Thursday, March 25, 2021
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses. By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14
The Cross Is the Answer
How does a Holy God reconcile His Holiness and His love for
sinners? Our God is Holy and because He is Holy, His response to sin is wrath –
for the wages of sin is death… At the same time, what our Holy God wants more
than anything is to be reconciled with us – His Children – sinners. How can this work? We are sinners and He is
holy. He cannot look on sin so He cannot look on us right? He wanted to be able
to look on us and love us, therefore He sent His son to take the punishment for
our sins and cover us in His shed blood. The blood of Jesus washes us clean repeatedly
(over and over and over) so we can have a relationship so we can have a
relationship with Holy God.
The cross is our only hope. Without the cross we would not
have salvation. Jesus suffered God’s wrath for the whole world on the cross
before we ever even chose Him. He sealed our salvation and reserved our spot in
His kingdom. God’s love covered His wrath on that day and every day since then.
His divine justice was satisfied and a price was paid that we could never have
paid. And now, as His children, we can receive the lavish love and forgiveness
He pours out.
We received the gift of salvation and God’s love at the
cross, but we also received the power of the cross and resurrection. Those who hung Jesus on the cross believed He
was powerless, but they quickly found out they were so very wrong. They made fun of Him and taunted Him for not
getting Himself down if He was truly the Son of God. And those who passed by
derided him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the
temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the
cross!” Mark 15:29-30 But He stayed so
that we could be free. The power of what Jesus did on the cross and His resurrection is more powerful than any sin that ever grips us. It is more powerful than Satan or any demon forces he unleashes. It is more powerful than death. It is the answer for everything. It changed everything for us when Jesus was crucified and it still changes everything for us every single day.
When you think about God's wrath, think about the cross. The cross is where God's wrath for us was covered by God's love and the blood of Jesus.
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved
by him from the wrath of God. Romans 5:9
