"This is what the cross offers"
"Amazing as it sounds, we come with remorse and guilt over one thing and the Bible tells us we are far worse, much guiltier than we could have ever imagined. But surely this only confirms the accusation that the Christian faith is psychologically unhealthy. How are we ever to recover any healthy self-esteem with an attitude like that? What would ever possess a person to call a message like this 'good news'? The fact is that in the cross God demonstrates the deepest law of acceptance. For to be convinced that I have been accepted, I must be convinced that I have been accepted at my worst. This is the greatest gift an intimate relationship can offer—to know that we have been accepted and forgiven in the full knowledge of who we are, an even greater knowledge than we have about ourselves. This is what the cross offers" (Rebecca Manley Pippert, Hope Has Its Reasons: The Search to Satisfy Our Deepest Longings, 110-111).
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Beautiful. I think that this sight of the Cross is a life-long learning process. My own view of Christian's (of Pilgrim's Progress)view of the cross that unloosed his burden was that it was not the moment of his conversion (that was the Wicket Gate), but the dawning of the truth of acceptance in Christ on his sin-weary soul.For those of us who have grown up in Christian homes the burden-relieving effect of the cross is something that will more likely occur further into our pilgrimage than for those saved as adults. It is, however, a view we should seek. But my heart aches for the thousands of second/third generation christians who have been anesthetized to the burden-sense therefore precluding the relief-sense. Thank You, Lord, for the cross.
Dan,
What an excellent quote with which to start the day. My heart was blessed to be reminded again of the significance of the cross and the blessings we enjoy in the gospel message. Pippert is right. Who could have ever dreamed the a message that the world regards as foolish could hold the joy of forgivness for those who need it. Yet it is my very sin that sent Him to that cross and thus ensures my forgivness. The knowledge that I am accepted in spite of what I am is truly astounding. But even more astounding is the knowledge that I am placed in this "intimate relationship" in spite of what I am not. Truely, the cross does have "much to offer."
Highlander
If you can, get your hands on a copy of that book Dan references here. Hope Has Its Reasons is the best book I've read in a very long time. The entire book is filled with practical Gospel wisdom like this quote and I know it will encourage your heart greatly.
This "unhealthy psychology" of Christianity also makes perfect sense in light of another picture of what the cross offers: rescue. In the three summers I lifeguarded, I rescued four people who would've drowned if they hadn't been rescued. Each of the four was psychologically traumatized in a matter of just a few seconds when they thought they were about to drown. Only one of the four cried out for help, but afterward, all four admitted the horror of thinking they were gone -- there was nothing they could do to save themselves.
If we come to the realization that we are far worse than we ever allowed ourselves to imagine, then we'll also realize we are incapable of self-deliverance. I don't think we need to try to deny the fact that coming to that realization for the first time is a psychologically traumatizing moment. But we must come to that realization! Just as a lifeguard suddenly becomes an important figure when we realize we're drowning, a Redeemer will only become an important figure when we realize we're drowning in our sin! When we are gripped by the reality of death, the fact that God has provided a Redeemer through the cross become very good news.