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The cross has stood as representative of Christianity for centuries. It graces our sanctuaries, stands atop our church buildings, bold and unmistakable against the sky lines, it appears in unlikely places in desolate deserts or a hilltop in the wide open prairie where Easter sunrise services are held. Many Christians wear a cross around their neck close to their heart. Countless hymns are sung about the cross. The cross represents the death of Jesus of course, but why is it that the full system of Christianity can be summed up in "The Cross"? What exactly happened there that caused centuries to be separated by BC, before Christ, and AD, Anno Domini, ("the year of our Lord",) which marks the time following the birth of Jesus, His life, death and resurrection as the turning point in world history.
What happened there, on the cross, that prompts the statement of the faithful, "Jesus died for my sins?"
In John 3:17 we read, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world." Not everyone in the world, we have evidence in the Bible and in the real world, that not everyone is saved, but the world itself as well as people from all nations in the world. Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many." He came to be a ransom. And for many. He also said in John 10:15 "As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep." Jesus is saying in these verses that He is going to die, and that death is some way going to ransom, or redeem a people, and these people are His people. Why is His death a ransom? What does it redeem anyone from? How does it do this"
A ransom is a price paid for the release of captives from the captor. Romans 7:6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code." Paul here is talking to Christians, saying they have been released from captivity. It is not the law that held us captive, but sin, our breaking of the law. He says in verse 5 that our sinful passions were aroused by the law. In verse 13 "Did that which is good, (the law) then bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good----". In verses 24 and 25 Paul gives the remedy. "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ or Lord!"
God's perfect justice demands a penalty upon sin. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Heb 9:22 "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin." This is seen in the OT sacrificial worship system. The offering had to be without spot or blemish. A perfect life given to save the imperfect life. This is what Jesus did for us, once. Heb 9:28 "so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many."
Two things had to be done in order to save anyone from eternal separation from God, to snatch a people out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God. To save them from going to hell, and give them eternal life in the household of God. The people's sin had to meet God's just punishment, which is death. And then death had to be conquered. Only One without sin could do this, take the place of another, in receiving sin's penalty. So God Himself sent the Son, who was always with God and is God (John 1) and became one of us to fulfill this redemption. He lived without sin in perfect obedience to the Father, and then, He went willingly to that cross and died the death of a sinner. Mocked, and spit on, a crown of thorns on His head, and in His mind were the names of those He died for. Beaten, and shamed, He hung in agony, til God in His mercy cut the time short, and Jesus cried out "It is finished." Mission accomplished. Sin meets justice. The curtain separating the Holy of Holies, torn from top to bottom, giving access to the Father to all who belong to the Son. And Jesus was laid in a tomb, and on the third day was raised up from death. Death conquered. "He is risen." After forty days spent instructing His disciples He returned back to the Father, where He sits now as our High Priest and His perfect righteousness is credited to the account of those who trust in Him for salvation. Our sins forgiven. 2Cor 5:21 For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith---and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."
This is what happened on the cross.
What manner of love is this!
What happened there, on the cross, that prompts the statement of the faithful, "Jesus died for my sins?"
In John 3:17 we read, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world." Not everyone in the world, we have evidence in the Bible and in the real world, that not everyone is saved, but the world itself as well as people from all nations in the world. Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give His life a ransom for many." He came to be a ransom. And for many. He also said in John 10:15 "As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep." Jesus is saying in these verses that He is going to die, and that death is some way going to ransom, or redeem a people, and these people are His people. Why is His death a ransom? What does it redeem anyone from? How does it do this"
A ransom is a price paid for the release of captives from the captor. Romans 7:6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code." Paul here is talking to Christians, saying they have been released from captivity. It is not the law that held us captive, but sin, our breaking of the law. He says in verse 5 that our sinful passions were aroused by the law. In verse 13 "Did that which is good, (the law) then bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good----". In verses 24 and 25 Paul gives the remedy. "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ or Lord!"
God's perfect justice demands a penalty upon sin. Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Heb 9:22 "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin." This is seen in the OT sacrificial worship system. The offering had to be without spot or blemish. A perfect life given to save the imperfect life. This is what Jesus did for us, once. Heb 9:28 "so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many."
Two things had to be done in order to save anyone from eternal separation from God, to snatch a people out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God. To save them from going to hell, and give them eternal life in the household of God. The people's sin had to meet God's just punishment, which is death. And then death had to be conquered. Only One without sin could do this, take the place of another, in receiving sin's penalty. So God Himself sent the Son, who was always with God and is God (John 1) and became one of us to fulfill this redemption. He lived without sin in perfect obedience to the Father, and then, He went willingly to that cross and died the death of a sinner. Mocked, and spit on, a crown of thorns on His head, and in His mind were the names of those He died for. Beaten, and shamed, He hung in agony, til God in His mercy cut the time short, and Jesus cried out "It is finished." Mission accomplished. Sin meets justice. The curtain separating the Holy of Holies, torn from top to bottom, giving access to the Father to all who belong to the Son. And Jesus was laid in a tomb, and on the third day was raised up from death. Death conquered. "He is risen." After forty days spent instructing His disciples He returned back to the Father, where He sits now as our High Priest and His perfect righteousness is credited to the account of those who trust in Him for salvation. Our sins forgiven. 2Cor 5:21 For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith---and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."
This is what happened on the cross.
What manner of love is this!