We never outgrow our need for the cross of Christ in our lives. It must be a daily experience for us. It is extremely important that in our prayer, in our meditation, and in our waiting upon the Lord that we begin reaching for Him and walking with Him in a very real connection with His cross. To do that, we must stop thinking about it as something that happened over two thousand years ago. We know that our salvation was won on the cross, and we have forgiveness of our sins because of the cross. But the power of the cross can still fade in the impact it needs to have daily on our minds. We need to feel, believe, and understand that His cross experience exists for us right now.

Eternity is not bound by space and time. We must understand how eternity functions because the cross will be with us eternally. Just as we understand that Christ Himself still bears in His body the marks of the cross, so the cross itself exists now in the moment (Luke 24:39). Otherwise, how would salvation work? If the cross were not available in every given moment of time, then how could people be saved? If it were something that happened in the past, you could say, “Just believe by faith.” But “faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1).[1] It is the substance and the evidence of what is believed.

When a sinner says, “I receive the washing of the blood of Christ as my Savior and believe that the cross is the power of God,” then salvation has to be a right now experience (1 Corinthians 1:18). For that to be real, the cross has to be available to anyone at any time. It is available to us because it exists in the current moment. Christ expressed this when He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

There is no such thing as having your own personal cross experience of pain and suffering. There is one cross—the cross of Christ. And on that cross, He died for all your sins and sorrows, all your disobedience and unbelief. Yeshua (Jesus) took everything upon Himself, and He died on that cross for you (Isaiah 53:4–11). Therefore, there is only one cross to be looked upon daily and that is His cross.

Paul says in Galatians, “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). Take that literally and begin your day crucified away from the world. Close your eyes, set your focus on Him, and shut away everything else from you to stand at the foot of the cross; embrace the work that He did and is doing. He did not just leave the cross in resurrection and forget about completing His work in us (Hebrews 7:25).

Your new life only comes at this moment of the cross experience. Transport yourself to the cross of Christ and hear His cry, “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). If you are still struggling with your old life, maybe it is because you are not beginning your day at the cross. This must be real to us. I encourage you to spend some time with Yeshua at the cross.

Listen to this entire message: GIG209 Start Your Day at the Cross.

[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).