{"id":3555,"date":"2025-09-09T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/?p=3555"},"modified":"2025-09-03T11:15:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T15:15:49","slug":"because-the-man-on-the-middle-cross-said-i-could-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/because-the-man-on-the-middle-cross-said-i-could-come\/","title":{"rendered":"He Said \u2018Come\u2019\u2014So He Did, and Everything Changed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3568\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Criminal-of-the-Cross-Graham-scaled.png?resize=525%2C313&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The man in the middle\" width=\"525\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Criminal-of-the-Cross-Graham-scaled.png?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Criminal-of-the-Cross-Graham-scaled.png?resize=300%2C179&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Criminal-of-the-Cross-Graham-scaled.png?resize=1024%2C610&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Criminal-of-the-Cross-Graham-scaled.png?resize=768%2C458&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Criminal-of-the-Cross-Graham-scaled.png?resize=1536%2C915&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Criminal-of-the-Cross-Graham-scaled.png?resize=2048%2C1220&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Criminal-of-the-Cross-Graham-scaled.png?resize=1320%2C786&amp;ssl=1 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/>Because the man on the middle cross said I could come, that is what the thief might have said when standing before God. He didn\u2019t mention Bible studies or mission trips. Acceptance wasn\u2019t guaranteed by theology or learning; it was guaranteed because one man said he could come. That man was the representation of our living God. He was part of the Trinity, and He died so that we may live.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Romans 11:33-34, Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has become His counselor?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We complicate salvation. It becomes a mystical and complex mix of rules and actions. We shape it into something we should do or say, fitting what Christ did on the cross into a set of beliefs and standards that reflect our understanding of human behavior. Christians cannot escape cause and effect. Everything has a cost we must pay, even when we know it&#8217;s not nearly enough.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Greatest Generation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">My dad taught me early on that anything worth having is worth working for. He believed that the value we assign to what we own is directly related to the sacrifice it takes to get it. He was part of the \u201cGreatest Generation\u201d that gave everything for our freedom during World War II. They knowingly and intentionally stormed the beaches of Normandy. Forty-four thousand twenty-seven soldiers died that day taking that beach. Sacrifice was a core part of who he was.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Isaiah 55:8-9, \u201cFor My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,\u201d declares the Lord. \u201cFor as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We attach a human cost to every action and reaction. Humans are not capable of thinking outside of their experiences. Even our fantasies are grounded in experience. \u00a0Our imagination is a composite of various sights and sounds from our past. How can we be expected to understand true grace as demonstrated on the cross?<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The Thief<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Luke 23:41, \u201cWe are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The thief didn\u2019t have time to consider theology. His sin overwhelmed him and led him to hang beside Jesus. Nailed to a cross, he was unable to do good deeds or show kindness. It was too late to read or debate God\u2019s word. All the efforts we made to secure our place among the believers who have gone before us were beyond his reach. He stored no crowns or jewels up in heaven waiting for him. Yet, Christ saved him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Ephesians 2:8-9: \u201cFor it is by grace\u00a0you have been saved,\u00a0through faith\u2014and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014\u00a0not by works,\u00a0so that no one can boast.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We struggle to understand that we are saved by grace so that no one can boast. We avoid this truth by claiming that our good works are a sign of God&#8217;s grace. Unlike the thief, we use our time and opportunities to show ourselves and others that we are saved.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Entrance Into Heaven<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Luke 23:43, \u201cJesus answered him, \u2018Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.&#8217;\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The thief was lucky that it was God and not us who admitted him into heaven. For God, it was enough that Christ invited the thief and the thief accepted the gift of that invitation. We would have wondered how he got there. He didn\u2019t have the pedigree; no church membership, no experience of giving to the poor, no sacrifice of tithing, not even a single attendance to Bible study. How could he possibly qualify? Everything has a price, even if that price is beyond our ability to repay.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cGod proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, &#8220;I love you.&#8221; &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/billygrahamlibrary.org\/why-easter-matters-10-quotes-from-billy-graham\/\">Billy Graham<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Christ paid that price in full. Nothing we can do will ever take away that gift willingly given by Christ. Don\u2019t focus on performance. Like the thief, be always thankful that the King of Kings invited you. Stay humble in His presence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Micah 6:8, \u201cHe has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Because the man on the middle cross said I could come, that is what the thief might have said when standing before God. He didn\u2019t mention Bible studies or mission trips. Acceptance wasn\u2019t guaranteed by theology or learning; it was guaranteed because one man said he could come. That man was the representation of our &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tomme-stevenson.com\/website\/because-the-man-on-the-middle-cross-said-i-could-come\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;He Said \u2018Come\u2019\u2014So He Did, and Everything Changed&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[12,102,61,116,36,34,27,19,470,65,469],"class_list":["post-3555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motivation","category-purpose","tag-christian","tag-christian-blog","tag-christian-purpose","tag-christian-value","tag-faith","tag-grace","tag-hope","tag-love","tag-sacrifice","tag-salvation","tag-thief"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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