A. W. Tozer:Man - The Dwelling Place of God.

(The Old Cross and the New)

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

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The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

A. W. Tozer:Man - The Dwelling Place of God.

Comments: Definitely worth reading the Old Cross section at least. We hear so much talk about “revival,” Many are seeking the power of God. Listen to Tozer’s final statement in the Old Cross section, “Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power.” If we have only heard a contemporary cross, a life improvement cross, this will have little meaning unless the Holy Spirit enlightens us. I believe He will if we seek Him.

Paraphrase: You knew something about a man carrying a cross out the city … he was not coming back.