In the Presence of the Cross

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God...For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." 1 Corinthians 1: 18, 2:2

    Recently, in a daily devotional I was reading, the writer marveled at the faithfulness of his Muslim friends who pray five times per day. There was some truth behind his main point that most of us, as Christians, need to strengthen our prayer life, but a red flag was raised for me when he referred to these as "our Muslim siblings." We do not share the same Father.

    The Hagia Sophia, impressive in its Byzantine architecture, is a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Originally, it had been the Christian Cathedral of Constantinople. In 1453, the city fell to the Ottoman Empire and the building was converted to a mosque. Upon its conversion, the bells and the altar were removed along with all depictions of Jesus. Crosses were plastered over because Muslims cannot pray in the presence of a cross.

    For me, life revolves around this cross. Truth stands on it. Eternity depends on it. All hope is built upon it. Victory was declared upon it. "The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) Had Jesus not gone to Calvary, none of us have a prayer in this world for salvation.

    So it is that I will love the Muslim people, but the only way they will become my siblings is to be adopted into the Family of God through the righteousness of Jesus. Amen; may it be so, by the grace of God.

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Galatians 6:14