The cross! Those two words sum up the greatest event the world has ever known. Whether you are a Christian believer or not, the cross has an impact on the very substance of life. It is hard to red the account of Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross without being deeply moved. The majesty of the King of ings and the dignified suffering of Jesus often stirs many people to ask deep questions about the cross such as:
What was God the Father actually doing while God the Son hung on the cross? And then, why did Jesus have to die?
The first answer to this question may seem a little trivial. God was there! Even though Jesus cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” does not mean that God abandoned Jesus. In reality, God was right there at the crucifixion working out the salvation of the world.
God’s presence at Calvary tells us that God knows what it is like to suffer. God shares in the darkest moments of his children. So we are not dealing with a distant God who knows nothing of humanity’s frail and mortal bodies. And because he knows, as the Epistle of Hebrews says in 4:16, we can “approach the throne of grace with confidence.”
The cross tells us that God has been through the dark side of life through pain and suffering—and ours too.
The second response to these deep questions is that on the cross God was telling us how much he loves us. The Son of God willingly dies for people like you and me. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8.)
The third answer to what God was doing on the cross is that God was breaking the stranglehold of sin in our lives and liberating us from the fear of death. Grace and Mercy abound. By the suffering and death of obedient Son of God we are delivered from the penalty of sin, and thus the cross breaks the power of sin and death. This, in turn, frees us from the fear of the great deceiver, Satan. We can spit in Satan’s eye and draw our strength from Jesus.
Through the cross, God offers us something incredibly precious – His Son. So the question you ask yourself then becomes, “What did God do on the cross for me?” Has the blessing and the love of God affected your life?
April is a month of endings and beginnings. Lent draws us to a close with the cross. Easter begins with the resurrection. And new life.
But May celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and the birth of the church. Pentecost is also the fulfillment of the promise of God to send us the Son (salvation on the cross) and the Spirit (strength and confidence). Thus we have joy in our lives and in our worship.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.