Skip to main content

The Cross of Jesus Christ

The death of Jesus on the cross means many things. It is the greatest demonstration of God’s love for his creation. “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). It would also be true to say that the death of Jesus on the cross proves to us the hatred God has against sin, since the alternative is everlasting torment in hell. On the other hand, it would also be true to say that the cross proves to us our great worth and value, since God allowed his Son to suffer and die in order to redeem us. All of these are true in part.

But the greatest or highest meaning of the cross is the holiness and justice of God (Romans 3:23–26). In an act of God’s grace and mercy, he allowed the sins of his children to go unpunished (3:25). But this would mean that he was not keeping his word to punish all who sin. Is God a liar?

The reputation of God was at stake until the cross. By sending his own son—both God and man—he became just (punishing sin as he promised he would) and the justifier (the one who allows sinners to go unpunished).

Jesus upheld the righteous and holy character of God and bore the punishment of sinners that the law of God required. The highest or greatest meaning of the cross is the righteousness and holiness of God.

With his name now upheld as righteous and holy, he is free to demonstrate his good character in pouring out his love to us in the same way that he cleared his name and redeemed all of mankind. The cross is first and foremost about God and we have reaped the benefits of his greatness!

Love in Christ,
Pastor Mitch

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Generation of Mark 13:30

At the beginning of Mark chapter thirteen Jesus is leaving the temple area and one of his disciples points out the grandure of the temple buildings. Jesus' remark to that disciple concerns the fact that these buildings will one day be torn down. The disciples question Him further as to the times of these events, and so begins an extended teaching from Jesus on the end times.As Jesus' remarks are drawing to a close, He makes this comment in Mark 13:30: "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." (NASB) So the reader is left to wonder the meaning of this statement. Either our understanding of generation is wrong, or we are understanding what Jesus meant by "these things" wrong. I think there are at least two solutions. The word for generation (genea: Greek) could mean, as some side column reference Bibles note, "the human race". This is possible, since the events have not all happened and the human race...
15 comments
Read more

Is That A Bible I See Before Me?

The Weakness of Islamic Evangelism Lately I have been struck by the testimony of those who have suffered at the hands of kidnappers in Iraq. One issue that comes to the front of my mind is Islamic evangelism. Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll spoke to ABC News of her captors holding her at gunpoint and forcing her to read the Koran, which she did. After several days they asked why she had not yet converted to their beliefs. Explaining that she needed more time she continued to read. Again the question came to her about conversion. Finally and saddest of all, she told them that she would convert because she feared for her life. But this leaves us with a strange view of the Koran and the way that Islam chooses to do their evangelism. If the Koran were powerful in and of itself, those who seek to convert Christians to Islamic beliefs would not need to use guns in the process. That is, you should automatically appeal to your most powerful source. The fact that they use guns s...
2 comments
Read more

A Hero Who Will Never Die Again

Tuesday began like every other day of the week and it turned out to be extremely productive. In fact I was almost to the point of being proud of myself for all that I had gotten accomplished in a single day. As I was packing up my things for the day to head home I decided to check the news headlines at CNN.com. About halfway down the page I saw the title “Bandit star Reed dead at 71.” To most people this would have hardly even given cause for a second glance, but to me it was something so much more. Jerry Reed was the co-star of my favorite movie of all time, “Smokey and The Bandit.” I do not argue that the movie is great movie, by all rights it is not. It is filled with foul language and makes a mockery of police officers, neither of which I approve of. But the movie holds a special place in my heart. When I was five years old my parents took me to see this movie while we were on vacation in Knoxville, TN. It was my first movie in an actual cinema. The images on the screen were captiv...
Post a Comment
Read more