Sometimes people’s troubles are beyond their ability to deal with.”
–Jeffrey J. Mariotte (Passage to Pedregosa)
“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
–Matthew 20:28(NKJV)
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“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame….”
–George Bennard
No doubt about it, the cross was horrendous with agony unimaginable, but it was not a great tragedy. It was a great victory, especially for anyone who turns to the Christ of the cross. That cross brought the mission of Christ to an end when He cried, “It is finished.” His work was complete, justice was met, reconciliation with the Father was now available, the propitiation was done.
There are many in Christian circles who shy away from the cross. They do not want to speak of sin, shame, and guilt, or the wrath, anger, and justice of God. Yet that is part of the purpose and great wonder of the cross. Alistair Begg reminds us, “Any attempt to articulate Christianity that denies the centrality of the cross can never lead to saving faith.” Sin had to be dealt with. Justice was demanded. Jesus’ death on the cross defeated the curse of sin and He accepted the justice of God and took the wrath of God for all of mankind.
One cannot read the New Testament without coming in contact with the cross and the work done upon it. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes, “The whole of the New Testament is proclaiming the blood of Christ, the death of Christ upon the cross on Calvary. It is the heart and centre of the Christian evangel, the good news of salvation.”
Be careful, however, of making the cross an idol, a relic that saves you. On the other hand, do not negate the purpose of the cross and what took place there. “So you do not regret the cross, and you do not try to forget it or idealize it, or philosophize about it, and turn it into something beautiful and wonderful. No, what you say is this: I glory in it! It is the means of my salvation. It is the very way in which I am saved.” (Lloyd-Jones) Jessie Brown Pounds penned these words to remind us that, “I must needs go home by the way of the cross, There’s no other way but this…”
Perhaps we should heed more closely to the words of that grand old hymn by Isaac Watts:
When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
What do you see when you survey the cross? Do you see your sin? Sin, a word that humanists try to avoid. Do you shun the cross? Is it just an ornament you wear around your neck? Is it a symbol of your faith? Is it a crucifix upon which Christ still hangs, redemption incomplete? If so, how does it affect you? Do you recognize the God-man Jesus on the center cross? Listen, get this into your mind–the cross was not an accident. It wasn’t just planned by the Jewish religious council or the Roman government. Jesus’ life was directed to His fulfillment of the Father’s will. Jesus came to give His life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28). “Any man who is saved, is saved by the cross, and to be saved means that your sins are forgiven, that you are reconciled to God.” (Lloyd-Jones)