Have you ever really thought about the cross of Christ?
Let’s take a look at some of the marvelous details of this important aspect of our faith. Scriptures are given below the devotion.
1. It wasn’t an accident. It was part of God’s plan. See Nothing Could Be More Central.
2. It was foreshadowed in the Old Testament blood sacrifices and predicted throughout the Old Testament. See An Incredible Prophecy of Christ's Death.
3. Christ went to the cross voluntarily.
4. Christ’s death was a purposeful demonstration of God’s love for us. See God's Love Is Like a Colorado 14er.
5. Christ’s death on the cross accomplished something that could not be accomplished any other way. Without Christ’s death, we would hopelessly die in our sins.
6. Christ’s death and resurrection symbolize our death and resurrection. See Dead People Expect Persecution.
7. Carrying our cross is an act of obedience, a reminder of our death to selfish desires. See The Crux of Sin: Self.
8. Christ’s death on the cross should motivate us to persevere in hard times. See Hang in There!
9. The cross of Christ is something we cherish and boast about as a symbol of our salvation. See The Old Rugged Cross.
10. False teachings often deny or redefine the cross. See Is God a Cosmic Abuser?
I encourage you to read all of the Scriptures below when you have time. It’s a critical time in church history to understand the concept of the cross of Christ because false teachers are claiming that the cross was merely a human act of violence, not an act of our redemption.
Why not go through the following passages with your small group or Bible study?
God never causes anyone to sin, so He didn't tempt the Jews to send Christ to the cross, nor did He cause the Romans to crucify Christ. But He knows what is going to happen before it happens and He uses sinful acts for His good purposes. We see that throughout Scripture (e.g. Joseph, Daniel, Paul, etc.).
Acts 2:23: This man [Jesus] was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.
Colossians 1:19-20: "For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."
Ephesians 2:13-16: "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility."
2. We know it was part of God's plan because it was foreshadowed in the Old Testament blood sacrifices and predicted throughout the Old Testament.
Hebrews 10:11-14: "Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."
Isaiah 53:5: "he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
For the entire context, see Isaiah 53:1-12.
3. Christ went to the cross voluntarily.
John 10:17-18: “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Philippians 2:8: "being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross!"
4. Christ’s death was a purposeful demonstration of God’s love for us.
Romans 5:8: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
5. Christ’s death on the cross accomplished something that could not be accomplished any other way. Without
Christ’s death, we would hopelessly die in our sins, something we
deserve. But in God’s mercy we escape our spiritual death.
Colossians 2:14: "having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross."
2 Corinthians 5:21: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
Galatians 3:13: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.'"
1 Peter 2:24-25: "'He himself bore our sins' in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; 'by his wounds you have been healed.' For 'you were like sheep going astray,' but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."
6. Christ’s death and resurrection symbolize our death and resurrection.
Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Romans 6:6: "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—"
7. Carrying our cross is an act of obedience, a reminder of our death to selfish desires.
Matthew 10:38: "Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me."
Mathew 16:24: "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.'"
Hebrews 12:2: "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Philippians 3:10-11: "I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."
9. The cross of Christ is something we cherish and boast about as a symbol of our salvation.
10. False teachings often deny or redefine the cross.
Galatians 6:12: "Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ."
1 Corinthians 1:18: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
To read about those who are denying and redefining the cross, see Is God a Cosmic Abuser? in which the author of The Shack denies the cross, and Wilderness Wanderers which explains how some in the ex-vangelical movement deny the cross.
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