Click here if you haven’t read part one.
Click here if you haven’t read part two.
“men and women who were of that Way.” (Acts 9:2)
“These ran after Paul and us, shouting loudly: These men are servants of the most high God, who are announcing to you the Way of salvation.” (Acts 16:17)
“And when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him to themselves and explained to him more precisely the Way of God.” (Acts 18:26)
Following the Way
Jesus willingly allowed himself to be crucified as an act of unconditional, self-sacrificial Love for his fellow human beings. From a human perspective, it may have been one of the most senseless acts of violence ever. Yet God has turned this senseless violence into the most powerful revelation of the Way that can bring us, here and now, into the full reality of the Kingdom of God.
We are called to walk that Way ourselves — following Jesus and carried by Christ in us. By focusing on what Jesus supposedly accomplished for us on the cross, many Christians have lost sight of the Way they themselves are meant to follow. It is not about believing in the person of Jesus, but about trusting in and following Jesus by walking the Way he revealed.
That is why it is essential that we understand the message of the Way and become followers of the Way ourselves. Following this Way begins with the renewal of the mind. This is not a change that happens through a sinner’s prayer or through belief in certain doctrines. The cross is meant to initiate an inner process, rather than simply leading us to believe in certain salvific facts that were supposedly accomplished for us. It is a process of falling and rising, of perseverance — a path that encompasses your entire life, 24/7.
The message of the Way
In this final part, we once again look at the three views of the cross discussed in part two. We show where they fall short and how they can obscure the true message of the cross, thereby hindering the following of the Way.
Penal substitution
God is eternal Love. Love keeps no record of wrongs, covers all things, and endures all things. These characteristics of God’s nature make penal substitution unnecessary. It is not God who needed to change His mind about us — we need to change our minds about God. God has always been unconditional Love.
That is why Jesus cried out on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” The cross reveals that God forgives because we, due to our darkened thinking, do not know what we are doing. God does not forgive because of the cross, but in spite of the cross.
The Way to living in the full reality of the Kingdom begins with stopping the eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It means learning to stand in this world without judgment, by seeing people from God’s perspective. A perpetrator also acts from bondage to meaningless and darkened thinking and is alienated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:17). This requires a radical mindshift, in which you consider the old, ego-controlled way of life dead. Only then can Christ be revealed in you and bring about the metamorphosis from glory to glory. Focusing on individual sins — supposedly forgiven by Jesus — blinds us to the universal scope of God’s grace.
Christus Victor
Although evil — arising from the collective darkened consciousness of humanity — may appear overwhelming, it is not an independent power that needed to be defeated. There has never been a moment when evil was stronger than God.
What Jesus reveals on the cross is that you do not repay evil with evil. The tendency toward evil must be overcome within yourself. Jesus demonstrated how this is possible as a human being of flesh and blood.
The Way to living in the Kingdom requires letting go of your human sense of justice and your desire for retaliation.
It means learning to stand nonviolently in this world and viewing everything from God’s perspective. Evil continually gives rise to more evil — this cycle must be broken. That is the Way Jesus revealed. This too requires a radical mind shift, in which the ego is released. Only then can Christ rise in you and bring about inner transformation. 184
When evil is placed exclusively outside ourselves and victory is seen solely as something that Jesus has already achieved for us, a passive attitude can arise. As if you only need to wait until everything is ultimately made right.
Radical grace
From God’s perspective, creation has never been lost. No one needs to be “saved” in an objective sense. God established the fundamental reality of unity from the beginning — the cross adds nothing to that ontological reality.
From a human perspective, however, there is a process of reconciliation taking place. The cross is directed toward that inner process. When Jesus cries out, “It is finished!”, He is referring to Psalm 22:31. In the midst of deep darkness, he declares: it is complete.
The cross reveals that the Kingdom of God has always been a reality — even in the midst of darkness.
The Way to living in the Kingdom requires learning to see God’s glory here and now, right through the visible reality.
The righteousness of the Kingdom is the perfect wholeness of everything. The Kingdom is not a future reality. Proclamation means speaking out what you already perceive in the Spirit: that there is no separation — neither between God and humanity, nor within creation, nor among people.
The whole earth is already filled with God’s glory. Everything and everyone is holy, saturated with God’s Love and Spirit. You are invited to see Christ in everything and in everyone.
This again requires a radical mind shift: letting go of the ego so that Christ can rise in you. The idea that Jesus has already done everything for everyone can actually lead to passivity: waiting instead of living from this reality.
Metanoia → Mind shift → Metamorphosis
Jesus’ mission was to teach you to think, believe, and live from the still largely veiled reality of the Kingdom of God. By focusing on the unseen—on what is “above” in “heaven” — rather than on what is visible on “earth” (2 Corinthians 4:18; Colossians 3:2), you walk this Way.
This Way leads us already here and now into the rest and Life of the Kingdom and is aimed at the complete redemption of man and creation.
“Working out your salvation” (Philippians 2:12) is not something Jesus did for you — he showed you how to do it. You are invited to consciously participate in this process through metanoia, a renewal of thinking that leads to a radical mindshift. Through this, Christ can rise in and through you—and ultimately through all creation.
Creation longs for the revealing of the Sons of God (Romans 8:21). Your body is destined for glorification, as part of the cosmic transfiguration for which all creation longs. Creation will follow. This is the Way Jesus revealed. If you follow Him in this, Christ will rise in you.
Who then can be saved?
Following this Way is not easy. It is like running a race, giving everything you have. Faith without works is dead. These “works” are not about outward performance, but about inner work. From that inner transformation, your outer life also naturally takes on a different form.
Those who follow this inward Way will discover that it is Christ in them who produces both the will and the action (Philippians 2:13).
Jesus said: “The gate is narrow and the Way is difficult that leads to life, and few find it” (Matthew 7:14).
This may sound intimidating, but it need not be. When the firstfruits become visible, what is destined for the entire creation is revealed in them. Their manifestation constitutes the harbinger of the cosmic rebirth in which darkness will ultimately completely depart.
“But in those days there arose a not inconsiderable commotion about the Way.” (Acts 19:23)
“But this I acknowledge before you: that according to that Way which they call a sect, in that Way I serve the God of the fathers.” (Acts 24:14)
Reflection questions
- To what extent are you truly following the Way Jesus revealed, rather than only believing in it?
- Where do you notice your ego still influencing how you see or treat others?
- Are you willing to stand in this world without judgment and without retaliation? What does that require of you?
- Where are you inviting yourself to see God’s glory, right through the visible reality?
- What does it practically mean for you to lay down your “old self” daily and follow this Way?
Do you want to be part of the firstfruits? Then take up your cross, lay down your old self daily, and follow this Way. Run the race.
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