Thursday, February 10, 2005
THE CROSS
I have often wondered what the people of first century Palestine would think of us today if they saw the way that we display the cross with pride and honor. Today, the cross is often displayed and commonly worn. People wear crosses about their necks, golden and shining, hanging from necklaces. Why even entertainers and movie stars will wear the cross -- not because they understand its meaning -- but because other people do and it's fashionable. No doubt some wear the cross because they think it a good luck charm no different than a horseshoe or four-leaf clover. We see the cross, displayed so often and in so many ways, that we scarcely think anything of it.
In first century Palestine, the cross was a symbol of Roman tyranny and death. It was a reminder of one of the most barbaric and terrible forms of execution ever devised - one reserved for the most heinous of crimes and for the punishment of slaves. The cross was not a fashion statement or good luck charm for them. Can you imagine someone today wearing a hangman's noose or a golden electric chair about their neck? Such a trinket would hopefully not be considered fashionable but in poor taste.
For you and me and for all true Christians, the cross is a symbol, a reminder of the greatest gift God has ever given. Think of it like this: When Christ was nailed to the cross and left to die, our sins against God's holy Law were nailed right up there with Him. The Spirit of God moved Paul to write:
"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Colossians 2:13-14).
Through Christ and His cross we have forgiveness for all sins. God has established a new relationship with us through the death of His own Son, Jesus -- on the cross. So the cross is an exhibition of divine love. On the cross, Jesus showed both His love for the Father and His love for us. On the one hand, He was perfectly obedient to the father's plan, even to the point of death; on the other, He suffered that death to atone for our sins -- and for the sins of the whole world.
Moreover, it is in the shadow of the cross that we can even look forward to the crosses that God allows to come our way day by day, seeing them as opportunities to exercise our faith by living for Him according to His will and direction.
The Cross isn't just a trinket for us, and the Good News that it represents isn't just a story. No, "...the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). 