What Happened on the Cross
Dear Friend,
Every spring the message of the resurrection bursts forth from the cold death grip of winter Because of the good news of the resurrection, you and I are free to absorb and appropriate Philippians 4:6, where it tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
I have learned that I will never be able to grasp the plain truth of this verse as I try to figure the how, when, and where of the needed miracle. At some point I must turn loose of all anxiety related to the need I am facing. Instead of worrying I am required by this mandate of Scripture to take the need to God with thanksgiving, knowing that He will meet not only this need but any I may face in the future. Because of the resurrection, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NIV)
Now we need to ask the Holy Spirit to unlock the divine treasure chest of mysteries that took place on that cross on Golgotha over 2000 years ago. That Jesus died on the cross is history, but that He died for our sins is gospel, or good news
What a declaration of the love of God the cross shows us. The Son of God went to the cross to die for our sins. Then He is risen from the dead to provide us the opportunity to live forever in the presence of the love of God.
Romans 8:34-39 explains in detail this awesome love demonstrated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:34-39 NIV)
Christ’s victory on the cross can be our victory as we let the love of God and His forgiveness flow into our lives. That is the message that the New Testament proclaims.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the physical revelation of the power of God. It shows us that God is willing and able to meet every need. “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31,32 NIV)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described the power of the resurrection in our community in this way, “the cross is the eternal expression of the length to which God will go to restore broken community. The resurrection is a symbol of God’s triumph over all the forces that seek to block community.”
“The brokenness of our community can be found in the face of each hurting, homeless and hungry person. It can be found in the loneliness of the jail cell, the nursing home, and the hospital bed. This brokenness is all around us.” Dr. King further stated, “We have lived under the agony and darkness of Good Friday with the conviction that one day the heightened glow of Easter would emerge on the horizon.”
How you and I need to thank God for Easter. Instead of trying to save myself, because of Christ’s victory over sin, death and the devil, I can now put my energy into enjoying God and sharing His love with others. My standing of righteousness is the result of the work of Jesus and not mine. “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19 NIV).
Regardless of how I feel on a given day, the unrelenting grace God provided on the cross through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ remains the same. “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous and He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins…” (1 John 2:1-2 NIV).
Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 15:54 (NIV), “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
The British Theologian Alister McGrath explains it this way, “Just as death could be seen as the culmination of all that is wrong with the world, so the resurrection can be seen as a pledge of God’s ultimate victory over the disorder
which plagues His creation on account of the fall. Death is the greatest enemy, and yet death has been defeated by God through Christ. And so, we are given hope that the remainder of the powers and forces that confront us are similarly being defeated and their powers broken.”
When my mother died I was able to look into her casket and know this was not the end. It was the beginning of the glorious inheritance that she had waited for, for ninety one years. It was because I knew that she believed in the fact that Jesus died for her sins and then rose from the dead, that she was now celebrating this new life with the resurrected Christ. The resurrection of Jesus Christ spells freedom. It frees us from a fear of death and allows us to really live life to the fullest in service unto God.
When I accept the truth of Ephesians 1:20 when it says, “He (God the Father) raised Him (Christ Jesus) from the dead” I will accept the fact that dying is not an end but a beginning. Christ’s resurrection proves that God will not leave me for dead but will raise me up both now and for all eternity. This is what Romans 6:4 (NIV) is declaring when it says, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
The death Christ experienced on the cross is also the death to which I am called. It is a death to myself centered life and a resurrection to the will and purposes of God for my life. This is what unites me to Christ. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5 NIV).
Why is God on the cross? He is there so you and I can be free from the curse of sin and the hopelessness it brings both now and for all eternity. Ephesians 2:4-6 (NIV) puts it this way. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,.”
The fact is because God was on the cross dying for our sins, we have been transformed from sinners to saints. That is the good news that once we believe and receive it, we can’t help but tell everyone about it.
In the incarnation God had taken upon Himself the burden of human sin. God made Christ who had no sin to become sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). This is further explained in 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV) where it says, “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.”
The cross and the resurrection mark the dawn of a new era in the history of the world. It shows how to live and die in hope. Death was swallowed up in victory. Sin is defeated. The resurrection demonstrated God’s presence, purpose, and power. The empty tomb triumphed over doubt, hopelessness, and despair to the extent we can now boldly declare there is hope because Christ is risen. It is this hope that allows us to further say, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:20 NIV).
Because of such hope thriving within us, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV).
What happened on the cross changes everything both now and for all eternity. Where there was once homelessness and hostility there can now be peace. Racial, economic, political, and social barriers are broken down because of the love of Christ and power of His resurrection flowing in us and through us.
It isn’t easy to proclaim the radical good news that resulted in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Yet it is this revolutionary act, resulting in the resurrection of Jesus that offers us life in the midst of this culture of Death. For we are told, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 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. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-15 NIV).
Wow, that’s good news! Good News that we have been entrusted with to share with others in word and deed. The resurrection is more than just good news it’s the greatest news in human history. It means that Jesus Christ died on the cross
for our sins and then rose from the dead to give us new life both now and for all eternity.
Its this good news of the resurrection which empowers us to live our lives in direct service to the least of these so that, in the not-too-distant future, we may hear the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, say to us, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:34-40 NIV). That is good news.
Never forget that the goodness of the gospel is a result of the fact that Christ is Risen. Jesus Christ has proclaimed, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mark 13:31 NIV).
To have faith means to believe in Jesus and “stand firm to the end” even as our faith is challenged and opposed. Jesus has told us, “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mark 13:913 NIV).
Such enduring to the end does not earn salvation for us but marks us as already saved. This assurance of salvation provided through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9) will sustain us going in spite of the circumstances. Remember, “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the
one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:4-5 NIV). The good news is because Christ is risen you and I have not only hope but also victory both now and for all eternity.
My dear brothers and sisters, I want to encourage you through the good news of the Resurrection in every way to “stand firm.” Remember “we live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV).
I pray you are beginning to understand what Paul means when he says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 NIV).
Now I must challenge you to, “be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV).
Now let’s go forth and live in the light of the good news that Christ is Risen, as we let our “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 NIV).
Yours in Christ,
Larry Rice
