The Cross, Suffering, & the Full Measure of Christ

Many in the remnant are now being prepared as the bride and for the difficult time coming as what was promised in the book of Revelation. Those who are currently going through this season of being made ready by the sufferings of the cross are those who have told the Lord they would follow Him as disciples. These are the ones who have said yes to the cross and yes to following the Lamb of God wherever He would go.

Many in the modern church believe that following Jesus means they follow Him into a position of power and authority—a position of miracles and ruling in this current life. They believe just as the initial disciples and apostles believed: Jesus was going to take an earthly seat of authority and reign in power. However, Jesus did not do that because it was not yet the Father’s timing. Jesus went to the cross.

The Lord is in the process of finishing the work in His end-time church by preparing the bride. The bride is made clean and pure through the cross of Christ. Carrying our crosses means that we embrace the difficult inward work and the sufferings of this life that the Father is allowing to happen to us. We live in a time when many believers are rejecting the cross so they can have their own self-life.

Some are rejecting the cross for so-called power and influence in the church. Some reject the suffering that surrounds the cross for endless prophecies that make the soul feel good but never come to pass. Others forsake the cross for wealth or comfort. They think more about a prophesied wealth transfer than knowing the Lord. Knowing and walking with Jesus is eternal gold that we can never lose.

Demas rejected the cross for love of this current world.

“For Demas deserted me, since he loved the present age, and he went to Thessalonica. Crescens went to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia.” 2 Timothy 4:10 NET

Demas chose not to embrace the sufferings of the cross because he wanted the temporary comforts of this current age more. Many believers are at this crossroads right now with an important decision to make—lay down the cross and live comfortably now, or embrace the cross and suffer. Our souls will never make the right decision, so we must be moved by the Holy Spirit (in our own spirit) to say yes to the Lord.

“By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26 NET

Embracing the Crucifixion

There comes a time when the sufferings of the cross make way to the complete crucifixion of our self-life. If we can embrace and endure this final work of the cross, Christ will live through us in a greater and more complete way.

There are many believers in Jesus who do not understand this and will actively try to stop themselves or others from going to the cross.

“From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.” Matthew 16:21-23 NET

Certain believers and leaders are and will reject the cross just as Peter tried to do. When Peter said “God forbid,” he meant—“By no means!”, “Certainly not!”, or “May it never be!” These believers see the suffering and immediately reject it or take a theological position against it. They want power and glory without death and resurrection. They “name and claim” scriptures that state we have died with Christ without actually experiencing that death. They take the scriptures written by Paul while disregarding the words of Christ:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25 NET

The self-life in each of us will reject the suffering of the cross. Our self-life will respond the same as Peter responded to Jesus when told about the cross. Once in the season of being crucified with Christ, our self-life will certainly want to escape. The temptation will come from the voice in our own souls, just as Peter was tempting Jesus.

Peter’s will was for Jesus to take over Israel right then and reign as the Messiah in an earthly nation. That was not the will of God. When Jesus told them that he would be killed, Peter’s self-life rejected the will of God for its own will. Self-life hates the suffering of the cross and will actively try to get us to escape the cross. Every chance it gets, it will tell us to leave the suffering of the cross. Our self-life, which came from the Fall of Adam, wants to remain strong and in control. Satan partners with our self-life to ensure that we remain bound by self.

Peter wanted Jesus to reign and take control of the kingdom, which would actually seem like a good and godly thing to want. There are many teachers, preachers, and prophets in the church today who are saying some very seemingly godly and spiritual things. The self-life can manufacture spiritual things that seem to be God’s will and sound very good to us. However, those “good” things can actually be stumbling blocks for us and contrary to the will of God when they are from our self-life.

The “good” intention from Peter was actually a stumbling block for Jesus. If we yield to the temptation of stumbling blocks, it will cause us to fall away from God’s purpose and will. Peter was allowing the enemy to bring a temptation to Jesus because Jesus, as a man, certainly did not want to suffer horribly on a cross.

If the Father’s will was for Jesus to suffer, and Jesus has said that we cannot be His disciples unless we pick up our crosses and follow after Him, then it is certain that there are levels of suffering predestined for each one of us. Man’s interests are going to reject the suffering of the cross every time.

“And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) – if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8:17 NET

Many teachers and prophets in the modern church are teaching and prophesying from man’s interests and not according to the will of God. These ministers develop their theology around what sounds good to the self-life while removing the suffering of the cross. But the scriptures say that we must suffer with Christ if we are going to be glorified with Him and if we are going to reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12).

The self-life always wants power, revival, and reigning without the suffering of the cross. The Father wants us to follow Christ into seasons of suffering when it does not benefit us externally (or in the natural). The Father sees that when we embrace those seasons of suffering, Christ increases in us. The Son of Man, who is the perfect man, living in us and coming forth through us is the Father’s will.

The enemy will bring temptation to us just as he tried to work through Peter to prevent Christ from going to the cross. The temptation will be for us to leave the pain and discomfort of the cross for relief. Our self-life will constantly be giving us different ways in which we can escape the suffering of the cross. It is resistant to God’s will and Christ coming forth in us. Our self-life does not want to decrease, and if Christ is increasing, then it means that it is decreasing.

The Good News

If we embrace the current season of the cross, it will bring us into the next season of the glory of God. The glory of God will be seen upon us because of the measure of His Son in us. The life of Christ will be coming forth from us, and we will be ministers of life. When we see the Lord inwardly with an unveiled face, we are changed into His image. When we see Him as He is, we will become like Him. When that which is perfect comes within us, the partial will be done away with, and we will operate in fullness.

We have been predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son (Romans 8:29).

“For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God.” Romans 8:19 NET

When the cross has done its work on our self-life and the Son is living through us, then we have transitioned into mature sons of God. All of creation is awaiting the Lord’s will to be done and for His plan to be accomplished. Creation is waiting for the perfect man to come forth in the remnant. The revealing of the sons of God is coming. The scriptures show the Father’s will of us attaining to the unity of the faith and the perfect man (Ephesians 4:13).

The Father will see His Son at full measure in a remnant. The new creation will move from head knowledge to manifested reality. Once the Father’s will is accomplished and finished, the end of this age will come. Christ will return and rule and reign upon the earth. Those who have embraced the cross and followed Jesus will rule and reign with Christ (Revelation 2).

It’s at that time when many ministers who lived for themselves and for the sake of their ministries—those who rejected the cross—will weep when they see that they are not considered among the overcomers who will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years. Believers who refused the cross of suffering to bask in the prophetic fluff of the self-life false prophecies will weep when they realize they are not a part of the overcoming remnant who will rule and reign. We all have time to make the right choice now.

“Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Luke 9:23-24 NET

“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” Hebrews 13:14 NET

-Ty Unruh (8/15/26)