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Sharper Focus “The cross: mythological relic or molecular rebar”

June 25, 2012
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By Lawrence Shiroma, Major

Is the cross a mythological relic, an idea forged out of the Bronze Age, but now meaningless and obsolete in the 21st century? Did you know that Scripture agrees in part with this? 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (NASB).

“What is life?” What would be your one-word response to that question? I asked it in a recent chapel service, and one participant said, “Life is…everything.” In a sense this is true; life is everything. The world, the universe, all that is in, around and through us, comprises life.

But what saith the Lord, Paul asked in Philippians 1:21. For what is life? For me it is Christ (GNB). John 1:3-4 also tells us that All things were created by him, without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Life is…Christ!

If so, shouldn’t there be some hard evidence of his existence embedded within the building blocks of life itself? If the cross is not a mythological relic, is it a molecular rebar, something that gives support and structure to all that we see in life? If so, how is this possible?

Two years ago, while I was serving on the staff at Crestmont College for Officer Training, a cadet led me to the answer. My men’s discipleship group included then Cadets Dan Whipple, Joel Boyd, Mark Cyr, Se-Weon Han, and Carlos Armendariz. It was Dan’s turn to lead the discipleship group.The last time we met in his home we played fun, competitive team games on his massive flat-screen television. But this time Whipple pulled out a dynamic, mind boggling video clip of Louie Giglio, pastor and founder of the Passion Movement, that explained how each of us is held together by molecular rebars, called laminins.

What are laminins? They are a family of super glue-type adhesion protein molecules that holds things together in our bodies, without which we would be literally at loose ends. But it is the shape of the laminin molecule, the molecular rebar, that is startling. If you google “Louie Giglio Laminin” you can see it for yourself.

Scripture confirms Christ is life, and there is no life apart from him. It also tells us that like laminin, Jesus is the glue that keeps us from falling apart. Colossians 1:17 reads, He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. In these times of turmoil, anxiety, and uncertainty, rather than trying to make a go of things on your own, and often times falling apart in the process, endeavor to live life at the foot of the cross. May you claim this promise as your own from Psalm 91:1: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (AKJV).

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