AFTER IVAN THE CROSS STILL STANDS (more photos)
The Cross on Pensacola Beach survived Hurricane Ivan. This is a prophetic picture of the hope we have in Jesus no matter how horrible and how heavy our burden or pain! Why? Because He is not on the Cross anymore nor is He in the tomb - JESUS IS ALIVE TODAY! My daughter and her family have been staying with friends in Atlanta since there has been no power, no water, no school, etc in Pensacola but they plan to return this week - the LORD is with them. And here are a few scriptures about the Cross:
John: So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will realize that I am he and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak what the Father taught me... And when I am lifted up on the cross, I will draw everyone to myself."
Acts: But you followed God's prearranged plan. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to the cross and murdered him... When they had fulfilled all the prophecies concerning his death, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.
Romans: So this is the point: The law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the cross. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, you can produce good fruit, that is, good deeds for God.
Corinthians: For Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News--and not with clever speeches and high-sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God... For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross... Although he died on the cross in weakness, he now lives by the mighty power of God. We, too, are weak, but we live in him and have God's power--the power we use in dealing with you.
Galatians: Oh, foolish Galatians! What magician has cast an evil spell on you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ's death as clearly as though I had shown you a signboard with a picture of Christ dying on the cross... But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."... Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised--as some say I do--why would the Jews persecute me? The fact that I am still being persecuted proves that I am still preaching salvation through the cross of Christ alone... Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there... Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised are doing it for just one reason. They don't want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save... As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world died long ago, and the world's interest in me is also long dead.
Philippians: And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross... For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.
Colossians and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross... yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault... He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.
Hebrews: and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people to repentance again because they are nailing the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to public shame... He does not need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he sacrificed himself on the cross... We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven.
Peter: He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds!
1 John: And Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross --not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit also gives us the testimony that this is true.