cross!

If you are a music fan and you decide to devote your whole blog to one band, you must think they are the greatest band to have ever have walked this earth. You create an "Elvis-centred blog" or "Switchfoot-centred blog" or (God forbid) a "Spice Girls-centred blog" and review all other music in comparison to that band. You love their music, their lyrics, even their character and you feel every other band must been seen in the light of their glory.

It is the same with the cross for me. I absolutely adore it. The greatest part of Christianity is not the Church, not Calvinism, not Puritan literature (though I love all these things) but the cross! All other things need to be seen in it's light.

When I say I love the cross I don't mean I sit up at night thinking about two pieces of wood nailed together to be used as a brutal form of punishment. I mean I love the work that was done on the cross by Jesus Christ. It perfectly shows who God is, and when I look at it I see the great love of God.

This morning I was reawakened to the amazing truth of Romans 5:8 "...God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (ESV). Have you considered how amazing that is? Most of your human friends' love would grow colder if you did something wrong towards them. But whilst we were still sinners, his enemies, Christ died on a cross for us!

That is incredible! There is no love like that to be found on this earth! Jesus death on the cross is beyond anything we can imagine in this world. This is why I want to blog about the cross, because it is so amazing. It brought me life when I was dead, love when I hated, God when I was godless. The cross is the most amazing thing to me and thus I will blog always in the light of this most glorious truth.

Many Christian sites are blogged by people as reformed" or puritan-readers or complimentarians or something else. These are all well and good. But they are secondary things.

I want to blog as someone saved and completely amazed by what Jesus did on the cross. That is the first reason why I want this site to be a place of cross-centred blogging.

Yours in Christ
Tim



This blog is the first part of a series of blogs entitled "Why Blog Cross-Centredly?". Keep an eye on this blog for the next answer to this question "Part 2: Denying Myself".

Why "centred"?

Just a quick post for any American's who read this. This is a cross-centred blog not a cross-centered blog because this blog is written in England and we know how to spell properly! :P

Seriously though if you were wondering and thinking this a blog by someone with such poor spelling ability he spelt his blog's name wrong, don't worry I'm not that bad!

I, of course, welcome any American readers, just be aware of the British spelling!

Yours In Christ
Tim