The Secret of the Cross

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salm 91:1 points directly to the cross of Jesus Christ: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” You can not draw closer to the shadow of God Almighty than when you are hugging the cross.

The cross’s shadow is the saint’s home.

The cross is the safest place on earth. It is the place where the most violent winds will whip your soul, but also where you will enjoy the greatest immunity from Satan’s devices. By embracing the cross, you are dying to every mechanism in your soul that Satan can use against you. The highest pain produces the highest freedom. There is no strategy against crucified saints because they do not love their lives even unto death.

We must return to the cross intentionally and continually. We know that we are crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), but self has an uncanny way of crawling off the cross and asserting itself. The crucifixion of the self-life is not an achievement but a process: We die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31). As Gethsemane’s garden of prayer prepared Jesus to embrace His cross, the secret place is where we reiterate our “yes” to the Father to suffer ac- cording to His will.

Secrets of the Secret Place

In our daily pilgrimage to the secret place, we wrap ourselves around His rugged tree, gaze upon His wounds, and once again die to ourselves. We accept the nails in our hands that curtail our freedoms, and we surrender to the nails in our feet that im- mobilize us and restrict our options. We allow the suffering of the flesh to cleanse us from sin (1 Peter 4:1). With dignity, we bear the honor of filling up in our flesh what is yet lacking with regard to the afflictions of Christ (Colossian 1:24).

Many people see the cross as the place of pain and restriction, and that is true. But it is so much more! The cross is the place of absolute love. The cross is the Father saying to the world, “This is how much I love you!” The cross is the Son saying to the Father, “This is how much I love You!” And the cross is the bride saying to her Bridegroom, “This is how much I love You!”

The cross is consummate passion poured forth. When Christ calls us to share His cross, He invites us to the highest intimacy. The wood that holds His hands now holds our hands. The nail that binds His feet to the will of God criss-crosses the nail that impales our feet to that same will. Here we hang, two lovers on opposite sides of one cross, our hearts almost touching except for the separating wood. This is our marriage bed. “Here I give to Thee my love.”

As you hang with Him here, even though your vision is clouded and you cannot see His face, yet if you listen you will hear His voice. With seven words He would guide you through this dark night of your soul.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Jesus begins by showing you the way of forgiveness toward those who have wronged you. This will be the first great hurdle you must cross, for you have truly been violated. You have been wounded in the house of your friends (Zechariah 13:6). But forgiveness is the only way you will move forward into God’s purposes.

The Secret of the Cross

“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

While your agony is fresh and raw, the Lord assures you that your name is written in heaven, and for this alone you can rejoice. The assurance of His eternal companionship carries you in this moment.

When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27).

The church (represented by the woman) is actually told by Jesus to look at you in your suffering. “Behold your son!” Other believers will look upon you with reproach, misunderstanding, perplexity, and inner judgments. And then He says to you, “Be- hold your mother, the church.” This is a time for you to look at the church and see her as you’ve never seen her before. You will gain great wisdom in this season if you will behold the church without any root of bitterness in your heart. What you see now will help you to serve her in times to come.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

You have just endured Jesus’ three hours of silence on the cross, in the darkness. Now, Jesus directs you to this prayer of dereliction. You find yourself crying to God from the hon- est depths of your soul. You ask all the “why” questions. Even though you know He is so very close to you, it seems that God has forsaken you. The highest intimacy is mixed with the deepest abandonment. You do not understand why the crucible seems interminable.

“I thirst!” (John 19:28).

Secrets of the Secret Place

Rather than cursing God in your darkness, you thirst for Him and long for Him more than ever! You have come through the crucifixion and you stand at the end of it and say, “I still want You, Lord! You are my very life!”

“It is finished!” (John 19:30).

This is the moment you’ve been longing for, that time when Jesus would indicate that the trial is completed, finished. The work of God intended in the crucible is finally complete.

“Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46).

Jesus gently coaches you to abandon yourself completely to the hands of your beloved Father. As you lay down your life, He takes the profound death that has worked itself in you and transforms it into resurrection life. You are joined to Christ in His death, His burial, and His resurrection!

Unparalleled affection is reserved for those who share this cross with their Beloved. This is the secret place. Here exchanged are the fathomless passions of the Eternal God with His select partner. “‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends’” (John 15:13). She shares in His life, His death, and His resurrection. “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5). They do it all, together. Nothing can separate these two—neither death nor life nor height nor depth. Their hearts are forever entwined in the passion story of the universe. He is hers, and she is His (Song of Solomon 6:3). This is extravagant love—no length spared, no part withheld—for the cross empowers total abandonment. Every “yes” of this secret place fuels renewed exchange of exclusive devotion. Anything for love!

Come aside to the desolate hill of crucifixion. Say “yes” once more. Feel the cramping; sigh and groan. Join your suffering Savior. Drink of His cup, all of it. And discover the secret of ev- erlasting love in the shadow of the Almighty.

I take, O cross, thy shadow For my abiding place

I ask no other sunshine than The sunshine of His face Content to let the world go by To know no gain nor loss

My sinful self my only shame My glory all the cross.

The Secret of the Cross

(Elizabeth C. Clephane, Public Domain)

Secrets of the Secret Place

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