Salvation

                                        What Do You Think About The Cross?

There are generally three responses people have in regards to the Cross of Jesus Christ. (1) Some stumble at the message of the Cross, (2) Some laugh at the message of the Cross, (3) And some believe and experience the power of the Cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).

The Jewish people’s emphasis is on miraculous signs and they expected their Messiah to come in power and great glory. Therefore, the Jewish people stumble at what appears to be the weakness of the Cross. How could anybody put faith in a carpenter from Nazareth who died the shameful death of a common criminal?

The Gentile people’s emphasis is on wisdom and common sense and when they look at the Cross through a human point of view, they see no wisdom in the Cross. Therefore, the Gentile people laugh at the foolishness of the idea that an all powerful God would allow His own creation and those subject to Him to put Him to death on a Cross. 

There is a vast difference in how something may appear and the reality of how it really is. Now, if you really want to determine the meaning of the Cross of Christ, look to Jesus for your understanding. If a mere human, such as the two thieves who were crucified beside Jesus, died on a cross, it would be foolish to think there would be any eternal spiritual significance for anyone else. 

However, Jesus, who was God, who was without sin, came in the flesh to redeem and save mankind from their sin. So, the Cross represents God’s love, wisdom, and power, and has spiritual significance for everyone who believes in Jesus (John 1:12). The power of the Cross, which is the body and the blood of Jesus, sets the one who believes free from the bondage and penalty of sin. This is the love of God that Jesus bore your sin, shame, and judgment on the Cross, so that God could give you freedom, righteousness, and life through Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:13-14). 

God loves people (John 3:16), but God hates sin (Jude verse 15). 

                                                Why The Resurrection Matters

For the last 2000 years the ‘Resurrection of Christ’ has been rejected and opposed by other world religions and every form of anti-Christian thought for obvious reasons. If every other religious founder and philosophical genius are still dead in their grave, but Jesus’ Tomb is empty, then He must have been who He said He was and He is alive and does indeed hold power over life and death. 

Of course if you have never received Jesus as your Savior, His resurrection may seem meaningless to you. But consider that if you were traveling and you came to a place where the road divided in two different directions and you wanted to know which one to take and where it would lead you and you were looking for a guide to instruct you on which one you should take and you see two men, one is dead and the other is alive, which one are you going to ask for directions? 

On multiple occasions, Jesus told His disciples that He would be handed over to men who would crucify Him and that three days later He would rise again (Matthew 16:21; Mark 10:32-34). The Gospel accounts and Jesus’ appearances to numerous people as stated in 1 Corinthians 15 provide us with undeniable evidence that everything Jesus promised or predicted came true just as He said it would, not to mention the fact that Pilate and the Romans soldiers had the tomb guarded so as to prevent the disciples from stealing the body (Matthew 27:62-66). 

The fact that Jesus rose from the dead, (although denied by many), has never been refuted by anyone. The story of the life of Jesus continues on after His crucifixion, death, and burial. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all conclude with Jesus alive and interacting with His disciples and this narrative continues on into the Book of Acts. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 Paul documents the fact that Jesus was seen by over 500 at one time. The Truth of the Bible and Christianity cannot be refuted because you cannot deny or explain away the documented evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the fact that for over two thousand years Christian Believers have testified of having a miraculous personal relationship with the living Jesus Christ. 

The Empty Tomb in John 20 testifies to Jesus’ victory over death, death could not hold Him. No other person in history has claimed to be God and provided empirical evidence to support that claim. Therefore, all of Jesus’ words are trustworthy. John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

                                                     The Need For Forgiveness

The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2 that, “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you.” People often struggle with guilt for all the bad things they have done so they think that God would never consider forgiving them. Others in their shame believe they have committed the unpardonable sin, which God cannot forgive, thus many people conclude it is useless to approach God because He will want nothing to do with them. 

Yet, God says in Isaiah 1:18, “Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow.” The burden many people carry is heavy and it often leads to despair, but it need not be this way because Jesus came to set sinners free from the bondage of their sin. 

God’s forgiveness is demonstrated in the story of the ‘Prodigal Son’ in Luke 15 where the father welcomes a wayward son back home with open arms. So also does God desire for each person to be reconciled back into right relationship with Him, and He is willing to forgive all who come to Him asking for forgiveness (1 John 1:9). 

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” God doesn’t overlook our sin or turn a blind eye towards sin, rather He is able to forgive us based upon the fact that His Son, Jesus, who knew no sin paid our sin debt that we could never pay (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Where there is forgiveness, sin has no power. Psalm 32:1 states, “How blessed is he whose sin is forgiven.”