The Two Crosses

I was thinking about the hymn “The Old Rugged Cross” the other day. For those of you who don’t know it, the lyrics and a MIDI file playing it can be found here (the MIDI file is auto-playing, so be careful if you’re in a place where you need to be quiet).

When people sing the line “I will cling to the old rugged cross,” most probably sing about the cross Jesus died on. This is certainly a worthy thing to cling to, and may be the song’s original message. However, I believe there is a double meaning.

There are two crosses we must cling two. First, like the song stipulates, there is the cross of Jesus. Literally, this is the cross Jesus died on, after being betrayed and denied by his disciples and friends. Figuratively, this cross represents the atonement for sin. Our sin; yours and mine. Paradoxically, this cruel cross also represents God’s love for us- how He sent His only Son to die for us, and how Jesus could have easily escaped His fate, but chose not to. We must cling to and cherish this cross, for all it represents of suffering and love.

There is another cross, though, that we must also cling to. This is our own personal cross. Instead of bearing our sin, we bear the responsibility of its forgiveness. Since God gave us this marvelous gift, we must try to use it to the best of our ability.

This means we need to give our lives to God, for without his forgiveness, we wouldn’t even have our lives. We need to try our hardest to do what he wants us to do, we need to resist temptation with all our might, and finally we need to tell others of the good news of the forgiveness.

Many obstacles come with this cross. For early Christians, and still some Christians around the world, this cross comes with the threat of torture and death. Our dangers are much less severe, yet for some reason we still have a hard time clinging to the cross (sometimes a harder time than Christians facing death).

When you sing “The Old Rugged Cross,” you are singing that you will cling to your own cross. You are saying that you will cherish the difficulty and the suffering we undergo for trying to follow Jesus. This is a big statement. Be sure you don’t make it unless you mean it.

One final thing. This effort will not go unrewarded. As the song says, we will someday exchange our sufferings and trials for a crown. When we hear the mighty trumpets sounding and this veil that we call real life is lifted away, and when we see that the mighty and eternal God, Lord of the universe, has been bearing our cross with us all along, then it shall all be worthwhile.

Matthew 16:24: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. “