The Cross in our Bodies

The Cross in Our Bodies

I was so excited to receive this email from my friend Marlene Bagnull, director of two writers conferences (Estes Park, Colorado and Philadelphia Pennsylvania). Marlene asked me to keynote on the cross of Jesus at both of these conferences last year. What an honor for me!This email she received is said to be distributed by a doctor. I am studying biology with my 9^th and 11^th graders this year. (In fact, we’ll begin biology in about 20 minutes here.) So, let’s take a look at the cross inside our bodies. The email said:

. . . he started talking about laminin. .I knew about laminin. ‘Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue’ You see, Laminins are what hold us together… LITERALLY.

They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already. But what I didn’t know is what they LOOK LIKE.

But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already)…. Here is what the structure of laminin looks like… AND THIS IS NOT a ‘Christian portrayal’ of it…. If you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see….

I looked up “laminin” on google images and was surprised to find not only a lot of graphs and drawings but T-SHIRTS with laminin charts drawn on. On showed the laminin cross and said, “Thank you Darwin”. Well??? Not sure about that. What we can be sure of is God’s Word:

Colossians 1:15-17
‘He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or Authorities; All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him All things HOLD TOGETHER.’

And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together… One cell to another…. By the cross.

When I speak of the cross on this blog, I DO want to see the cross lifted up all across our nation. All across the world, actually. But in saying “the cross” I do not mean the jewelry or the wooden lighted cross in my back yard. “The Cross” is the all-encompassing way to refer to the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Rather than use a series of wonderful words and phrases to explain that sacrifice, I simply say “the cross”.

I want to continue to share on the power of the cross to heal our souls in upcoming blogs. But for now, please think on this:

Sanctify—separate yourself. Set yourself apart. Be separated from sin, guilt, condemnation, victimization, and worry. (II Corinthians 10:1-5) Throw down all thoughts that produce that.

Sanctify—do NOT separate yourself from the cross. Don’t let a day go by without meditating on the cross. A powerful man of God who is now with the Lord said this, “As soon as the cross is misplaced, you will find yourself struggling, perplexed, confused, and even guilty. You’ll wonder what’s gone wrong in your life. What is wrong is that the cross is displaced from the center.”

The cross holds us together in body.

The cross holds us together in thoughts and feelings.

The cross holds us together in Spirit.

“So I’ll cling to the old rugged cross . . .”

Here’s a song to help us cling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuudlTywjsM&feature=related

About Lift the Cross of Jesus!

My day job is writing--I'm an author and publisher of a number of books. More on that later. But there is nothing of greater importance to me than the early morning hours I spend with the Creator of the Universe. Although He knows everything there is to know, His greatest delight isn't to give us knowledge, but to give us love. My highest joy is to watch the sun rise with notebook in hand and write the words he speaks to my heart. I want to share some of those words with you here . . . words on the cross.

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3 Responses to The Cross in our Bodies

Diney says:

January 7, 2012 at 10:32 AM

Awesome!

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- Lift the Cross of Jesus! says:
  
  January 8, 2012 at 9:14 AM
  
  Glad you responded here, Diney : ) I’m sure it’s doubly fun for you with your work in the medical field.
  
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Jeff Landis says:

January 12, 2012 at 5:59 PM

Hello Hope,
I appreciate your words on sanctification. Not only do we need to cling to the cross by emphasizing it’s power and glory, but we also cling to the cross by our acts of repentance. Bob Mumford wrote a powerful article a few years ago entitled, “A Mouth Full of Splinters.” He was saying that the a sacrificial life of forgiving our enemies is embracing the cross. And many times embracing the cross doesn’t always feel so good. It’s rugged, it’s sharp, and sometimes we do get a mouth full of splinters. Similarly, Paul in Phil 3:18 said that he had tears because so many lived as “enemies of the cross”. And who were the enemies? It’s those whose god was their stomach (v19). So truly to cling to the cross, is to repent daily and turn from the flesh. Hey – I’m a blogger! 🙂 Brother Jeff

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