Henry Blackaby - Experiencing the Cross: Your Greatest Opportunity for Victory Over Sin

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EXPERIENCING THE CROSS
published by Multnomah Books

2005 by Henry T. Blackaby

Italics in Scripture quotations are the authors emphasis.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from:
The Holy Bible , New King James Version
1984 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Other Scripture quotations are from:
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV)
2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible , New International Version (NIV)
1973, 1984 by International Bible Society,
used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House
The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

M ULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission.

For information:
MULTNOMAH BOOKS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80921

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Blackaby, Henry T., 1935-

Experiencing the Cross / Henry T. Blackaby.

p. cm.

eISBN: 978-0-307-56315-6

1. Christian lifeBaptist authors. 2. Holy Cross. I. Title.

BV4509.5.B545 2005

232.4dc22

2005016999

v3.1_r2

To my wife, Marilynn,
who exemplifies the cross of her Lord
in her own life.

CONTENTS

T

T

T

I NTRODUCTION

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS
AND FOLLOW

A Quest for Deeper Understanding

J esus knew that His followers had difficulty understandingor bearingHis clear teaching about what He faced after their final trip to Jerusalem. Death on a Roman cross was a hard thing to comprehend, let alone accept. Even so, He patiently taught them what that cross would meanto Him, to them, and to the whole world.

He told them: He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:38). He said to them all: If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily , and follow Me (Luke 9:23).

And in plain words He declared: Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:27).

The cross is not just His; the cross is mine, and the cross is yours. Its an unconditional and uncontestable requirement if we would follow Him as a disciple. Would it not be important, then, for us to clearly understand the crosss role and meaning in our lives ?

There is nothing more central to the entire Christian life than this theme. Its an absolute essential in the experience of every believer, the very heartbeat of our faith. This is true for many reasons, and in this book I want to explore some of them. As we journey together through these pages, I want to introduce you to how the cross reveals incredible dimensions of the heart and mind of God. In fact, we cannot begin to appreciate Gods eternal purposesor His eternal naturewithout a thorough understanding of the cross of Christ.

Too many of Gods people are missing what He intends for them to experience, and an inadequate grasp of the cross lies at the heart of this tragedy .

Too many of Gods people are going through life missing most of what their Father in heaven intends for them to experience, and an inadequate grasp of the cross lies at the heart of this tragedy.

S TAYING WITH S CRIPTURE

Im greatly honored that the Lord has granted me this opportunity to teach you, though in a sense I tremble when I consider the nature of these truths, truths that affect lives for eternity. The cross is one of the most difficult topics for me to handle, and Im fully aware that to teach a truth wrongly or inadequately is no minor matter. Its very serious to God and has serious consequences for His people. To grasp only a partial truth is to have only a partial encounter with God, and so much is needlessly missed.

So our time together in these pages will focus on the Scriptures and the fullness of what they tell us about the cross. As a steward of Gods truth, I want to accurately divide His Wordto carefully confront each passage before God in the context of the entire Bible.

In one sense, our goal in this book is simple. We want to locate key Scriptures on this theme, carefully unfold them, and provide fuel for what I hope will be choice and productive moments for meditation and careful thought in the coming daysand for the rest of our lives.

As we apply what we encounter hereas we seek to let these truths penetrate and transform our daily liveswe will experience wonderful results from this investment of our time.

I fully recognize that the Holy Spirit alone is our teacher. He may use me as a tool, but no human teacher can open your heart and convince and convict you of the truth of Gods Word and how it bears on your life. Only His Spirit can do that. And as He does, youre actually experiencing God; His Word is not simply principles or concepts to increase your head knowledge, but a vehicle for your relationship with the living God, a personal encounter that anchors His truth in the center of your being, equipping and encouraging you to live it from your heart.

So I want you to know God in all the Scriptures we explore togetherand then apply what He shows you.

T HAT Y OU M AY B E O VERWHELMED

My prayer is that this books mesage will be an open door to so much morethat youll discover truths in Scripture that will challenge and encourage you for the rest of your life. I strongly encourage you to obtain this books companion Study Guide to guide you in your quest, and to keep it open as you explore the pages to come.

In the months and years to come, may you always be captivated and compelled by the magnitude of what God has done in the cross.

PART ONE

The Cross
in the Heart
and Mind of God

Where It All Began

It has been given to you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

M ATTHEW 13:11

W hen we speak of the cross in its larger biblical meaning, we arent thinking just of the crucifixion of Jesusabout His experience with the wood and the nails. Its a much, much bigger picture than that. In fact, were viewing Gods entire plan to redeem a world. Were looking at the whole redemptive event as God sees it, not just as we perceive it.

So the cross isnt just the physical cross, His physical death on an actual beam of wood, though this was certainly at the critical center of Gods plan and purpose. But the essence of what happened that day went far, far beyond the cruel physical realities of execution by crucifixion.

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