In Light of the Cross

In our final episode of In Light of the Cross, we wrap the series around God’s long-standing desire to be with his people—an intimate union that doesn’t erase our individuality, but brings real communion with him now and perfectly in our resurrection destiny. We linger on John 15 and especially Jesus’ prayer in John 17, where he asks that we would be one with God the way he is one with the Father:...

We’re nearing the end of the podcast run and, on the resurrection side of the cross, we talk about God’s ultimate goal for us: living as resurrected beings who are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. We reflect on what our own goals usually are, then look at key passages (1 Corinthians 15:49; 1 John 3:1–3; 2 Corinthians 3:16–18; Ephesians 4:11–13) showing both a future “we will be like him” an...

In this post-Easter-season episode of In Light of the Cross, we continue reflecting on Jesus’ resurrection and what it means for those in Christ, focusing on 1 Corinthians 15:35–58 and Paul’s “seed to plant” imagery. We consider Paul’s point that the resurrection body won’t be identical to our current body: there is continuity, but also profound difference, like an acorn compared to an oak tree. W...

We’re back on the In Light of the Cross podcast after missing a couple episodes due to a brief hospital stay, and we’re shifting from the cross to what new life means because Jesus is risen. We reflect on 1 Corinthians 15:20–24 and the “firstfruits” image: Christ’s resurrection is the first part of a coming harvest, meaning those who belong to him will also be raised. We talk through how the whole...

As we head toward Good Friday and Easter, we keep reflecting on God as Father and how his love transforms how we see ourselves and others, then we dig into the gift and difficulty of forgiveness. We walk through four questions: whether we can forgive when someone doesn’t ask (we can release bitterness unilaterally even if full restoration requires repentance), how to forgive when we can’t forget (...

We continue our conversation about living in light of the cross by moving from accepting each other to forgiving each other. We contrast “Karma Town” (retribution and bitterness) with “Graceland” (a new way of life shaped by grace), noting that Jesus even teaches us to pray, “forgive us as we forgive.” We reflect on how emotional and relational struggles often come from not fully receiving God’s u...

In this episode of In Light of the Cross, we continue exploring how the cross reshapes relationships by focusing on loving others through acceptance, with forgiveness to follow in the next episode. We read Romans 14:1–12 and 15:1–7, where Paul addresses divisions in the church over secondary beliefs and calls believers to “welcome” one another as Christ has welcomed them. We discuss that acceptanc...

We’re beginning Holy Week by reflecting on Christ’s passion and what the cross teaches us about loving others. Using 1 John 3:16 and 1 John 4:7–12, we explore how love isn’t just acceptance, tolerance, or warm feelings, but self-giving sacrifice for someone’s ultimate good—even when they can’t or won’t reciprocate. We talk about how spiritual maturity is measured by love, and how differences, weak...

We continue our series by moving from merely understanding God’s fatherly love to receiving it in our hearts, asking the Spirit to make familiar truths fresh. Using the hymn “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us,” we talk about the New Testament reality that God has made us his treasure, and how this means accepting God’s evaluation of us rather than living from guilt, shame, pride, or low self-estee...

In episode 24 of In Light of the Cross, we pray and reflect on God’s fatherly love through 1 John 3:1–3, marveling that sinners are called—not just servants—but children of God. We talk about the “now and not yet” of our identity, using the caterpillar-to-butterfly picture to show both continuity and radical transformation in what we’ll become when Christ appears. We discuss how this future hope s...

In this Lent episode of In Light of the Cross, we continue reflecting on God as Father by focusing on the New Testament theme of adoption, using Romans 8. We talk about how being led by the Spirit means we’re God’s children—adopted into his family—so we can cry “Abba, Father,” and live as heirs with Christ even while we still suffer. Paul’s “now and not yet” frames adoption as both already true an...

In episode 22 of In Light of the Cross, we transition from how the cross interprets the Old Testament to talking about God, ourselves, and our relationships in light of the cross, and we preview five post-Easter episodes focused on our new life, resurrection, and future. We explore a key shift from the Old to the New Testament: in the New Testament we can call God “Father.” While God is referred t...

We wrap up our Old Testament series by looking at how everything comes into focus when we read it in light of Jesus and the cross, like a mystery where the ending makes sense of all the earlier clues. We review sin’s four dimensions from Adam and Eve—breaking God’s command, betraying trust, aligning with and becoming enslaved to the enemy, and forfeiting the good life with God—and how the cross un...

In this episode we finish our Old Testament overview by looking at the wisdom books—Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon (sometimes Psalms is included)—as personal guidance for living in light of God rather than part of Israel’s main narrative. In Proverbs we see wisdom as the “grain of the universe,” ultimately embodied in Jesus, and 1 Corinthians highlights the cross as God’s wisdom:...

In this episode of In Light of the Cross, we pause to invite the Spirit and explore the Psalms as a unique part of Scripture: poetry that is largely people’s words to God, yet inspired for our good and also God’s words to us. We reflect on how the Psalms point to Jesus in several key ways: through the theme of the unjust suffering of the righteous (including Psalm 22 language echoed by Jesus on th...

We follow the story after Judah’s exile, focusing on God’s faithfulness in the post-exilic period through Haggai, Ezra, and Nehemiah. After Babylon falls to Persia, Cyrus decrees in 538 BC that a remnant can return and rebuild the temple; opposition halts the work until Haggai calls them back, and the temple is finished in 516. Decades later, Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, returns to rebuild Jeru...

In this episode of In Light of the Cross, we reflect on the role of the prophets in the Bible’s scarlet thread and invite the Spirit to speak as we begin. We discuss what a prophet is (God’s mouthpiece, more forth-telling than fortune-telling), how prophets fit alongside priests and kings, and the difference between writing and non-writing prophets like Moses, Elijah, and Elisha. We also explore h...

In episode 16 of In Light of the Cross, we dig into David as a central Old Testament figure who powerfully points to Jesus. Using David and Goliath as our launching pad, we push back on the usual “be brave like David” take and instead read the story as salvation: Israel needs a substitute, and God wins through apparent weakness—foreshadowing Christ’s victory over sin and death at the cross, a vict...

We pick up in the dark era of the Judges, where Israel’s repeated failure and idolatry are met again and again by God’s grace through deliverers, and we zoom in on Ruth as a “scarlet thread” leading toward David and ultimately Jesus. We walk through how Naomi’s family fled famine to Moab, how Naomi lost her husband and sons, and how Ruth—an impoverished foreigner—chose loyal, sacrificial love by c...

In this episode of In Light of the Cross, we keep tracing how the cross and resurrection illuminate the Old Testament by focusing on Exodus’s tabernacle (and later the temple) as God’s “tent/house” among his people, showing his longstanding desire to dwell with them despite sin. We walk through how the sacrificial system and priesthood addressed the problem of God’s holiness alongside human sin, a...

We continue our Lent series, In Light of the Cross, using the image of overlapping transparencies to show how the Old Testament stories progressively reveal the coming Messiah: a savior like Noah, a faith-filled righteous one like Abraham, a king from Judah in Jacob’s blessing, and a prophet-mediator-deliverer like Moses. From Exodus 6, we highlight God’s promise to deliver, redeem, claim a people...

In episode 12 of In Light of The Cross, we move from Joseph at the end of Genesis into Exodus and Moses, reading the Old Testament through what Jesus accomplished at the cross. We note Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49 that a forever-king will come from Judah, then trace Israel’s 400 years of slavery in Egypt and God raising up Moses as a prophet, deliverer, and mediator who points to Christ but is n...

Through Suffering In this Lenten episode of In Light of the Cross, we continue tracing the biblical story to see how it points to Jesus, focusing today on Joseph as an imperfect type of Christ. We note how God flips the world’s expectations and we push back on readings that make the story about personal success or “following your dreams,” emphasizing instead that God is the hero: Joseph prospers b...

Episode 10 of “In The Light of The Cross” reviews Abraham’s promise and faith, emphasizing that righteousness is trusting God and that this theme continues through Israel and informs how believers respond to the cross. The episode focuses on Isaac’s miraculous birth as a potential “child of the promise,” his role as a type of Christ, and the Mount Moriah sacrifice story, highlighting substitution...

Day 9: Abraham and the Scarlet Thread In day nine of In Light of the Cross, we keep tracing the Old Testament’s “seemingly endless story” of human brokenness and God’s scarlet thread of grace, made clearest in Jesus’ death on the cross. After Babel, we meet Abram and wonder if he’s the one to crush the serpent, since God calls him to leave wealthy Ur and promises to make him a great nation and ble...