The Fellowship of the Cross
Most of us are familiar with Lord of the Rings, a book series by JRR Tolkien, made even more famous by film director Peter Jackson in his epic films. The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of the trilogy, and it tells the story of how the young hobbit Frodo comes to have the ring of power, and how he becomes the bearer of it to its place of destruction in Mordor. It also introduces characters such as his best bud Samwise Gamgee who becomes his closest support on this harrowing adventure; as well as the Gray Wizard Gandalf, and the ranger, Strider, along with numerous other interesting characters.
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I am not a Tolkien aficionado, and I am sure people much more learned than me can draw conclusions about the books and what the author’s intentions were. One of the things I pull from this first work was the necessity of the fellowship. This task to destroy the “one ring to rule them all” and ultimately to destroy the darkest wizard Sauron was not meant to be Frodo’s alone. Every single main character introduced is part of the bigger picture and has a role to play in defeating the dark lord.
This fellowship was not one born of whimsical tales and songs around a roaring fireplace at the local pub. It was wrought in suffering from the tops of the Misty Mountains, to the depths of the Mines of Moria, to the forests of Lothlorien, to the darkness of Isengard, to the stalwart walls of Helms Deep. Though the fellowship technically fell apart at Amon Hen with Frodo and Sam continuing their journey towards Mount Doom, and Strider, Gimlee and Legolas setting off to save the two other Hobbits in the Fellowship, Merry and Pippin; they do not forget the purpose of the Fellowship and the need for Frodo to succeed in destroying the ring.
This past weekend we celebrated the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The thought occurred to me that similarly to the tale of The Fellowship of the Ring we as Christ followers are engaged in The Fellowship of the Cross. When we accept Christ as our Lord, we commence a journey of taking our flesh to the fiery depths of Mount Doom. Our victory over our enemy is already sure, but our walk in this world is a battle agains both the desires of our flesh and the enemy who would see us overcome by despair and destruction.
When I speak to the Fellowship of the Cross, to what exactly am I referring? The word fellowship can be defined as follows: companionship; company; community of interest, activity, feeling or experience; a company of equals or friends. When we are in fellowship around the cross of Christ we are like minded individuals who understand the necessity of His perfect sacrifice for our sin.
We have all sinned. There is not one person free of the curse that came into play shortly after the world began.
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“21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
We are all under the shadow of death.
“20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.
22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
It was God’s love that that set the plan in motion.
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“6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Our belief in Him will not leave us disappointed.
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“9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.””
Like the fellowship in Tolkien’s adventure we who are part of the Fellowship of the Cross know the cost involved, but we also know there will be a future glorification. As the above passage reiterates there will be no distinction between Jew and Greek. This truth crosses time and race. All those who love Jesus and who have come into the Fellowship of the Cross will one day be with Him and fall at His feet in worship and adoration.
Image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay
Just as in the fictional story of Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring, there is beauty in the difficulty of the road we walk as we are united in one purpose, to glorify Him forever. While it is true that we are united in the Fellowship of the Resurrection as well, it is our journey to the cross that parallel’s Frodo and Sam’s journey to cast the ring into the heat of Mount Doom. It is at the foot of the cross that we cast our pride, our lust, our selfishness and all of our sin, released at last as we watch the blood consume the wretched shackles that once held us bound.
In the Fellowship of His Cross, we are free.