Toward the Cross

For my friends, my brothers and sisters, and those who happen to visit the page: this is, I think, the most important thing I will ever say to you.

I am convinced of this: The Cross is not a peripheral issue; as a Christian, it is not something we believe once and move on; as a non-Christian, it is not something you can accept or reject with impunity. Our grasping of the Cross defines us, yes, in eternity, but our present consideration of this also defines us now, who we are, who we want to be, and ultimately, it defines our present reality in Christ.

Don't believe me? Paul says this: "For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received--that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." (1 Cor. 15:3-4)\

Is the Cross "of first importance" to us?

It was to Paul. It was, arguably, to Jesus Christ. I'm afraid we treat it too lightly. Or at the very least, I treat it too lightly. I hope to turn from my vanity, from the lesser important things, and direct my attention toward the Cross, toward that which is of first importance.

Perhaps a bit of clarification is in order. What do we mean by "the Cross"? It is an historical event, but is this the beginning and end of it? I think it is proper to speak of the meaning of the Cross and its purpose. That is what we mean, and I think that is what Paul was getting at. It isn't just that Christ died: He died for our sins. It wasn't just that He was buried and raised again: he was raised for our vindication.

And here's the crux of the issue: we won't really ever understand the meaning of the cross (Christ died for my sins) until we come to grips with the problem: we are sinners.

Is that a throw-away phrase today? "We are sinners". What does that mean? Maybe we should take a short journey toward understanding this. What is God like? What are we like by comparison?

Isaiah describes Him: the seraphim, the "burning angels" fly about His throne, cover their feet and their faces, crying out "Holy, Holy, Holy! The whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isa. 6) God is holy: there is absolutely no one else like Him. The whole earth trembles at His feet. To witness His glory would be our undoing. He is terrifyingly, absolutely, beautiful, wholly other, and righteous. This is how the Word of God describes Him. Our generation needs to learn this: to fear the Lord is not just to reverence Him. It is to tremble at His presence, knowing that He is God and we are only a part of His Creation.

We, by contrast, are blighted and ruined. The Word of God tells us about the beginning of the tragic affair in Genesis 3. It also tells us about the continued state of this tragedy through nearly all of the rest of the Bible. The entire world holds its breath to behold the Holy One, our awesomely beautiful Maker. This King is rightly owed His due allegiance. We owe Him our homage, our very lives; every breath we take is His gift to us. Yet we, like dirty little thieves, take His gifts, His mercies, and snatch them up as if they were ours by rights. We ignore the throne of majesty and set up our own cheap little chairs on pathetic little pedestals, supplanting His rightful authority in place of our own. Moreover, we have broken His law.

We are beggarly, poor, weak, filthy, twisted, wretched, dead. We are all murderers, adulterers, liars. If you say otherwise, you perjure yourself.

And the Judge of the Earth must mete His judgment righteously: the verdict is in, the gavel falls, the courtroom stands as He announces His verdict: guilty as charged. The punishment is pronounced: eternal death.

And this is a righteous judgment. The glory and majesty of the King of the Earth has been impugned. I, you, we all have maligned Him.

To the degree we understand this problem is the degree to which we will grasp the meaning of the Cross. Jesus Christ died for my sin. The Glorious One, who sat upon His throne, condescended to become part of His Creation so that He would stand in my place. This is what we mean by "Substitution". The righteous God-man stood in the sinner's place so the verdict would fall upon Himself.

And let me add: we never move beyond this. We come to an initial understanding of it; we dwell on it, ponder it, consider it, work it in our hearts and minds. But we must never think that we can move past this to greater doctrines.

If you think you have adequately understood the Cross, you have not. We do not master this doctrine; it masters us.

A final note: if you are reading this and scoff at these things, I understand. I once scoffed at them myself. Unless God Himself enables us to gain an initial glimpse of the Cross, we are helpless to do it ourselves. If, on the other hand, God has opened your eyes to the truths of the Cross, we can thank Him that He will continue to do so. But let us never turn our back on the truth of the Cross, as if we move to better doctrines. Let us rather always move ever closer to it, knowing that the better we understand this issue, the more that the rest of our problems (doctrinal or otherwise) will pale by comparison.

Let us, then, be moved toward the Cross. I can only point the way, even as weak and incompetent as I myself am before such a great truth.