Jesus Saves (The Cross and the Cost)

Jesus Saves (The Cross and the Cost) reveals the paradox at the center of the Christian faith: life through death, victory through surrender. In this week’s message from the Seeing Jesus Clearly series, we are reminded that the cross is not only what Jesus did for us—it is what He invites us into. We love the idea of resurrection life, but often resist the cruciform path that leads there. Jesus’s call to “deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34) challenges every disciple to lay down comfort, control, and pride in order to find true life in Him.

Mark 10:45 captures both the mission and the model of Jesus: “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” The Son of God stooped low, trading a throne for a cross. This self-giving love reveals that salvation is not achieved by human effort but received through divine sacrifice. As C.S. Lewis said, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.”

But the cross does not stop with forgiveness—it forms a new way of living. To follow Jesus is to embrace a cruciform life shaped by humility, service, and surrender. Every death to self becomes a doorway to resurrection joy. In a culture obsessed with self-fulfillment, Jesus calls us to self-denial—not to diminish us, but to deliver us.

Jesus saves us by His cross and saves us into a cross-shaped life. The cross is not just the door to salvation—it is the architecture of Christian existence.