I thought I would share the meaning behind the "The Praise Cross." This is what it means to me: I created this design of the cross and I call it the “Praise Cross.” From 1 Corinthians 1:18, the Apostle Paul writes, “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.” This verse reminds me what the cross means: God worked in and through Christ to offer to the world and to us salvation. This is where Jesus paid for the sin of the world, and on a more personal note, Jesus paid for my sin, past, present and even future. That’s grace upon grace. Why Praise Cross? The cross is a symbol of death and simultaneously it is a symbol of life and hope. In this instrument designed for punishment and ultimately death, we have life. I love it that Jesus isn’t on the cross any longer. He isn’t in the grave anymore. He is alive. Because he lives, we can live and have life too. In the story called the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, what is often referred to as Palm Sunday, there were followers of Jesus singing praises to him. The Pharisees, which were religious leaders of the day, wanted Jesus to tell the disciples to be quiet. Jesus said in response, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” I like to think about this as someone or something will praise Jesus. If people are silent, inanimate objects will even sing to him. This is another influence for the name and design. This piece of wood, shaped as it is, signifies to me, praise for Jesus. Furthermore, because of the shape, it doesn’t stop the praise; a reminder to me and hopefully to you we are to praise Jesus in whatever we do. This shape isn’t like a traditional cross. The meaning behind the design is stated above. The visual meaning comes from the drawings I remember from the Living Bible of the 1960’s. This paraphrase had some illustrations of the stories of Jesus with flowing lines and simple looks. This simple shape of the Praise Cross reminds me that Jesus isn’t complicated. He isn’t convoluted. He’s just Jesus, the Christ, God in flesh. And one more meaning please: As I make these crosses, I don’t use wood that is perfect. Within the wood there are imperfections. There are knots and other aspects of character within the wood, often times not revealed on the surface. Still, even with the imperfections, the cross proclaims the perfect love of God in Christ. That’s what I also see in the lives of Jesus- followers. My life isn’t perfect; nor is yours. However, we are still able to praise Jesus. Jesus takes us as we are and transforms us into the people he’d have us be. That’s his grace, given for you and me.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 21:43:17 +0000
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