The Cross of Christ

Matthew 16:24, "... if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."

Continuing our in depth look at The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee we come to "The Cross of Christ." That place where we deal with the nature of sin. Where the habitual return to it is addressed.

Nee points out that, "There is peace with God, but there is no peace with myself. There is in fact, civil war in my own heart."

Civil war in my heart... that is a concept I can relate to. As Nee rightfully acknowledges, "The blood can wash away my sins, but cannot wash away my 'old man.'" This is because we did not become sinners by our actions, "but because of what Adam has done and become."

"At the beginning of our Christian life, we are concerned with our doing, not with our being."

Can I stop here for a moment? I am 45 years old. I was saved 30 years ago. Until recently all I have been concerned with is doing. I have prayed for the sick and seen them healed. I have traveled north, central, and south America for Him... doing. In 2011, I just now am concerning myself with "BEING." So I guess by Nee's definition the first 30years of my life with Christ was the beginning.


Nee continues, "we are distressed rather by what we have done than by what we are. We think that if only we could rectify certain things we should be good Christians, and we set out therefore to change our actions. But the result is not what we expected. We discover our dismay that it is something more than just a case of trouble on the outside - that there is in fact more serious trouble on the inside... we try to be humble, but there is something in our very being that refuses to be humble. We try to be loving, but inside we feel most unloving... The we come to the Lord and say, 'Lord, I see it now! Not only what I have done is wrong; I am wrong.'"

We have to come to the place where we understand "I am wrong." Oh, not some admitting to being wrong in the moment. There is a place with Christ where you know everything about you is wrong. A place where He will stand and allow you to compare yourself to Him; and with that comes a subjective understanding that "I am wrong." Everything about me is wrong when compared to Christ. Nee does not go into this, but this is the prayer. That we could see ourselves compared to Christ. This image as compare to Him is our true self. This discovery of true self allows God to continue in His work with us.

The chapter continues with Nee's discussion of how we were born with the nature of sin, born from Adam. How Christ as the last Adam crucified that nature of Adam on the cross. That "the cross is thus the mighty act of God which translates us from Adam to Christ."

It doesn't come out in this chapter, but the end effect is that the cross becomes an ongoing aspect of life. Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." The deliverance of the cross on the nature of sin is that we "take it up." Not that we hang from it, not that we commit spiritual suicide, but that we carry it in our soul. It's weight will come to bear on our nature and deliver us over time.