Good News!

I am as intrigued by this flower as, apparently, insects are attracted to it. It looks so frilly and fragile, and yet I find it in the most unkempt and uninviting locations, like ditches and briar patches. This is the passion flower, or one species anyway, of the genus Passiflora. Passion flowers are native to tropical rain forests but are now found widely in the southern United States, also. You may hear the plant referred to as a maypop or wild apricot because of the fruit it produces, which is edible in some species. (I don’t advise picking and eating any maypops you may find, though, unless you know a trusted expert who says it’s okay.) Like many plants, passion flowers have medicinal uses and are said to have a sort of tranquilizing effect. Parts of the flowers, leaves, and stems can be dried and crushed and used in teas or capsules to treat nervousness or insomnia. (Again, I’m not advocating that you go out and make your own tea.) I think the passion flower is beautiful and interesting, so I was naturally curious about how it got its name.

All of the sources I read indicated that the passion flower got its name from missionaries to South America in the 16th century. These missionaries saw the flower as a good omen and assigned meaning to the different flower parts to symbolize events in the last hours of Christ’s life, the Passion of Christ. The five sepals and five petals, which look very similar, represent 10 of the 12 apostles. Peter is excluded because he denied Christ, and Judas is excluded because he betrayed Christ. The ring of colored filaments, or corona, signify the crown of thorns placed on Christ’s head. Extending from the middle of the flower, the five stamens, or male pollen-producing parts, represent Christ’s wounds, and the three styles at the top of the flower’s ovary represent the three nails used to hang Christ on the cross. The tendrils of the passion flower vine are said to resemble the whips used to scourge Christ. The goal of my blog is to glorify God and praise Him for His creation, so I love that this fascinating flower will now remind me of the gift of God’s son and the blood that saves us!

Christ died for us! He rose from the dead! That is good news, the gospel! We can read a great definition of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Paul wrote, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” Verse 14 adds, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” Paul also said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Acts 4:12, speaking of Christ, says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Christ died, was buried, and rose again, so that we may be saved! That’s the good news, which we should share and of which we should not be ashamed. And now notice how the act of baptism mirrors Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection in Romans 6:3-6. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” Colossians 2:12 says, “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Because Christ shed his blood for us, we can crucify our old selves by being buried in baptism and rising to live new lives.

Maybe you don’t need a reminder of what Christ did for us by his death on the cross, but I think it’s a wonderful thing if we can be reminded of the power of God and Christ through all of our surroundings – even a flower in a ditch or briar patch. As I studied scriptures for this post, I could not help but think of the song In Christ Alone, written by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty (In Christ Alone lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group). Singing it during a worship service or just reading the lyrics always brings tears to my eyes. I’ve heard it sung by lots of artists, but my favorite rendition is by Christina Grimmie on her YouTube channel. (And I love the version of it that my niece and her choral group from Harding Academy sing.) Click here if you’d like to listen to Christina perform the song, and I dare you not to cry! (Sadly, Christina was shot and killed about 3 years ago, a couple of years after being a finalist on NBC’s “The Voice.”) I’m posting a copy of the song’s lyrics below, along with some of the scriptures that maybe gave rise to the lyrics. (These are just scriptures that I chose to include. I don’t really know what the writers had in mind as they penned the lyrics.) To me, the song includes the gospel, the glorious and great news! I hope you enjoy the lyrics, and I hope you think of the good news if you ever come across a passion flower. (I apologize for how the format below may appear on a mobile device. The song lyrics and the scriptures are supposed to be in columns right next to each other, but they may not appear that way on a phone or tablet. Hopefully, that will not diminish for you the power of the lyrics!)

IN CHRIST ALONE

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease

My Comforter, my All in All

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory

Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me

From life’s first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand

Till He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:11 “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:6)

Philip. 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Psalm 46:10 “Cease striving and know that I am God.” 2 Corinthians 1:5 “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Luke 2:12 “…..you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 17:25 “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.” 1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Galatians 2:20 “…….And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Matt. 27:59-60 “And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb…..” Mark 16:6 “….Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here….” Romans 6:9,14 “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.” “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses….” 1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?“

Romans 8:35,38-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 1 Thess. 5:10 “who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”

Thank you for reading! My favorite lines from the song, and the ones that always bring the tears, are “sin’s curse has lost its grip on me” and “no power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from his hand.” If you would like to learn any more about passion flowers, you can check out the links to the sources that I referenced.

IN CHRIST ALONE

SOURCES

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