For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. (1 Corinthians 1:17)
Making the Cross void, ouch! What a nasty thought. Making the cross of Christ void means depriving it of its power and effectiveness. It means to reject the authentic indwelling Gospel message that is based on the believer’s co-death and resurrection of Jesus. It means to rely on human wisdom and eloquence rather than the simple truth of God’s grace, living within the born-again. It means to promote the symbol of the Cross vs. living in the power of it.
Coming from a hippie Jesus culture early in my youth, we wore two symbols openly - the Cross and the Peace medallion. In our minds, it meant the same thing. While flaunting these symbols, we were making void the purpose of both. We smoked pot, dropped acid, practiced open sex, and conducted semi-violent protests WHILE advocating the Cross and Global Peace. We chanted worldly rhetoric at every turn, which ignited many conversions for others to “get saved” by our pot-smoking savior, “Jesus.”
It took many years before I realized that I was a part of a “Jesus” cult that made the power of the Cross void. Furthermore, I will be bold enough to say that our “Jesus” was nothing short of an antichrist - who blended drugs, sex, and rock-n-roll with the saving Life of Jesus Christ. It amazes me today that God did not strike us dead for such debauchery. Speaking of Grace for the foolish at heart!
The apostle Paul warned the Corinthians not to make the cross of Christ void by following divisive leaders and Christ-like gods or being impressed by worldly rhetoric. He also said, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Looking back, I realize today that I didn’t understand the elementary elements of the Cross of Christ.
Discovering the “how” to embrace the authentic Cross of Christ IS the beginning of the believer’s indwelling salvation and hope for the future. We should not be ashamed of the Gospel by reforming it into something that matches our fleshly desires but proclaim it boldly and faithfully. We should not be swayed by human opinions but stand firm on the Word of God by releasing the Word, Jesus, through our moral being. We should not be proud of ourselves or the idols (symbolism) we build to look like Jesus but humble ourselves before the Lord. We should not be indifferent to lookalike symbolism but repent and apply forgiveness for attempting to make Jesus look like us. We should not be complacent in our faith but grow and bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We should not be selfish in our lives but love and serve the authentic Jesus. We should not be worldly in our thinking but heavenly-minded. We should not be enemies of the Cross but bear the Cross of Jesus.
The earliest indwelt Christians seem to have rejected using the Cross as a symbol. This is because the Cross was a despised execution instrument. While some would think it “cool,” would we want to wear a gold-plated noose or gallows around our necks? It is not difficult to understand the “why” early believers had an aversion to using the Cross as a symbol.
The primary emphasis of early believers preaching was the resurrection- the life of Jesus Christ, for which a symbol was difficult to find. The empty Cross became a symbol to show that Jesus had been raised from the dead, and it eventually became the predominant “Christian” symbol. The first record of its use is found during the second century. Clement of Alexandria wrote, "We mark the brow with the sign of the cross.” There is also evidence that the gesture of the Cross and material objects in the form of a Cross by the Roman State Church were used as early as the second century as ritual fetishes to ward off evil, a practice which was condemned by true Christians.
The Cross, as a symbol, was further entrenched as the primary symbol of the Christian religion after the Roman emperor, Constantine (a devout Roman Catholic), claimed to have seen a flaming cross of light in the sky with the words, "By this sign conquer" (quoted in the 4th-century work - Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius). From this sign, he began the greatest slaughter in Christian history by systematically removing all “Protestants” of the Roman Catholic Church (indwelt Christians) – the slaughter lasted 200 years. It is this act that further drove the “protesting” Christians into the Catacombs.
Constantine, a devout Roman State Church advocate, thus merged the Christian religion with his political aspirations, using the symbol of the Cross – the Roman State Church took this as permission-based symbolism. Constantine's mother, Helena – a Roman State Church devotee, is alleged to have traveled to Palestine in AD 325 and claimed to have discovered the original wooden cross on which Jesus was crucified. The criteria for the claim were that a sick person had grasped the wood and was allegedly healed. Small fragments were transported back to Rome and sold to wealthy believers as priceless relics. There were not enough to supply the demand, so the Catholic Church claimed, "the miracle of the multiplication of the cross," whereby many more splinters from the cross were allegedly formed. It is reported that wood fragments existed in Roman Catholic churches around the world, with permission to construct Crosses at the front of their sanctuaries. Since the Roman State Church did NOT support the claims of the indwelling Life of Christ living within the believers, they were instructed to keep Christ on the Cross for indulgence’s sake. Helena went on to be the founder & “mother of indulgences.”
The problem with symbols is that since they are more tangible than abstract reality, religious people gradually then superstitiously worship the symbol and lost sight of the reality on which it is based. This, of course, is the essence of idolatry. Symbols become charms, magical charms, and “holy” hardware. They are used as fetishes (demonic empowered objects) - believed to have magical power to aid or protect when rubbed, worn, or otherwise utilized. Symbols can also become conceptual fetishes - mental objects of irrational reverence and obsessive devotion. All sects of “Christians” bearing the Cross on T-shirts, jewelry, or other forms of display come from the Roman State Church’s superstitions and magical idolatry embedded in the symbol of the Cross.
Ultimately, symbols will be used to unite religions around the world to form a false sense of peace that will usher in the antichrist to rule the entire world and its belief systems by using the symbol 666.
The authentic Cross of Christ is the name given to the actual wooden cross on which Jesus was crucified, according to Christian tradition. Many pieces of wood have been claimed as relics of the true Cross, but their authenticity is hard to verify, nor is it necessary. Some of the largest and most venerated fragments of this “Christian idol” are kept in the Holy Monastery of Xeropotamou on Mount Athos, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and the Church of the Holy Cross in Rome.
Never forget, the authentic Cross of Christ symbolizes the price Jesus paid to free, willing invites to receive the indwelling Life of Christ via the Holy Spirit while refuting any and all symbols that redirect the TRUTH to a piece of jewelry.
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Coming up next is #44, “The Mystical Illusions of the Cross.”
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