The Meaning Of The Cross

The Meaning Of The Cross "God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ" (Colossians 2:13–15 NLT). My wife loves to watch programs such as QVC and The Home Shopping Channel. I can hear the television from my office and last week they were selling jewelry, and a caller had called in about a cross they were selling. She said, "I like these, but do you have any without this little man on them?" That's what so many people want today: a cross without Jesus. They want a cross without any offense, one that will look cool with their outfits. But if we could travel back in time and see the cross in its original context, we would realize that it was a bloody and vile symbol. It would have been the worst picture imaginable to see someone hanging on a cross. The Romans chose crucifixion because it was meant to be a slow, torturous way to die. It was designed not only to kill someone, but to utterly humiliate them as they died. Crucifixions outside Roman cities served as warnings to anyone who would dare oppose the rule of Rome. If there was any other way, do you think that God would have allowed His Son to suffer like this? If there had been any other way we could have been forgiven, then God surely would have found it. If living a good moral life would get us to heaven, then Jesus never would have died for us. But He did, because there was, and is no other way. At the cross, Jesus purchased the salvation of the world. The scripture above tells the divine transaction that took place in those terrible moments when Jesus suffered for our sins: If you are ever tempted to doubt God's love for you, then take a long, hard look at the cross. Nails did not hold Jesus to that cross. His love did. Robert W. Brock My Daily Devotional Volume Seven August 15