Who needs the Cross?

On this Good Friday, perhaps we should forego the story of the Cross of Christ.  We have evolved beyond our need for such a bloody story, haven’t we?  Joe and Alice American do not sin anymore.  Oh, we make mistakes.  We err in judgment, but sin and vice?  That’s the stuff of fanaticism, the worst kind of fanaticism, too-  religious!  Who needs the Cross?   We can correct our course with better understanding of our behavior, can’t we?   The Cross brings us such a sense of guilt, maybe it is best to take it down and replace it with a symbol less offensive.  We could use the dove, a symbol of peace.  God knows this old world needs peace. Or,  we could borrow Noah’s rainbow, a symbol full of hope, without all the overtones of judgment.

Who needs the Cross? 

I Do!   

That man that stared back at me in the mirror this morning, left to himself, is a rebel against God. It is the nature he was born into. He is naturally selfish, prideful. He does not love God naturally. He loves stuff, pleasure, and such things. Yes, I am a man in need of a Savior and His Cross! The uncompromising word of God offends our self-esteem for He says that in our ‘natural state’ we  are "objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:3, NIV)  My only hope is a Savior;  not a Teacher, not a Mentor, but one who will save me from sin.  Yes, I need the Cross! “God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world died long ago, and the world’s interest in me is also long dead.  . . . What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people.” (Galatians 6:14)

In truth, the Cross is a beautiful symbol. There God’s love and holiness met.  In our Communion service tonight, I will hold the Cup and the Bread in my hands, as I stand under the Cross, profoundly grateful that God chose mercy and forgiveness, that He provided a sacrifice for my sin and removed my guilt and shame.

The word from the Word this Good Friday celebrates the triumph of God’s righteousness.  We must never reject sin or reserve Hell only for Neo-Nazis, pedophiles, and murderers.  The indictment stands – “all (*Jerry and you) have sinned and fallen short.”  But God, intervened and closed the gap between His Perfection and my sin at the Cross. "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment. For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God." (Romans 5:6-11, NLT)

______________________

Alas And Did My Saviour Bleed (Hudson)

(a beautiful version of this old hymn found at this link)

Alas, and did my Savior bleed,

And did my Sov'reign die!

Would He devote that sacred head,

For sinners such as I?

Well might the sun in darkness hide,

And shut His glories in,

When Christ the mighty Maker died,

For man the creature's sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face

While Calvary's cross appears.

Dissolve my heart in thankfulness

And melt mine eyes to tears!

But drops of grief can ne'er repay

The debt of love I owe,

Here, Lord, I give myself away,

'Tis all that I can do.

At the cross, at the cross,

Where I first saw the light,

And the burden of my heart rolled away.

It was there by faith I received my sight

And now I am happy all the day.

Isaac Watts | Ralph E. Hudson

© Words: Public Domain