READING 262-34 PARAPHRASED
(Q) What should be the central basis and key ideas in the lesson on The Cross and the Crown?
(A) Just as the earlier lessons were designed to apply to any activity of an individual, this lesson takes a firm stand: the activities of every soul must ultimately come to this point as the first and foremost concern — both mentally and spiritually. As it is written, “I am determined to know nothing among men save Jesus, the Christ, and Him crucified.”
Christ with the Cross is part of the experience of every soul on earth. All paths of truth, in their different forms, eventually lead to the Cross. That must be the central thought — the meaning and purpose of the Cross and the Crown.
Because we are known by the Name He has given, each person’s approach must not begin with the material question, “What is my cross?” but rather with the spiritual one: “How may I, with His help, best meet my cross, so that I may approach the Crown of Righteousness?”
This crown is not a temporal or mental achievement, but the Cross of Glory and the Crown of Glory, found only through His Name.
READING 262-35 PARAPHRASED
GC: You have before you the group gathered here and their work on the lesson “The Cross and the Crown.” Please provide further material that will help us develop this lesson. I will also ask you some general and individual questions.
EC: Yes, I see the group here — both collectively and as individuals — and their work on the lesson “The Cross and the Crown.”
As shown in the outline, the meditation, and the questions each person should ask themselves, the group has now reached the point where they must begin to apply these truths in their own experience. Their preparation is not only for themselves but also to be channels of blessing, providing material for lessons that will serve others.
The group should wrestle with questions like:
Why have we chosen the way of the Cross?
Why must each person bear a cross, even though Christ bore one for us?
Why was it necessary that He, the Creator, come as a man to bear the cross?
Why do we also experience what He did, yet say that by taking His yoke, the cross becomes easy?
Each individual must answer such questions personally — in their own hearts, in the light of their own experiences with living these lessons — so the answers will be real, not theoretical.
You must also consider:
Does your life, lived in faith and virtue, explain why each soul must bear a cross?
Why has the Cross been chosen as the central symbol, rather than other philosophies that might unite the material and spiritual life?
Why is the Cross at once an emblem of shame and yet necessary for the Crown?
The group is at a turning point: either to walk away from this path, or — like Peter — to say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
So, each person must ask themselves: “Why must I, as a soul on the material plane, bear a cross?” Once you have honestly faced that, then you can begin to answer the next part: “Why the Crown?”
That is all for the present.
PERSONAL QUESTIONS AND SAMPLE ANSWERS
1. Why have we chosen the way of the Cross?
2. Why must each person bear a cross, even though Christ bore one for us?
3. Why was it necessary that He, the Creator, come as a man to bear the cross?
4. Why do we also experience what He did, yet say that by taking His yoke, the cross becomes easy?
5. Does your life, lived in faith and virtue, explain why each soul must bear a cross?
6. Why has the Cross been chosen as the central symbol, rather than other philosophies that might unite the material and spiritual life?
7. Why is the Cross at once an emblem of shame and yet necessary for the Crown?
1. Why have we chosen the way of the Cross?
Sample Answer A (personal/devotional):
Because the way of the Cross is Christ’s way — the only path that leads through surrender and trial into resurrection and life. I choose it because I want to walk where He walked.
Sample Answer B (universal):
We have chosen the Cross because all truth eventually leads to it. It is the universal symbol of transformation — the point where human will yields to divine will.
2. Why must each person bear a cross, even though Christ bore one for us?
Sample Answer A (personal/devotional):
Because while Christ bore the cross to redeem humanity, I must still face my own trials and overcome my own selfishness. His cross gives me the strength, but I must walk my own path.
Sample Answer B (universal):
Each soul bears a cross because growth cannot be borrowed; it must be lived. Christ opened the way, but no one else can surrender my will for me — that is my cross.
3. Why was it necessary that He, the Creator, come as a man to bear the cross?
Sample Answer A (personal/devotional):
So that I might know God understands me completely — even my weakness and suffering. He came as man so I could never say, “He does not know what it feels like.”
Sample Answer B (universal):
It was necessary for Him to come as man so that the victory over the cross would be real in human experience. Only by entering fully into our condition could He transform it.
4. Why do we also experience what He did, yet say that by taking His yoke, the cross becomes easy?
Sample Answer A (personal/devotional):
Because when I try to carry the cross alone, it crushes me. But when I carry it yoked with Him, He takes the greater weight, and I find peace even in hardship.
Sample Answer B (universal):
We bear crosses like His because trial is part of human growth. But His Spirit shares our burden, turning the weight into strength — the yoke of companionship makes it light.
5. Does your life, lived in faith and virtue, explain why each soul must bear a cross?
Sample Answer A (personal/devotional):
Yes. I see that every time I have faced trials with faith, they shaped me more deeply than comfort ever did. My own life shows that the cross is the tool of transformation.
Sample Answer B (universal):
The lives of all who live in faith prove the same truth: that the cross is the universal school of the soul. It is where we learn patience, humility, and love.
6. Why has the Cross been chosen as the central symbol, rather than other philosophies that might unite the material and spiritual life?
Sample Answer A (personal/devotional):
Because the Cross is not only an idea, but an act of love and sacrifice. Other philosophies speak of unity, but the Cross shows what unity costs.
Sample Answer B (universal):
Because the Cross embodies both shame and glory, death and life. It holds the tension of the material and the spiritual more fully than any abstract system can.
7. Why is the Cross at once an emblem of shame and yet necessary for the Crown?
Sample Answer A (personal/devotional):
Because in the eyes of the world, the Cross is humiliation and defeat. Yet in God’s plan, that very humiliation becomes the path to the Crown of Glory.
Sample Answer B (universal):
Because the Cross strips away pride and exposes weakness — shame to the material mind — yet only through that stripping can the soul be raised into its true strength and glory.
In summary:
Each of these questions calls for deeply personal reflection.
The Cross is universal, but each person’s cross is unique.
By answering them, we begin to live the lesson inwardly, not just study it outwardly.
No comments:
Post a Comment