TRANSFORM

Reflecting On "THE GREATEST VICTORY OF ALL TIME"©

GIFT believes the transforming power of both Christ's death and His resurrection should be reflected upon daily. We want people to fully appreciate -- and excitedly share -- The Greatest Victory Of All Time.©

We want to encourage people to share the same fervent faith as the Apostle Paul who stated,

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.Phil 3:10-11

Focusing on Christ's sacrifice and victory will enable us to put our life in perspective…to live with a view toward eternity...to live with greater joy, knowing that regardless of our circumstances, we have an incredible hope...to love more sacrificially… and to share our hope and joy with others.

To help achieve this, GIFT is creating combined, Crucifix-and-Tomb graphic imagery that will succinctly convey the sacrifice, love, hope and joy of the complete Easter story.

Our first image will be aimed at Children. This combined crucifix and tomb image will render:

1.) Christ’s willing submission to the cross - and His shedding of His blood -- to redeem us from our sin.

2.) The empty tomb illustrating Christ's victory over death and the incredible hope we have.

One interesting note about this image: you may notice that in the stone rolled back from the tomb, there's a silhouette of Christ's face with the crown of thorns.

HELPING THE CHURCH TRANSFORM LIVES THROUGH A MORE UNIFIED MESSAGE

GIFT also believes it would be helpful to develop a unified image the Church could use to encourage more people to appreciate Christ's awesome love.

Why do we feel a unified image may be helpful?

Because the secular world consistently bombards us with powerful, repetitive messages, while the Church sometimes delivers competing messages to the same marketplace.

Depending on the denomination, Christ's sacrificial, atoning death is rendered by both a cross and a crucifix.

We believe this divided message can create confusion, build conflict, and weaken Christianity's impact. A commercial brand would never allow its "identity system" to be rendered in multiple images or logos.

We've heard people rationalize the two disparate messages. However, we believe there is greater logic in having a unified message:

One argument for removing Christ from the cross is that Christ was victorious over the cross. But Christ was victorious over death, not the cross.

Another argument is that we shouldn't worship idols or images -- as if illustrating Christ's body on the cross were akin to establishing a graven image. But, Christ himself said, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life." ^{Jn 3:14, 15}

Importantly, Moses did not instruct people to look at the pole upon which the snake was affixed, but rather to look at the snake.

Moreover, the essential hope we have in Christ's resurrection is missing in both the cross and crucifix imagery.

By combining both Christ's sacrificial shedding of His blood for the remission of our sins and His victory over death all under one image, GIFT hopes to build new excitement in conveying God's love to this hurting and distracted world.

GIFT will be creating new images and working to continually refine these images to assure the utmost reverence and highest quality in representing both the Church and Christ's atoning love.

EXCITEDLY RENDERING GOD'S WORD

GIFT seeks to transform hearts to be more like Christ. We're elevating scripture in a fresh way. You are invited to visit our gallery of scripture presentations.