The Power Of The Cross

THE CROSS! THE CROSS OF JESUS IS, BY FAR, THE MOST WELL KNOWN AND RECOGNIZED SYMBOL ALL AROUND THE WORLD. WHAT WAS, TO THE ROMANS, THE MOST HUMILIATING FORM OF TORTURE AND EXECUTION BECAME THE EMBODIMENT OF SACRIFICE AND SALVATION THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN.

THE CROSS! THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS UPON THE CROSS HAS REDEEMED HUMANITY FROM SIN AND DEATH. THE CROSS BECAME BOTH AN INSTRUMENT OF SUFFERING AND A SYMBOL OF GOD'S LOVE.

THE CROSS IS WHERE JESUS BORE OUR SINS IN HIS BODY AND BY HIS DEATH IT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO DIE TO SIN AND LIVE HOLY FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. THE CROSS IS THE GIFT OF ATONEMENT FOR SIN!

THE CROSS WHERE JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED, IN ADDITION TO HIS RESURRECTION, CAN NOW BE SEEN AS THE DEFINITIVE ACT OF GOD'S LOVE, PROVIDING A WAY FOR HUMANITY TO BE SAVED AND REUNITED WITH GOD. THE CROSS IS THE GIFT OF SALVATION.

THE CROSS IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE SYMBOL OF GOD'S IMMENSE LOVE AND SACRIFICE, A REMINDER OF HUMAN SIN, AND THE TRIUMPH OF GOOD OVER EVIL, LIFE OVER DEATH. THE CROSS IS NO LONGER AN INSTRUMENT OF TORTURE BUT WHAT REPRESENTS EVERYTHING OUR FAITH STANDS FOR.

WE CAN BE RECONCILED WITH GOD BECAUSE OF WHAT JESUS DID UPON THE CROSS. FORGIVENESS, REDEMPTION, ADOPTION AND ETERNAL LIFE BECAUSE OF JESUS AND THE CROSS.

THE CROSS HELPS US UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH GOD LOVES US IN SPITE OF OUR SINFULNESS. ROMANS 5:6, 8, “WHEN WE WERE UTTERLY HELPLESS, CHRIST CAME AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME AND DIED FOR US SINNERS…BUT GOD SHOWED HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US BY SENDING CHRIST TO DIE FOR US WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS.”

SALVATION WAS GOD’S PLAN ALL ALONG. HE DOES NOT WANT ANYONE TO DIE WITHOUT IT. 2 PETER 3:9, “THE LORD IS NOT SLOW IN KEEPING HIS PROMISE, AS SOME UNDERSTAND SLOWNESS. INSTEAD HE IS PATIENT WITH YOU, NOT WANTING ANYONE TO PERISH, BUT EVERYONE TO COME TO REPENTANCE.”

THE HORROR OF PERISHING IS THAT IT IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF SALVATION. TO PERISH DOES NOT MEAN TO CEASE TO EXIST; IT MEANS TO EXPERIENCE ETERNITY APART FROM GOD. IT IS UTTER FUTILITY AND LOSS OF ALL THAT MAKES EXISTENCE WORTHWHILE. THE WORD “PERISH” MEANS “ONCE FOR ALL.”

IF YOU DIE WITHOUT JESUS, YOU ARE BANISHED INTO THE OUTER DARKNESS AWAY FROM THE FATHER FOREVER. AS ABRAHAM EXPLAINED IT TO THE RICH MAN IN HELL IN LUKE 16:26, “…THERE IS A GREAT CHASM SEPARATING US. NO ONE CAN CROSS OVER TO YOU FROM HERE, AND NO ONE CAN CROSS OVER TO US FROM THERE.” HELL IS PERMANENT, IRREVERSABLE, AND THERE IS NO WAY TO ESCAPE.

2 THESSALONIANS 1:7-9, “… THE LORD JESUS …[WILL]…PUNISH THOSE WHO REJECT GOD AND WHO DO NOT OBEY THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT OUR LORD JESUS. THEY WILL SUFFER THE PUNISHMENT OF ETERNAL DESTRUCTION, SEPARATED FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD AND FROM HIS GLORIOUS MIGHT….”

THE CROSS OF JESUS SAVES US FROM PUNISHMENT AND THE ABYSS OF ETERNAL DESTRUCTION BY OFFERING US EVERLASTING LIFE. THE WORD “EVERLASTING” IS WRITTEN IN PRESENT TENSE MEANING IT BEGINS AT THE MOMENT OF SALVATION! NOW, IN THIS LIFETIME! EVERLASTING LIFE IS ONGOING AND A NEVER ENDING EXISTENCE NOW AND INTO ETERNITY! BLISS. JOY. TIMELESS LOVE!

THE CROSS IS GOD’S WORK. GOD SET THE PLAN IN PLACE AND PAID THE FULL PRICE HIMSELF. JESUS CAME TO SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE: GOD LOVES US AND WANTS US TO BE RECONCILED BACK TO HIM THROUGH SALVATION IN HIS SON JESUS.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:18-19, “AND ALL OF THIS IS A GIFT FROM GOD, WHO BROUGHT US BACK TO HIMSELF THROUGH CHRIST. AND GOD HAS GIVEN US THIS TASK OF RECONCILING PEOPLE TO HIM. FOR GOD WAS IN CHRIST, RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF, NO LONGER COUNTING PEOPLE’S SINS AGAINST THEM. AND HE GAVE US THIS WONDERFUL MESSAGE OF RECONCILIATION.”

JESUS REVEALED THE HEART OF GOD THE FATHER IN SENDING GOD THE SON; TO BRING SALVATION – RESCUE, HOPE, HEALING – TO THE WORLD THROUGH HIM. HE DOES NOT WANT US TO PERISH. HE WANTS US TO COME TO HIM, BY FAITH, TO TRUST AND BELIEVE IN HIM.

THE POWER OF THE CROSS! AS STATED IN OUR FREE METHODIST JOURNEY (BOOK OF DISCIPLINE; P3102) ABOUT GOD’S GRACIOUS INITIATIVE: “IN LOVE GOD HAS GRACIOUSLY PROVIDED FOR THE SALVATION OF ALL HUMANKIND. GOD IS LOVE. JESUS, THE ETERNAL SON OF GOD, WAS SENT BY THE FATHER AS AN EXPRESSION OF GOD’S LOVE FOR THE WORLD. THE CROSS SHOWS THE EXTENT OF JESUS’S LOVE FOR ALL. THE LOVE OF GOD IS FURTHER EXPRESSED TO THE WORLD THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. ONLY THOSE WHO RESPOND IN REPENTANCE AND FAITH CAN EXPERIENCE HIS GRACE AS A REDEMPTIVE REALITY.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE CAN BE CONSCIOUSLY EXPERIENCED BECAUSE IT IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONS – THE PERSONAL GOD AND HUMANS MADE IN HIS LIKENESS. EVERY PERSON IS CONFRONTED BY THIS PERSONAL GOD, BUT THE OUTCOME OF THIS CONFRONTATION IS AFFECTED BY HOW EACH PERSON RESPONDS.