A wooden cross is made by nailing or tying two pieces of uneven-length wood together as seen in this picture. Even a child could put one together. In years past, in some parts of the world, (Rome, for example) hanging a person on a cross, also called crucifixion, punishes a criminal. As expected, many criminals died that way, but only one of the crucified was not a criminal. In fact, He was sinless.
A cross is a cross, but this one
fact (the crucified person was not a criminal) made one particular cross
significantly different from all the others. You see, the man on that cross was
not a man at all; He was God, and He died willingly, out of love.
When God Almighty, Creator of
the universe, with the power to call on legions of angels to fight on His behalf, hangs defenseless on a tree, everybody needs to stop and pay attention!
That act speaks volumes: it speaks of man’s ignorance and wickedness, as well
as God’s love and longing to forgive, redeem, and replace a broken
relationship with an ongoing Father-child relationship now and into
eternity.
The cross! There was a reason
for it! Right from the beginning, God knew He would be dying a cruel death to
restore the fellowship with mankind that would be broken by sin.
If nothing you’ve
read so far makes sense to you, be patient; I’ll explain further. The only
sinless Person who died such a horrible death was God in the person of His
Son, Jesus Christ. Why did He die if He was sinless? He died to pay the penalty
for man’s sin. Without this act, there could be no forgiveness of sin (see
Hebrews 9:22). He did this because that was the only acceptable payment for the
sins of man. That one act is all that is required on behalf of each person to
cover their past, present, and future failings (see Hebrews 9:28). Without it,
there’ll be no restoration of the relationship between man and God.
So, how did we fall out of
fellowship with God? Adam and Eve (our original parents) sinned against God in
the Garden of Eden through disobedience, and being their offspring, we
inherited their sin-nature. So now we sin because we were born with a sinful
nature. We’re sinners not because we sin; rather, we sin because we’re sinners
(see Romans 5:12). Sin has put a separation between us and God (Adam and Eve
were thrown out of God’s presence). The only way to restore our relationship
with God is for the sin to be paid for, and God did that through that cruel
death of His Son Jesus on the cross.
The cross! Although it represented
such pain and agony, it demonstrated love and brought forgiveness and life! The
cross!
How then should we respond to a
sacrifice this costly? In one word, REPENT! Repentance is agreeing with God
that we’re sinners (see Romans 5:20), and deciding to turn our back on sin and
place our faith in Jesus. When we take that step, God forgives us, because He’s
promised He would if we confess and forsake our sins (see 1 John 1:9). If we
choose to not repent, we’ll face God’s judgment in the future, and the verdict
will be condemned to hell. Just so we understand that: “Each person is
destined to die once and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). If you
haven’t already placed your faith in Jesus, what are you waiting for? Tomorrow
is not promised to anyone; death could knock on your door any day, any time,
and it might be too late for you to experience God’s grace and forgiveness in a
personal way. You might have an elaborate funeral when you die, but that won’t
change your standing with God. Please do this today; it is that urgent!
God’s response to your placing
your faith in Jesus will be removing your sins as far from you as the east is
from the west (see Psalm 103:12). He’ll never again remember your sins (see
Hebrews 8:12, 10:17). He’ll guide and teach you through His Word, the Bible,
and also through your living
in fellowship with other Christians. He’ll always be available to you through
prayer. God is waiting for your response to His call; answer today!
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