God bless America and America, bless God

The story is told about a group of college “mathletes” who were returning to their residence hall after an evening of intoxicated pleasure. Suddenly, their drunken leader noticed on the steeple of a church a large cross illuminated by the moon. “Ye mathematicians, look at God’s plus sign!” he yelled for all to hear. The group burst into spontaneous laughter.

One of the students from that prestigious group couldn’t sleep that night. Toward morning he stepped into the leader’s room and shared that the luminous vision of the cross as God’s plus sign (the symbol of His love for mankind) had made him decide to uphold that cross. Seven others from that group followed him and gave their lives to the One who had died on the cross, God’s plus sign.

God’s Plus Sign Helps Solve Life’s Unsolvable Problems

Mathematicians, including college students majoring in algebraic equations and arithmetic formulas look for mathematical truths and absolutes when attempting to solve  problems. Math is an exact science, and when done properly will always yield the correct answer. One plus one is two; the absolute value of a number, whether it is a positive or negative, is always positive; and so forth.

God’s plus sign, the cross of Jesus Christ, is absolute truth, too, and can be expressed as a simple yet powerful mathematical equation: God’s Plus Sign plus One Forgiven Sinner equals Salvation; God’s Plus Sign plus One Saved Sinner equals A Brand New Person; God’s Plus Sign plus One Dysfunction equals Deliverance; God’s Plus Sign plus One Surrendered Life equals A Disciple for Jesus; and God’s Plus Sign minus Our Shame and Failures equals Peace and Sanity.

Although there is a growing movement to remove crosses from churches in order not to offend nonbelievers, God’s plus sign (the cross of Jesus Christ) is a simple yet powerful way to share with believers and nonbelievers alike that God is well-able to cancel, or cross out, our sins and to simplify and help solve complicated and unsolvable life-problems, all because of what the Son of God did for the world by dying on Calvary’s Cross.

A Crossless Equation Is A Powerless Theology And An Impotent Therapy

Unfortunately for the people of the world (the very ones who Jesus Christ died on the cross for) there are many theologians, pastors and counselors who leave out God’s plus sign in their theological, pastoral and therapeutic discourses. This one essential yet disallowed factor is the very reason why the Church fails to bring lasting salvation, recovery and healing to hurting individuals and families.

Any 30-minute sermon, 12-step program or 5-point solution which leaves out God’s plus sign (the cross of Jesus) will always fall short and remain incomplete in its attempt to completely change an individual and to destroy all bondage, break all yokes, and nullify all dysfunctions.

After Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, the Roman Empire went to great lengths and efforts to silence Christianity and erase God’s plus sign from the face of the earth. The renowned orator Cicero summarized the iron-fisted attitude of the Caesars of the Roman world when he said, “Not only let the Cross be absent from the person of Roman citizens, but its very name from their thoughts, eyes and ears.”

However, a people ravaged by sin, bondage or dysfunction will eventually look up at Heaven’s invisible steeple on a moonlit night in search of a sign and solution to life’s problems. And someone in that crowd will inevitably point to the cross of Jesus and shout out, “Ye Romans, look at God’s plus sign!” or “Ye Greeks, look at God’s plus sign!” or “Ye Hebrews, look at God’s plus sign!’ or “Ye Americans, look at God’s plus sign!” And sure enough, not a few from that group will step into Caesar’s palace or their leader’s room the next morning and share that the luminous vision of God’s plus sign has made him or her decide to uphold that cross and follow the One who bore it.

The Cross of Jesus: God’s Wisdom

Why would anyone in their right mind decide to uphold the cross of Jesus? After all, when Christ was crucified the cross was the vilest, most disgraceful and cruelest method of execution known to man, and was usually reserved only for slaves, foreigners, seditionists and the worst of criminals. Why would anyone view the cross of Jesus as God’s plus sign? Perhaps it’s because the Holy Spirit speaks to their hearts and declares:

“For the [plus sign] message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved it is the power [dynamic ability] of God” ( 1 Corinthians 1:18-19, emphasis added).

The cross of Jesus is “the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory [salvation], which none of the rulers of  this age knew; for had they known [about this special wisdom and plan of God] they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8, emphasis added).

In other words, God kept His plus sign, the cross of Jesus Christ, a secret from Satan, the world system  of that era, and the human leaders of that day and age. Otherwise, they would not have crucified the Son of God, and sin and death would still have no remedy. But thanks be unto God, the wisdom-limited powers of satanic darkness and prudence-challenged minds of sinful humans inadvertently factored into humanity God’s plus sign and solution to fallen man’s universal dilemma when they ignorantly crucified Jesus Christ.

The cross of Jesus Christ is God’s plus sign to humanity. It crosses out all sin, break all yokes, destroys all bondage, and nullifies all dysfunctions for those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. The Bible declares that Jesus Christ took our place and died on the cross for one grand and specific reason:

“But we see Jesus [hanging on the cross], that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).

Jesus “wore” His cross around His divine body for all to see. The least we can do is point to the cross and boast out loud for all to hear, “”Ye people of America, look at God’s plus sign!” (Galatians 6:14).