The true meaning of the cross is not always understood. Many Christians speak about the cross and preach the cross, while they live as enemies of the cross. What is the significance of the cross according to the Bible and what does the cross mean in the lives of Christians?
Many Christians have a relationship with Jesus and the Father their way
There are many Christians that believe in Jesus Christ and repented and are born again, but don’t want to have anything to do with the moral part of the law. They don’t want to keep all kinds of rules and consider them legalistic. And legalism is part of religion and not part of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Kaore ratou e pai kia korerotia ki a ratou me aha, but they want to be free. They want to live in freedom and have a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Father their way.
I roto i nga take maha, the relationship looks more like a LAT relationship (Living Apart Together) than a marriage. No te mea he maha nga wa, Christians only spend time with God when they have a need or problems in their lives.
When they’ve a need or problems, they need God to show up and supply their needs and fix their problems. Heoi ano, the rest of the time, they live according to their own will, te mahi i ta raatau e hiahia ana kia mahia.
He ahakoa, going back to the fact that many Christians say that the moral part of the law is not relevant anymore, how come, that they say they are redeemed from the law, i taua wā, they still live as carnal people to whom the law was intended. He aha te tikanga o tēnei?
The old carnal man keeps falling back into sin
The law of Moses was meant for the old carnal man, who lived in a sinful flesh from a fallen state and belonged to God’s chosen people by birth and the circumcision in the flesh. The sacrificial laws were meant for the old carnal man.
The sacrificial laws dealt with the (individual) sins and iniquities of the tangata kikokiko tawhito, but not with the sinful nature of the old carnal man.
The blood of animals was not powerful enough to deal with the sinful nature of the old man. That’s because animals are not equal to man. The flesh of animals is different from the flesh of man (1 Koriniti 15:39).
The blood of animals could only deal with the sinful deeds that derived from the sinful flesh.
No reira, the blood of animals could only make a temporary atonement for the sins of man. That’s why the sacrifices had to be done on a regular basis.
Despite the sacrifices and the blood of perfect animals, man remained the same.
The old man was still trapped in the sinful nature of the flesh and could not be delivered from it.
I nga wa katoa, they had to confess their sins, ripeneta and make reconciliation for their sins. Their sins were remitted and forgiven through the sacrifices and the blood of animals until they returned to their old habits and sinned again. This was an ongoing process.
The blood of animals flowed continuously, but the sinful nature of the flesh remained present in the generation of fallen man.
Jesus dealt with the sinful nature of fallen man
This process continued until Jesus came and dealt with the sinful nature of fallen man that produces sin and leads to death.
Ka rite ki nga tamariki ka uru ki te kikokiko me te toto, Ko ia ano hoki te ahua o taua mea ano hoki; na te mate ka whakangaromia ia e ia, i te mea kua mate te mana, ko tena, te rewera; Me te whakaora i te hunga e wehi ana ki te mate, i te wa katoa i to ratou ora (Hiperu 2:14-15)
Jesus not only took the sins upon Him. He carried the sins and iniquities i roto His flesh and became the Substitute for fallen man. Jesus carried the punishment for sins, ko te mate, a ka uru atu ki te reinga (reinga).
Heoi ano, the death was not strong enough to keep Jesus in Hades. I muri e toru nga ra, Jesus rose from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit with the keys of hell and death. Jesus conquered the power of death and had taken the dominion legally back from the devil.
Jesus released the righteous prisoners of death and gave the ability to everyone to be delivered from the power of death and hell A kia houhia me te Atua. (Aue. Matiu 27:50-54; Hone 1:11-13; Roma 5:10; 2 Koriniti 5:18-20; Epeha 4:10; Kolosa 1:21-23).
Na ka haere mai a Ihu, ka korero ki a ratou, e kii ana, Kua homai ki ahau nga mana katoa i te rangi, i te whenua. Haere koutou, haere, A whakaakona nga iwi katoa, iriiri ki a ratou i runga i te ingoa o te papa, Tuhinga o mua, Na o te Wairua Tapu: Whakaakona ratou kia puritia nga mea katoa i whakahaua e ahau ki a koe: a, na, Kei a koe tonu ahau, even unto the end of the earth
Matiu 28:18-20
The new creation is delivered from the sinful flesh through regeneration
Only by faith in Jesus Christ and becoming born again, a person can be redeemed from the sinful flesh. Na roto i te iriiringa in Christ and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the flesh of the old man dies and the spirit raises from the dead and the new man receives the Holy Spirit.
The new creation has left the old behind and receives a new life in the spirit. In the authority of Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, the new man has the ability to become a son of God (Nga tane me nga wahine) and walk as a son of God in obedience to God in righteousness.
The new man shall put away the carnal works of the old man, and do the will of the Spirit, whereby the new man shall come forth in the natural. (Panuitia hoki: Ka taea e koe te ora i te aranga me te kore e mate?)
The Holy Spirit has the same will as Jesus and the Father and confronts and reproves a person of sin. Then it’s up to the person to obey Him and put the sins away.
Because the person no longer belongs to the generation of fallen man and has no longer the devil as father.
The person belongs to the generation of the new man (hanganga hou) that is created in Jesus Christ. The new creation is born of God and has God as Father.
The new creations are the sons of God and together they are the church; te tinana o Ihu Karaiti.
Te purpose of the church is to raise the saints in the Word of God and equip them. No reira, they know the will of God and become equal to Jesus Christ and walk as Jesus walked in obedience to the Father’s will, preaching and bringing the Kingdom of God to the people.
Persevere in sin through ignorance and a lack of knowledge
Heoi ano, the problem is that in many churches instead of sons of God, Te tohungatanga, motivational speakers or self-promoters, who are still the old creation and have a form of godliness, are behind the pulpit and teach the believers.
They teach them from a carnal mindset and their own human wisdom, matauranga, and philosophies instead of the mind of Christ and the truth of God’s Word.
In order to get an audience and attract people and be exalted, they preach what people want to hear.
Through their sermons that revolve around the carnal man (kikokiko), they ensure that the people become depended on them and that they stand above the believers.
By preaching carnal words and vain philosophies that derive from their carnal mind, instead of preaching the truth of God’s Word that derives from the mind of Christ, they keep the believers ignorant about the truth.
Na roto i a ratou korero teka, they keep them in bondage, a ko ta te rewera e hiahia ana.
Na roto Te kore o te mohiotanga o te Kupu a te Atua, Christians keep living in bondage of their flesh. They keep walking after the flesh and persevere in sin and cannot stop sinning.
On the one hand, they are told, kua kore he hara. No reira, they can’t walk in sin. Na i tetahi atu taha, they are told that they always remain a sinner. Therefore they will persevere in sin until the day that they’ll die. Because only through natural death, they will be delivered from their sinful flesh.
False doctrines are preached to keep Christians in bondage
But that is a big lie that derived from the carnal mind of people, ko wai tonu te hanganga tawhito. This false doctrine is based upon human philosophies and personal experiences. If this doctrine would be true, then why did Jesus come to this earth? Why did Jesus had to become our Substitute to deal for once and for all with the sin problem? And what happened on the day of Pāhiri?
The people that came up with this false doctrine were unspiritual. They didn’t want to lay down their own carnal life. Na ka pera, they adjusted the gospel and truth of God to their own carnal experiences, Nga kitenga, hiahia, me nga hiahia.
Na na te mea pono, that they were appointed by the church because they had a diploma or Ph.D. and therefore obtained a certain status, the church adopted and applied this doctrine. To this day, this lie is still preached.
Christians are sidetracked
Due to this false doctrine, many Christians are sidetracked and many souls have been lost. While they could have been saved by preaching the right sermons according to the Bible (te Word) me te Wairua Tapu.
Because of this lie, many Christians have the idea that when they ripeneta ka whanau ano (according to their theology), they are not only cleansed from their old sins, but also from their sins in which they persevere after they become born again. Because they can’t be redeemed from sin, but will always stay a sinner.
If the Bible says that Jesus came to redeem man and has redeemed man through His work at the cross, but the preacher or theologian says that man always remains a sinner, who speaks the truth?
What has Jesus done at the cross according to these theologians or preachers? What was the purpose of His coming and the meaning of His sacrifice?
Na te mea pono, that many Christians are not truly born again and have no personal relationship with Jesus Christ; te Word, but instead believe, trust and lean on the words of preachers and theologians. They believe the words of people above the words of God.
He mea whakaponokore hoki te tangata i hara ai, Na roto i te haapa'oraa a te taata ti'a ato'a i te parau ti'a
Roma 5:19
The sins instead of the flesh nailed at the cross
Instead of crucifying their flesh, in which the sinful nature abides and that produces sin, they nail their sins at the cross. They don’t deal with the sin problem, for which Jesus came to this earth. Engari, they keep living in the lies, which are spread by the devil through the philosophies of carnal people.
Engari ko te pono ko, that as long as the flesh of the old man doesn’t die, the person shall walk after the flesh and persevere in sin and shall keep doing the things that oppose the will of God.
I te mea ka mau tonu te tangata ki te hara, they are not redeemed from sin, but are still a pononga o te hara.
In some churches or at seminars there is even a wooden cross on the stage with pieces of paper, nails, and a hammer.
The visitors can write down their sins or problems on this piece of paper and nail it at the cross. But this is a carnal deed of emotion (kikokiko) and has nothing to do with the Spirit.
Because when they go home, they continue their lives and fall back into the same sin. Just like the people of God in the Old Testament.
That’s why many Christian, who claim to be born again, and don’t want to have anything to do with the law, live the same way as the carnal people of God for whom the law was intended, ā-ara: the carnal old man, who is trapped in the sinful flesh.
Instead of dealing with the sin problem, namely the cause of sin: te kikokiko hara, they try to deal with their sins out of their flesh by using all kinds of natural means and methods
Jesus died because of the sin of the old man
Jesus didn’t die for your sins so that you can keep walking in sins. But Jesus died because of your sins that derive from the sinful nature of the flesh of the old man.
Jesus died for the old man, Te tangata hara. No reira, i roto ia ia, te koroua (kikokiko) ka mate me te tangata hou (wairua) kua whakaarahia mai i te hunga mate.
Jesus not only dealt with the sins and iniquities of fallen man at the cross. But Jesus also dealt with the sinful nature of fallen man, e mau na i roto i te tino. Koinei te take, ina he tangata, who is an old creation (He tangata hara), becomes born again, kua kore he tangata hara.
He mea kokoti koutou i roto i a ia, he kotinga kore ringa, ki te whakarere i te tinana o nga hara o te kikokiko i te kotinga o te Karaiti: I tanumia ki a ia i te iriiringa, Kua ara ano koutou me ia na te whakapono o te mahi a te Atua, nana nei ia i whakaara ake i te hunga mate (Kolosa 2:11-12)
The person has become a new creation: the righteousness of God in Christ. He tangata, kua waiho hei hanga hou, e kore e mau ano i te hara. No te mea, who belong to Christ have crucified their flesh with their affections and lusts. No reira, they shall not persevere in sin but shall do the works of righteousness.
What the law and the blood of animals couldn’t do, Jesus could! Ihu, te Kupu ora, came in the flesh and became the Substitute of the disobedient, rebellious old man, whose final destination is eternal death in the lake of fire.
Ko te hunga o te Karaiti, kua ripekatia e ratou te kikokiko, me ona hihiritanga, me ona hiahia
Karatia 4:24
The true meaning and result of the cross in the lives of believers
I runga i te ripeka, I mahi a Ihu ki te ahua hara, e mau na i roto i te tino. No reira, katoa, who believes in Him and becomes born again, will be redeemed from the sinful nature of the flesh, which produces sin and death.
The believer shall no longer produce sin from the sinful flesh, but righteousness from the Spirit (Aue. Roma 6-8; Karatia 5:16-26).
Do you want to get rid of the sins in your life? Then all you have to do is: go to the cause of sin. Go to the root of the sin problem, which is the flesh. As long as your flesh doesn’t die, your spirit cannot be raised.
'Kia tote mo te whenua’
