Dying to Live

Easily the most recognizable iconic symbol of the Christian faith is the cross, which is more than a little ironic as the cross is also arguably the most recognizable iconic symbol of death.  Cemeteries are filled with this symbol and national cemeteries like in Arlington are a virtual sea of crosses.  We see these same crosses on the side of roads where a car crash took yet another life.  We even "cross" someone or something off when we are done with them/it.  The cross says death.

And yet, the apostle Paul proclaimed, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6:14).  To him, the central piece to the Christian faith was the cross.  The very symbol of death was the cornerstone of his proclamation of faith.  And for centuries, Christians around the world have been adorning churches, hanging on their walls and wearing on their person crosses of simple wood to elaborate jewel encrusted works of art.

So why does an instrument of death and defeat become the symbol of life and victory?  Why is the cross the symbol of our faith?  Because the cross was the way to the tomb from which the risen Lord arose to defeat death for all time and eternity.  The tomb, the terminus of the cross, was the womb of salvation and eternal life - the termination of death.  The blood-stained cross was the path to the empty tomb - not particularly the symbol but certainly the substance of our faith.

Ironically, life comes out of death.  As Jesus pointed out, "unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds" (Jn 12:24).  Likewise, he tells us,"whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it" (Matt 16:25).  Dying to self is the path to living for Christ because the old man of sin and selfishness must give way to the new man of sanctity and selflessness.  Death gives birth to life.

This truth is seen in all of life.  The spender in us must die in order to give life to the saver.  The sloth in us must be laid to rest for the worker to finally be raised.  The lustful self must be pierced through the heart in order for the faithful heart to emerge.  It is the tomb of that which we were that becomes the womb of that which we become.  We must die to the old in order to live in the new.  The cross is our symbol because we are dying to live.  Jus' Say'n.