The Victim Is the Victor! « No Other Rock

The Victim Is the Victor!

March 24, 2007 at 8:00 am | In Awake My Heart, Christ, Christian |

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. ~ John 12:32

Mat's Tattoo As I read today’s devotion, I thought about tattoos.

Yes, tattoos.

One of my lifelong friends (Mat at From The Morning) got a tattoo a while back, and he has blogged about it. I suspect that he is often agitated at the number of people who come to his blog via search engines by typing something like “Is it okay for a Christian to get a tattoo?” because he finds it to be a very silly fragment of the much bigger scope of Christian living.

But I thought about his tattoo in particular. I am posting a picture of it here. You may have to look at it for a moment, but when you read this passage as presented by Baxter and then examine the tattoo, you’ll understand why I am thinking of it just now:

That Cross gives Christ a higher glory than even the throne of heaven, apart from it, could ever give Him! Little did His murderers suspect it, but in crucifying Him, they were glorifying Him. He was being “lifted up” indeed, but not merely in the way which they intended! His crucifixion was a coronation! He was there crowned as the King of Love. To the perceiving eyes of His redeemed people, the thorn on His brow become eternal diadems, and His wounds the divinest gems in the universe.

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will shine victorious for Christ even when we become victims.

Tags: Christian Tattoos Rise Up

6 Comments »

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Just now saw this.

Comment by MTR — March 24, 2007 #
curious about the tie-in. Something about glorifying Christ… Something about the image, presenting the time of his pain and crucifixion? Not sure. The verse, John 15:13 certainly relates.

Comment by FTM — March 26, 2007 #
First off, it was the devotion that reminded me more than the Bible passage. Specifically, what connected it all reads “His crucifixion was a coronation! He was there crowned as the King of Love. To the perceiving eyes of His redeemed people, the thorn on His brow become eternal diadems, and His wounds the divinest gems in the universe.”

But then, when I look at it in a broader context - how many people have seen your tatoo and asked about it? Have you used it as an opportunity to tell people about Jesus? That’s where the passage comes in: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, WILL DRAW all men unto Me.”

Perhaps your body art has become an instrument of the Lord?

Comment by chadgramling — March 26, 2007 #
It has, definitely. See the post I just left about how it became an instrument of the Lord for inreach even more than outreach!

Comment by FTM — March 26, 2007 #
[...] about God’s brand? Do you bear God’s brand? Are we talking about outwardly examples, like tattoos? Or do we mean a branding of our hearts in which our actions in becoming Christ-like are the true [...]

Pingback by Living in the Spirit « No Other Rock — June 4, 2007 #
tHIS IS SO AWESOME,WHERE DID YOU FIND IT

Comment by bIANCA TORRES — August 28, 2007 #