I read somewhere recently (can’t remember exactly where) a comment from Ps Tim Conway of Grace Community Church in San Antonio, Texas, where he asked his congregation the question: “Do you know what the Cross means?” Ps Tim then went on to say, “The Cross means you are bad enough to go to hell and you needed something supplied outside of your own efforts to make a way to heaven; and that is offensive to self-righteous people and to their pride. Because it says: Man, you are NOT good. You are so bad and sinful that God had to slaughter His own Son as a sacrifice in order to make a way for you to be saved from your sin that is so filthy.”
Doesn’t pull any punches does he? This is what the cross of Christ means. It is sobering! The Cross stands as a symbol in the middle of human history to make the indisputable statement that without it all humankind would live under the power of sin and eventually perish under the wrath of God coming against it. The Cross states that none of us has any power over the sin into which we are born, and that without it we are doomed to destruction. No one is free of sin – not ever – without Christ’s atoning work on the Cross that first Easter.
Romans 3:23 (NIV) “… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, …”
Good works, being nice and giving to charity can never account for sin, or neutralise its effects and consequences. Being religious and moral – in our own subjective, and thus flawed assessment – is infinitely insufficient. Religion, being moral, obeying the law, these things have no atoning ability or effect whatsoever. None! There is no inherent power in the law of God, no inherent effect in morality, no intrinsic qualities in church-going that can ever surpass the power of the Cross of Christ to atone for sin and, therefore, break its power.
The power of sin is so far-reaching, so thoroughly corrupting, so evil, defiling and irreversible that anyone tainted with it in any way must die. There is no rehabilitation for anything or anyone affected by sin. Death is the only remedy! And so, once again this Easter we approach the Cross on which the Prince of Glory died …
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
The Cross of Christ breaks the power of sin. There is NO OTHER ANSWER or REMEDY for SIN – only the Cross. We have to realise and believe that God left heaven and He took upon Himself flesh, and He endured the wrath of His own holy judgement for sin, for us. In the days of His flesh in Gethsemane that night, Jesus prayed to the Father pleading that there could be another way. His request was denied, because there was no other way, and so, in obedience to God’s salvation plan, Jesus fulfilled His mission as the sinless (spotless) Lamb of God and His blood was shed in eternal atonement. There is no greater love than this … that the holy judgement and wrath of God coming against sin and all that it has corrupted, be turned on Himself …
Ephesians 2:3 (NIV)
‘All of us also lived among them (unregenerate people) at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”
Isaiah 53:12 (NIV)
“Therefore … He poured out Hs life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
The Cross is unchanging and emphatic in what it means. There are no shades of meaning, no compromises, no exceptions for sins … all must be held accountable, otherwise God is not holy. Oh, but He is! And that dear friends is what causes such offence to self-righteous people. The Cross thoroughly disagrees with any concept of self-righteousness which is born of self-sufficiency and pride – self-sufficiency is so manifestly inadequate for something as irreversible as sin’s power. The Cross is an offence to such as these …. but it is a beautiful thing to behold as ones redeemed from sin’s power. This Easter, gaze afresh upon the Cross of Christ and, at once, see its absolute horror, see the wrath of God coming against your sin, but see, too, the enormity of the Father’s mercy, compassion … and love for you.
The Cross states in the most horrific, bloody, gruesome way that sin is no joke. It is death. And one way or the other it will be paid for, either at the Cross, or at the judgement seat of Christ. We get to choose.
When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ, my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them through His blood.
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.
(Isaac Watts 1707)
Think on the Cross afresh, and give thanks to God for His mighty salvation.
Ps Milton