Need the Cross
If one were to interview the masses of humanity and inquired about their greatest need, the Cross of Jesus Christ would not appear on most people’s list. Christians might even get the wrong answer, for lack of meditation on the meaning of what our Savior, Jesus Christ, has done for us at Golgotha.
Christians give one day, even a half-day, to the most significant event in history. Our concentration is quickly moved to Resurrection Sunday, which gets far more focus than Good Friday. We are baffled a bit about the name of the holy day. The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth does not really look good. Friday is a work day and there is no candy distribution. People do not send greeting cards. A typical holy day mascot like Santa or the Bunny has not intruded on the solemn nature of Good Friday. It is a day to remember the death of Jesus Christ, a man who did not sin, and who did a lot of good works for others.
The death of Christ is really the central theme of the whole Bible. It was prophesied by many of the Old Testament prophets. It was prophesied by Jesus Himself, during His earthly ministry. It serves as a part of the climactic weekend for the four New Testament Gospels. Its full meaning comes out in the epistles of the apostles. There is probably no end to what could be said about the Cross. It is that rich a subject for consideration. Therefore, my objective here will be to refresh us, again, with a few points of how Jesus Christ met out greatest needs, by His crucifixion at the Cross of Calvary, some 2000 years ago.
First, man’s problem, hence his origin of need, began with the fall from the Garden of Eden. Man’s foremost problem is sin. Many people ignore this in their selfish, carnal state. The natural man does not consider himself a bad person, and his sins are not big ones. Because man does not know how far he has fallen from grace, in reality, he reasons that he is not far from Eden. He views sin as a small problem that can be fixed with a strip of duct tape. The Bible considers sin far more problematic. Man’s distorted opinion of himself and his overwhelming sin nature hinder his understanding.
The evidence that man is not coping with sin is mounting guilt within his conscience. People do wretched things to others, which causes them to do harmful things to themselves. All of our addictions are designed to cope with the pressure of guilt. There is, of course, a way that man covers up his vileness like a dog on a morning walk. He builds up his self-esteem into a hot air balloon of pride that rises ever higher. He thinks more highly of himself than he ought to, and it requires an act of God to bring him down.
However man decides to deal with sin and guilt, he is accountable to God for it all (Rom 3:19). We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:11–15). At the Cross, Jesus Christ has dealt with sin and guilt. He bore our sins in His body upon the tree (1 Pet 2:24). He paid the penalty for our sins and cancelled out our debt of sin (Col 2:14). He has cleansed our conscience free of guilt (Heb 9:14) by His precious blood (1 Pet 1:19), shed for the forgiveness of all our sins (Heb 9:22). He has saved His people from their sins (Mt 1:21), with a one-time sacrifice for “all” of His people and “all” of their sins. Without Jesus’ blood, we have no forgiveness and our guilt remains (Mt 26:28).
Second, sin has enslaved us to an evil master (Rom 6:6). We are born into slavery. Sin has dominion over us, and we live in sin and serve sin with our sins. Satan encourages us to sin, through temptation. He and his demons pose as angels of light, to entice our fleshly lusts, to rebel in thought and action against God and His Law. Just as a query about sin would not produce a humble reflection of need in most people, the suggestion that people are slaves is highly offensive to their self-esteemed opinions of themselves.
The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus and affirmed the sad state of sinful humanity, who walk according to the course of this fallen world, by the power of the spirit of disobedience. Paul excoriates natural man by calling him a child of wrath (Eph 2:3). The apostle John joins him in coming to that same conclusion (1 John 3:10). There is no love and no righteousness in the children of the devil. Now, be careful about implying, or explicitly calling anyone a “child of the devil” because man simply cannot agree with God’s assessment because he does not believe the truth about himself. Jesus told people the truth about their evil deeds, and they hated Him (Jn 7:7).
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ presents the solution for sinful man’s enslavement to sin. Jesus’ death on the Cross was a ransom payment for many (Mt 20:28). A side note is offered to the Arminian/Calvinist debate over the extent of the atonement. Jesus death was not a ransom for “all” but for “many.” Only the children of God know they were bought with a price (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23) with the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet 1:19).
Third, men mock the power of Satan and evil in their blindness. In pride, they are ever stoning and slaying the devil, while he kills a great number of them with great irony. Principalities and powers carry that title, along with their location in heavenly places, to demonstrate man’s inability to fight these demon spirits. There is no victory over them, until one comes to the Cross of Christ.
Jesus Christ came into the world to destroy the works of the devil. “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. As Satan labors to destroy the works of God, and God sent Christ to destroy the works of Satan, we can be assured that this is a battlefield of spiritual warfare. Christ has bound Satan, by His works on the Cross, but every generation must experience the tentacles of the imprisoned mob boss. Evil still has its place in the world, and Paul told the Ephesians to don the whole armor of God in their battle with sin and Satan’s minions (Eph 6:10–20).
We join in Christ’s victory at the Cross, by being overcomers, through faith in the Son of God (1 Jn 5:4–5). Faith is a shield for us in the battle against the fiery darts of the enemy. With missiles sent to us by the adversary, we extinguish each one with the exercise of our shield of faith. This is pleasing to God (Heb 11:6) because it clearly demonstrates our trust in Christ. We overcome, by the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of our faith in Him.
Fourth, sin separates man from God. It has been that way from the beginning. It is true for every person conceived in sin, in their mother’s womb (Ps 51:5) and inheriting original sin from our first parents (Rom 5:12–21). Sin causes us to learn to be selfish and to distrust God. Sin tutors us, in prejudice against God in Christ. People curse, using the name “Jesus Christ” because this is the name of God, and they have been taught to take His name in vain. Prejudice grows like cancer. It becomes enmity. It practices hostility. It is pure alienation. It is killing the unsaved man.
Jesus Christ is the solution to this separation. He has broken down the dividing wall between believers and God (Eph 2:14). We are brought near to God by the blood of Christ (Eph 2:13). Jesus Christ has brought reconciliation with God (Rom 5:10), and He has been positioned, as a permanent Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). He is ever working intercession for us before the Almighty. He is our federal head, which means He represents us, as fully man and the leader of His holy nation of royal priests (1 Peter 2:9). He now employs His people with a ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18–20), which includes the Word of reconciliation, to be preached before all Creation (Mk 16). We have peace with God at the Cross, and the Holy Spirit is manifesting that peace in our hearts.
Finally, the wrath of God is directed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom 1:18). The wrath of God has been displayed throughout history. God is angry about sin, and He is angry with sinners (Ps 5:5; 11:5). It is very common, today, for people to ignore this fact of Scripture. False teachers have diluted God’s wrath, which is one of His righteous attributes, displayed in the war against sin and Satan. God’s wrath is righteous and just. It is meted out without passions because of divine impassibility. He is dealing with sins, in perfect judgment and punishment. Therefore, the wrath that is here, today, and the wrath of God to come, is directed against sinners.
Jesus Christ was sent, in love for us, to be a propitiation for our sins (Rom 3:25; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10). When He died on the Cross, He endured the wrath of God directed against each of His people. He suffered and died in our place of punishment. He shed His blood from His wounds, in God’s forsaken hell on the Cross…for us. Propitiation is a glorious word. The wrath of God against us, was re-directed to Christ on the Cross. He has delivered us from wrath, now and the ultimate wrath to come (1 Thess 1:10).
In summary, we have seen man’s primary needs are related to sin via guilt, enslavement, evil, separation, and wrath. Natural man lives with all of these, but Jesus Christ solves every one of these major problems for believers. Nothing can compare to our needs exposed at the Cross, and nothing can meet our needs like Jesus Christ on the Cross, who went to the Cross as a demonstration of His love for us. He went to the Cross for sinners. Are you a sinner in need of the Cross?
David E. Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
December 21, 2020
