Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
There is a quote I have seen that I really like. The quote by Wayne Dyer goes “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”. Think about that. Often, we see things in certain ways. Our perceptions and opinions have a lot to do with how we see things. We don’t give a lot of thought to things sometimes. We look, or hear, or whatever the case may be, and see things a certain way. Often, we assume things are a certain way because of how we see them. But if we take a minute to change the way we look at things, suddenly things change.
Think of it this way. We take our camera and look through the lens and see a mountain with trees and a valley before it. It’s a beautiful picture. Then we change the lens. We zoom in on one small area. Suddenly we see a deer eating in the grass before a tree. It changes the view. Or perhaps we are looking at a tree, dark in shadows, and then we zoom out and discover a beautiful orange, pink, and purple sunset shining through a dark tree. Again, our view changes.
When we look at the cross, how are we looking at it? Are we looking at it as some fanciful thing that some book says happened? Are we looking at it with a mind set that it has nothing to do with us today? When we think about Him coming again, do we believe it? Or do we think it is just a story. Looking at the Bible, it is a history book but so much more! When we read it and think about the things it describes and how they happened just as foretold, does that change how the cross looks when we look at it, contemplate it?
Changing the way I look at the cross, and the Bible as a whole, has changed how the cross looks to me. I now see it as my salvation. I see it as the greatest love. I see it as a promise and a fulfillment all at once. It’s a promise to redeem us. A promise to save us and bring us to an eternity of peace and love. It’s the fulfillment of that promise that Jesus died on the cross. And it will be fulfilled again when He returns. His word is truth. His promises are wonderful. This life is temporary, He offers eternity.
Study His word. Change the way you look at it as you go. He will reveal a love beyond measure.