Near the Cross
The centerpiece of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ and His crucifixion. The death of the Messiah was prophesied by Isaiah some eight centuries before the promised seed of Abraham appeared (Is 53; Gal 3:16). It was God’s good pleasure to send His only begotten Son (Jn 3:16), His chosen One (Is 42:1; Lk 23:35), into the world at the fulness of time (Gal 4:4).
According to the eternal covenant (Heb 13:20), the Son of God became the Son of man in order to represent God’s chosen people as their federal head. Elect from every nation were given by the Father to the Son before the world was made (Jn 6:37; 2 Tim 1:9). Jesus came into the world for the sake of His beloved bride, His church (Jn 1:14; 1 Pet 1:20). He laid down His life for His sheep (Jn 10:11, 15), the people of His pasture (Ps 100:3)
In being pierced for our transgressions (Is 53:5), Jesus was our Passover sacrifice (1 Cor 5:7), the Lamb of God slain (Jn 1:29; Rev 5:6, 12). All of this was to release us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us (Gal 3:13). All people are condemned already because of inherited and practiced sin (Ps 51:5; Jn 3:18; Rom 3:23; 5:12). The Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim 2:19); therefore, He endured the cross for the joy of their salvation and union with Him (Heb 12:2; Jn 17:2, 6, 24).
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor 5:19). Those who were at enmity with God, being haters of God (Rom 1:30), now have peace with God (Rom 5:1) through the blood of the cross (Col 1:20). In this, He made purification for sins (Heb 1:3).
The forgiveness of sins is a person’s greatest need; and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Heb 9:22). It is only by the precious blood of Christ that we are cleansed from the filth and guilt of sin (1 Pet 1:19; 1 Jn 1:7). It was Jesus’ one-time sacrifice on the Roman cross that cancelled our debt of sin, entirely (Col 2:14). There is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1).
Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4). It invites death (Rom 6:23) and the judgment of God to follow (Heb 9:27). The sentence for unredeemed sinners is eternal punishment in the fiery hell of the lake of fire (Mt 25:41, 46; Jude 7; Rev 20:14–15). There, the unbridled wrath of God delivers perfect justice to those who have offended the infinite majesty of the Holy God.
In His suffering on the cross, Jesus made propitiation for the sins of the people (Heb 2:17). Stated another way, He absorbed the wrath of God on our behalf (Rom 5:9) because God had not destined us for wrath (1 Thess 5:9). This also means Jesus will deliver us from the wrath to come at His second advent and for eternity (1 Thess 1:10).
Positively, Jesus secured righteousness before God by His perfect life and atoning death. He was like us, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). All the sins of all of God’s chosen people were imputed to Jesus; and He bore our sins in His body on the cross (Is 53:6; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:24). God accepted Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross, as demonstrated by His raising Him from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures (Acts 17:31; 1 Cor 15:3–4).
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead reveals the defeat of sin and death (Heb 2:14). With the fulfillment of the Law (Mt 5:17), Jesus has right standing before God, now at His right hand in glory (Ps 110:1). Jesus has spoiled the principalities and powers (Col 2:15) and destroyed the works of the devil (1 Pet 3:8), who had the power of death and enslaved men with the fear of death their whole lives (Heb 2:14–15). The sting of death was sin, but Jesus released us from our sins by His blood (Rev 1:5).
The Apostle Paul insisted that in preaching the Word (2 Tim 4:2), we preach Christ crucified (1 Cor 2:2), proclaiming the excellencies of Him who gave Himself for our sins (Gal 1:4). God demonstrated His love for us in predestining us to adoption as sons (Eph 1:4–5); and while we were yet sinners, in love, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). He gave His life a ransom for many (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45), who were chosen and called to come to Him (Rom 9:24; 2 Tim 1:9), in order to take up their cross and follow Him (Mt 16:24; Mk 8:34; Lk 9:23).
In bringing many sons to glory (Heb 2:10), Jesus has been given the name above every other name (Phil 2:9). At His name, every knee must bow and every tongue must confess the truth that Jesus is Lord of all (Is 45:23; Acts 10:36; Rom 14:11). For He is the only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Tim 6:15), and all authority in heaven and on earth is His to bring everything into subjection (Mt 28:18; Heb 2:8; 1 Pet 3:22).
The kingdom of God is at hand wherever the Holy Spirit is at work in gathering and giving life to the redeemed of the Lord (Jn 6:63; Rom 14:17). The kingdom of God’s beloved Son is receiving new citizens as the sons of God are being revealed (Rom 8:19). This becomes manifest as the Holy Spirit is given to the elect, redeemed at the appointed time in God’s predetermined plan and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23; Rom 5:5).
Those who have been justified by His blood (Rom 5:9) are now being sanctified by His blood (Heb 13:12), through the sanctifying work of the Spirit (1 Pet 1:2), who is guiding every believer into the truth (Jn 16:13), as it is in Jesus (Eph 4:21). It is the Word of truth that now washes over us and frees us to live lives of faith that are pleasing to God (2 Cor 5:9; Gal 2:20).
May God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, fix your eyes on Jesus, who is authoring and perfecting your faith, by growing you in grace and in the knowledge of the truth (Heb 12:2; 2 Pet 3:18). May the meditations of your heart be upon the Scriptures, which are forever tethered to the Person and work of Christ Jesus our Lord…and His victory at the cross.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
August 17, 2023
