The Cross
In my previous post I discussed how I felt contemporary Christianity’s popular gospel message had reduced the good news to just another consumer product. I also pondered how to evangelise a gospel which was much more demanding and, I believe, true to the original message. The next few posts are my fractured part-answers to my questions.
The Cross of Christ
I think Christians often underestimate the power of the cross. Many times I have heard people ask “Why did Jesus have to die?” If you believe He died only to provide for us a means of forgiveness from sins it is a valid question. God doesn’t need blood to forgive. He is absolutely in love with you. He begs to spend every moment with you. If He slept He would dream of you. He is your one true father. He wishes to lavish you with attention. He isn’t looking over you waiting for you to stuff up so that He can punish you. And He certainly doesn’t need payment to satisfy Himself (the oft-taught dogma that God’s wrath needs to be satisfied before His love can forgive does not appear in the Bible; God justice is not vengeance). The son did not come to save us from the Father.
But if Jesus died for our redemption we have a different story. You see, God didn’t need Jesus to die - we did. Whilst God would forgive us in a second without Jesus I doubt we would turn to Him. And sin has done much more damage than just to put a few black marks against our name. It has consistently and cruelly destroyed the image of God that was once in us. Over the centuries it has turned us from glorious beacons of God into awful monsters. It is this fate - being monsters - that hangs in the balance. I believe God came to redeem us from this reality and to turn us into fulfilled, living people who will glorify Him the way we were made to.
How does the cross do this?
The Cross reveals our Sin
The Pharisees accused Jesus of blaspheme against the temple for His statement that “not one stone will be left here upon another” (Matthew 24:2). Jesus was telling the truth. They taunted His majesty by giving Him a crown of thorns. Jesus is the king of the heavens. With whips they tore the skin of His flesh. Jesus comforted the poor. They spat on Him. Jesus feed the hungry. They shamed Him before crowds. Jesus healed the sick. They nailed His hands to the cross. Jesus never sinned.
Christ’s death represents the greatest injustice of human history. Jesus let himself - the only truly pure and righteous man - be killed upon a roman torture device. In so doing He proves once an for all that we are evil. The fact that my sins resulted in the death of the most beautiful thing in the world teaches me how far I have fallen. And His death exposes for once and for all the prince of this world for what he is - disgusting. As Colossians 2:15 says, “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Christ, by His death exposed those powers and authorities, and their exposure is God’s victory.
This revelation leads to conviction which leads to humility and fear which leads to repentance. A deep, life changing form of repentance birthed in brokenness before God. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) This form of brokenness is a far cry from the usual consumerist response we often try to use to get people to convert.
The Cross reveals our Beauty
The fact we killed Christ proved we are ugly, but the fact Christ let us proves we are beautiful. Jesus, the king of the 160 billion galaxies in the known universe, made Himself nothing - even going so far to submit himself to our scorn and death on the cross (Philippians 2:6-8)! And He did it entirely because of love (John 3:16). That shows just how valuable we are.
There are two types of value an object may have. Firstly, it may have instrumental value - we value it because of what it can do for us. Secondly, it may have intrinsic value - we value it because of what it is. If a fire burns in your house you would grab your birth certificate and drivers license because they have instrumental value. But you would grab the family photos because of their intrinsic value.
One of the great problems with sin is that it emphasizes people’s instrumental value at the expense of their intrinsic value. Lust, for instance, is the focus on a person’s ability to bring you pleasure whilst degrading their instrumental value as a person with their own needs and feelings. So often do we make this mistake. How many times have you become frustrated with the slowness of a checkout chick, as though she were just a machine, without ever considering that perhaps she is having a bad day herself.
By exposing our evil Christ’s death strips us of our instrumental value - we are worth nothing to Him for what we can do for Him. But it elevates our intrinsic value to new heights. The fact that even though we can never repay Him, but He still died for us shows that He did it just because He values us for what we are. That is true love. And where conviction brings us to our knees, His love brings us into His arms. Without Christ’s death we would never truly know how much we mean to Him.
The Cross reveals our Option
I remember in a sermon hearing the story of a solider, who after several battles in a hard war collapsed in a church - hopeless and depressed. As he lay there he saw a spider trying to climb the glass, yet constantly slipping to the floor. But each time it would fall it would try again, and again, and again, and again. The determination of that spider inspired the soldier to get up and march off to war once again.
It seems no matter how hard we try we continue to sin. We continue to be that monster formed more by sin than by love. Inevitably the situation can seem hopeless. Christ’s death however gives us hope.
There is something about the cross which is more than symbolic. Love is not just a nice feeling. It means something. When you love someone you change them. And as Christ loves us absolutely, so we should be changed absolutely.
When we are in the gutter the cross tells us that God’s hand is there waiting to lift us out of it. When we are ready to give up being disciplined in our holiness the cross urges us to go just a little bit further. When we think we are lost the Cross shows us there is a way, there is always a way, to follow God and be the person we were made to be.
The Cross reveals a greater reality than we can see with our eyes. It shows us an option: either we can reject Christ’s help in serving Him, or we can follow Him and learn that redemption has arrived not on the back of a war horse but on the back of a cross. It shows us another way. It shows us a kingdom way. And by showing us these things it empowers us to make this choice.
I’ve looked at the message of the cross here more than its power. But through the cross Christ does for us what we ourselves can never do - He pays our ransom and washes away our sin (expiation). The fact that God’s option exists is revealed in the fact that He died to make it happen.
If we are going to reach the lost without selling them a commodity I believe our message must focus on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It is a story, which through its own power, transforms people’s lives.
Filed under: Christian, Evangelism, Grace, Love, Religion, Salvation |
Yet another example of why you are on my blogroll!!! Geez brother, preach it!
tim