To Encourage You

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

What’s your view of the cross?  Is it a nice symbol to you that marks a Christian church, or perhaps it’s a pretty symbol to wear around your neck as a piece of jewelry?  What do you think about when you look at one? 

Most times crosses are pictured as symmetrical pieces of artwork, often made of silver or gold.  But what was the cross really like?  What does it really represent?  First, we know it was very heavy and made of wood.  Jesus, in his agony, couldn’t bear its weight. He fell under it and someone else had to carry it for Him on the way to his execution.  It was an instrument of cruelty invented by the Romans.  Its victims were tied or nailed to it and left to hang after they had first been cruelly whipped and tortured to within an inch of their lives. Its victims had their lacerated backs held against it and as they writhed and gasped for air, its splinters raking their flesh.  Held to the cross by their arms, the full weight of its victims pressed on their chests, slowly but surely robbing them of air, suffocating them over a period of many hours.  As they pushed their bodies up to try to inflate their lungs, the nails in their hands and feet inflicted unbearable pain on every fiber of their bodies.  This is what Jesus suffered for us.  It was in this way that Jesus bore the wrath of a holy God as He became sin for us.  The curse of God on sin pressed down on Him, overwhelming His holy and pure mind with the hideousness of every sin ever committed by anyone. 

So are these the things that you think about when you see a cross?  Have you noticed the movie stars and other celebrities who glory in their wickedness as they parade around with a cross on a necklace or a well-placed tattoo?   In this they mock the holy one of God Who suffered a torturous death to pay the penalty for their sins on the real cross.  Do these things ever enter your mind when you glance at or wear a cross? 

If you are a believer who is aware that Jesus suffered on that cross for you to forgive your sins and make the way for eternal life, the cross is a constant reminder of the love of God. If you are an unbeliever, you may be unaware or perhaps you could care less as you continue in your sinful lifestyle and, in effect, take your place alongside those who looked at the real cross while Christ hung on it in torture and mocked him, spit on him, and gambled for his clothes, oblivious to the fact that Jesus’ entire purpose for being there was to forgive them of their sins.  May God give us eyes to see the cross for what it is, and may He open the hearts of those who at this moment could care less.  May He open our eyes to the love of God in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).