What changed on the Cross?

What does the death of Christ on the cross mean to you?
What changed when Christ died on the cross?
John 19:25-30 - helped me understand these questions.

Read John 19:25-27
What does it look like at the scene of the cross. The movie "Passion of the Christ" paints a visual image of what this scene could have looked like. I feel its important to look deeper by putting myself in the 'sandals' of each peoples group at the scene.
The Roman Soldiers: confusion, duty, joy
The Women: sorrow, hatred, helpless
Disciples: regret, anger, broken
Jesus: love, pain, abandoned, fulfilled
I have now painted an in depth picture of the emotions that would have occurred at the cross.
Jesus has given his mother over to John (disciple whom he loved) to protect and to care for. He has now nothing of the world. He has prepared himself for death.

Read John 19: 28-30
Focusing on Jesus' two sayings: "I am thirsty" and "It is finished"
"I am thirsty" is said for two reasons:
First, to fulfill scripture - Psalm 69-21
Second, it demonstrates Jesus Christ's humanness. The only time Jesus seems to complain or request anything throughout his beating is here. If we did not have this account, it would be much easier to claim that Jesus used miraculous powers to persevere on through the suffering, in stead of the strength from God - which is what us as humans must rely on to persevere through sufferings (as demonstrated by Jesus).
"It is finished"
The Greek word for finished is "Teleo" meaning bring to a close, to perform, to fulfill. Interested when looking at the Greek we find that in stead of Jesus simply stating what he has come to do is finished, but what he has done is 'fulfill' what his Father asked of him.

The death of Jesus Christ was a demonstration of pure love. To take on the wrath of God by taking on the sins of the world, not to mention the enormous amount of physical pain, is an act I will never fully understand. His death gives me passion to live my life in accordance to His will. It gives me a drive to succeed in all I pursue under His name. It gives me a perfect role model to try to live by. It gives me hope for the day I will come face to face with Him sobbing tears of joy to hear the words "welcome my good and faithful servant".

To answer the question 'what changed on the cross', four words must be analyzed: propitiation, redemption, justification, and reconciliation.

The True Sacrifice

The book of Leviticus is fascinating. You probably either think I'm crazy or you agree. Starting in early January of 2008 I started listening/reading the old testament. I actually started with Leviticus for some odd reason. I did not get far until I realized there is so much in this book that I had never learned before and that in its process, much applies to believers in Christ today. I started studying it. And what came out of this study is the picture you see above. A book mark (front and back) that contains all sorts of notes, scripture, Greek, examples and interesting facts on how the process in which our Mosaic friends in Judea sacrificed animals for God is in fact the same process in which we must come before God daily. Confession, Surrender, Fellowship.
Please clip on the image above and have a look through. Feel free to print it off and use it as a book mark. I also suggest reading the challenge and taking it on. Its very hard, yet very rewarding.
I would like to point out one more thing. For fellowship, you will notice I refer to the Greek word Koinonia. I want to add that Koinonia was used in a business context as well. A word used by Paul to come together in a missional bond for one purpose to achieve a goal. Its fascinating when we look at in this context because the word fellowship in English does no justice for what Paul was really saying.

The Key Source: The Bible

When I started this journey down humble lane, my first reason for doing this was due to my prideful nature. My struggle with pride is deep and I felt that by truly searching out what humility is, I would be challenged personally, and moreover, challenge others dealing with the same problem as I.
One of first things I did when I started my research was look to the best source I had, the bible. I remembered the verse "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (NIV Matt 23:12, Luke 14:11, Luke 18:14). A fascinating observation of this verse is the context given in each occasion.

• Matthew 23:12, the context is Jesus speaking to "the crowds and to his disciples" (NIV v.1) about how the teachers of the law and Pharisees are prideful in that "everything they do is done for men to see" (NIV v.5).
• Luke 14:11, Jesus is at a prominent Pharisee's house on the Sabbath. Jesus speaks of a parable that "when someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor...take the lowest place" (NIV v.8,10)
• Luke 18:14, Jesus tells "some were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else," (NIV v.9) a parable referring to a Pharisee that prayed for himself and a tax collector that "stood in the distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said 'God have mercy on me, a sinner'" (NIV v.13)

Either Jesus said these words three times, or said them once and the writer used them in different context to summarize his point. Regardless, my point is not to judge its usage, but to view the context within. I think these three different occurrences make a great point of where to be humble. I categorize them as: Humble in Public, Humble in Private, Humble before God. Explanations to come.

Good-to-Great Humility

The book Good to Great by Jim Collins (sold 3 million hardcover copies since publication and has been translated into 35 languages) embarks on researching business companies that have transformed from maintaining 'good' status to 'great' status. His team’s findings indicate that eleven out of eleven CEO's of these great companies researched held a leadership style that is unique from society’s idealistic charismatic, ego-driven view. Collins defines this leader as a Level 5 Executive - "builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will" (Collins p.20). Moreover, level 5 leaders "are incredibly ambitions - but their ambition is first and foremost for the institute, not themselves." (Collins p.21) He uses words such as modest, willful, humble, gracious, mild-mannered, understanding and fearless to define this leader.
The Window and the Mirror is what Collins refers to as emphasis of luck a great leader would divert his/her misfortunes or blessings. He found that the level 5 leaders would always look to other factors (a person, event, or good luck) when success was enjoyed, yet never blamed bad luck when success was absent.
Collin points out five key attributes/characteristics pertaining to level 5 leaders: demonstrates compelling modesty while never boasting, acts with calm determination, channels ambition into company not self, sets up successor for greater success, and credits success to external factors (employees, good luck).
With only a summary, the thought of how the greatest leaders in our business world are transforming companies with humility, modesty, and passion for greatest. Makes you think. Do I attain these traits?

Humility...the core of greatness

I am embarking on a study on what it means to be humble. If you guys could help me out by feeding me any information you come across. Personal stories. Stories you hear in news, from friends, on the internet.I am in the beginning stages but I want to address the question:"What does it mean to be humble?" - Looking at the catch line "I am the most humble person I know" - hahaI am seperating my research in to:

Examples: Personal, friends, Jesus, historical, business, Old Testemant, New Testemant, the music industry, the film industry
The meaning of the word
How do you become humble?
What are the results of humility?
What is pride? How does humilty differ from Pride?

Things along these lines. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Please email me at wjameskelly@gmail.com
W. James Kelly