Opposites

I love to dig into the meaning of words and recently have been thinking about the word “opposite.” The English thesaurus lists, “conflicting, contradictory, reverse” as some of the adjectives defining this word. Easter Sunday is tomorrow and like a movie in my mind this word was playing out the events that lead to this significant day in our faith walk.

Without the manger we wouldn’t have the cross. And without the cross the manger meant nothing more than a sweet baby’s birth. The Manger and the Cross are two complete opposites of life.

Both represent hope…but only one would give eternal hope
Both represent life…but only one would give eternal life.
Both represent the sacrifice of surrender…the cross was the ultimate sacrifice of obedience.
Both represented a lamb…the cross demanded the only “pure and spotless lamb” ever to be born.
The manger was under the law…the cross brought fulfillment to that law.
A star gave direction to the manger…the cross gives direction to the Star.
The manger was surrounded by angelic hosts...the cross was surrounded by thieves.
The manger gave us a servant….the cross gave us our King.

It is easier to worship the manger than the cross.

It has been said, “the character of the worshiper will always be molded by the character of what he worships.”

The dictionary defines ‘character’ as:
1. A distinctive mark, trait, quality or nature
2. An engraving instrument

The cross became the engraving instrument by which the full character of God was displayed in and through Jesus Christ (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness...Galatians 5).

We bear His character today, OR do we?
Like Jesus, do we allow God’s character, His engraving instrument to carve His distinct mark, His distinct qualities deep within us? Troubles and pain come into our lives as an “engraving instrument” to produce God’s character within us. This will always require a surrender of self.

Romans 5:3-5 “We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.

Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter (completer) of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

As contradictory as the manger and cross are, without the Hope from the manger AND the Resurrection from the cross our Promise for the future would be futile.