At the Cross Part II

Articles

Buddy German
02/19/25 - Christian Living

God’s great love is seen when we study Christ at the cross. Paul would later write “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) God could have easily said that we disobeyed and didn’t deserve redemption. Yet, from the very fall of man in Genesis He had a plan that would allow us to be reconciled to Him. Even though we will never achieve the sinless life that He deserves, He still gave us a way to be cleansed and wash our sins away. One of the things that can get lost in different translations of John 3:16 is that Jesus wasn’t just His Son, but His only begotten Son. Jesus was the true Son of God and they both loved us enough to suffer at the cross. 2^nd Corinthians 5:21 shows the length in which God’s love abounds in that He made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. When Christ is on the cross, it is for our sin, not His. This allowed us to stand before God and be seen as Christ, as one without sin.

We can see the completion of the Law of Moses. When Paul pens “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:14). He is referring to the end of the Old Law and that the blood of animals couldn’t take away sin. As Paul continues in verses 16-17 it becomes even more apparent that he is referring to the Old Law. The Old Law wasn’t given to all people or intended to be lasting through the ages. We read in Galatians 3:24-25 that the Law served as a tutor or school master to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. At which point we are no longer under a tutor. Jesus was the shadow of things to come, and we can have eternal rest through Him. He is what took the place of all the ceremonial ordinances and fulfilled all the prophecies and promises of God.

We see the ushering in of the New Testament or covenant. “For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.” Hebrews 9:16-17. This confirms that the Old Law was in effect until the death of Christ on the cross. The Old Law only included the Jews where as the New Law or New Testament would include all of mankind, both Jew and Gentile. Thus, why the argument for baptism of the thief on the cross is invalid. It was at the cross that the New Testament was ushered in.

The cross is a place of glory. We see the fulfillment of God’s will, prophecy and His love for us. The cross is the center of God’s plan of salvation. “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14)

The cross was a terrible thing that our Lord had to endure, but for the sake of our salvation He endured it. There is no doubt that those who put Him there saw it as their victory but in reality it was God’s victory over sin and death. It was and is a place of glory in our Father and our Savior. The cross is a reminder of what we should have had to pay, but because of the love of God and Jesus Christ, we don’t have to if we chose to obey Him.