We live in the shadow of the cross. The cross casts its shadow on us, even 2000 years later. But are we able to see the shadow of the cross? Does its shadow make a difference in our lives?

I have never been to London, although someday I would like to visit there. I’ve read that in London’s Cathedral of St. Paul, there is a life-sized marble statue of Christ on the cross. The statue shows Christ writhing in agony. As his weight pulls at the nails going through his hands and feet, the pain contorts his face. Beneath the marble statue reads a plaque that says, “This is how God loved the world.”

Beginning in the book of Genesis, one of the first glimpses we get of God is that he is a seeker. Genesis 3:8 - “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Adam, where are you?" A Bible professor once taught about this passage to his class. He cautioned the students to not view this as though God were a policeman, prepared to catch his children in their sinfulness. Instead, he encouraged the class to read this story from Genesis as though God were a broken-hearted Father looking for a child who had become lost. “Adam, where are you?” Might God be fill in our names with the very same phrase? “Keith, where are you?”

The story is told of author Philip Yancey who decided to lock himself in an isolated Rocky Mountain cabin in mid-winter. His purpose was to read the Bible straight through, in an attempt to understand what the “big picture” is in the scriptures. When he finished reading the Bible all the way through, he concluded that many people understand the Bible as a book of moral laws or divine dictums. But he had come to discover that the Bible is really a story about romance. He asks the question, “Why would the God who created all that exists subject himself to such humiliation from his creation?” And the only answer Yancey could come to was, “Because he loves us.”

We live in the shadow of the cross. The cross casts its shadow on us, even 2000 years later. But are we able to see the shadow of the cross? Does its shadow make a difference in our lives?

In the notes from the Life Application Bible, we learn that “Peter was most likely in Rome as he wrote [his first] letter. It was probably at the time when the great persecution began under Emperor Nero, a time of persecution that ultimately led to Peter’s death by execution. Throughout the Roman empire, Christians were being tortured and killed for their faith, and the church in Jerusalem was being scattered throughout the Mediterranean world.”

Is it any wonder then that the major themes in Peter’s first letter have to do with living holy lives, standing firm in one’s faith, enduring the injustice of persecution, and imitating Christ. Peter wants to reassure those Christians who find themselves in the midst of harsh trials and sufferings, and he wants to warn those who are new Christians or those who are considering become Christians, that persecution will happen. But it can strengthen their faith and not destroy it, if they will look to Jesus for their strength and their purpose.

1 Peter 2 - “21To this you were called,” Peter writes, “because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

We live in the shadow of the cross. The cross casts its shadow on us, even 2000 years later. But are we able to see the shadow of the cross? Does its shadow make a difference in our lives?

Oswald Chambers writes, “The Cross was a superb triumph in which the foundations of hell were shaken. The cross did not just happen to Jesus. His very purpose in coming to earth was to die on the cross.”

It was not coincidence. Jesus was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. His very purpose in coming to this earth was to die on the cross for the sins of the world. That cross has cast its shadow throughout all time. We live in the shadow of that cross, whether we are aware of its shadow or not.

It is God’s hope that we will be aware of that shadow and that the shadow of the cross will give us the desire to turn our lives around, to repent of our sins, and to accept the sacrifice which Jesus made on the cross for our sins.

Jesus chose the way of the cross. As his followers, each of us must choose to live in the shadow of his cross; to live in such a way that honors the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross.

Are you aware of the shadow of the cross? As you live day to day, moment by moment; as you face joy and sorrows, trials and success, are you living in the shadow of the cross? Some people choose to wear a cross as a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice. And that is well and good. As long as it remains a reminder and not jewelry.

Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness. Are you living out your righteousness?

We live in the shadow of the cross. The cross casts its shadow on us, even 2000 years later. But are we able to see the shadow of the cross in our daily lives? Does its shadow make a difference in our lives?