“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me....” —
Galatians:2:20
Anti-Christian elements in the secular world would like very much to
do away with all public display of the cross. Yet it is still seen atop
tens of thousands of churches and in religious processions, often made
of gold and even studded with precious stones. Most frequently, however,
the cross is displayed as popular jewelry hanging around necks or
dangling from ears. One wonders by what strange alchemy the
bloodstained, rugged cross of torment upon which Christ suffered and
died for our sins became so sanitized and glamorized.
No matter how it is displayed, even as jewelry or graffiti, the
cross is universally recognized as the symbol of Christianity—and
therein lies a serious problem.
The cross itself rather than
what transpired upon it 19 centuries ago has become the focus of attention, resulting in several grave errors. Its very
shape
, though devised by cruel pagans for punishing criminals, has become
holy and mysteriously imbued with magic properties, fostering the
delusion that displaying a cross somehow provides divine protection.
Millions superstitiously keep a cross in their homes or on their person
or make “the sign of the cross” to ward off evil and frighten demons
away. Demons fear Christ, not a cross; and any who have not been
crucified with Him display a cross in vain.
Paul declared, “For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (
1 Cor:1:18). So the power of the cross lies not in its
display but in its
preaching ; and that preaching has nothing to do with the peculiar shape of the cross but with
Christ’s death upon it as declared in the gospel. The gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (
Rom:1:16), not to those who wear or otherwise display or make the sign of the cross.
What is this gospel that saves? Paul states explicitly: “I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you...by which also ye are
saved,...how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according
to the scriptures...” (
1 Cor:15:1-4). It comes as a shock to many that the gospel includes no mention of a
cross
. Why? Because a cross was not essential to our salvation. Christ had
to be crucified to fulfill the prophecy concerning the manner of the
Messiah’s death (Ps 22), not because the cross itself had anything to do
with our redemption. What was essential was the shedding of Christ’s
blood in His death as foreshadowed in the Old Testament sacrifices, for
“without shedding of blood is no remission [of sins]” (
Heb:9:22); “for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (
Lev:17:11).
This is not to say that the cross itself has no meaning. That Christ
was nailed to a cross reveals the horrifying depths of evil innate
within every human heart. To be nailed naked to a cross and displayed
publicly, to die slowly with taunts and jeers filling the air, was the
most excruciatingly painful and humiliating death that could be devised.
And that is exactly what puny man did to his Creator! We ought to fall
on our faces in repentant horror, overcome with shame, for it was not
only the screaming, bloodthirsty mob and derisive soldiers but our sins
that nailed Him there!
So the cross lays bare for all eternity the awful truth that beneath
the polite facade of culture and education the heart of man is
“deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (
Jer:17:9),
capable of evil beyond comprehension even against the God who created
and loves him and patiently provides for him. Does any man doubt the
wickedness of his own heart? Let him look at the cross and recoil in
revulsion from that self within! No wonder the proud humanist hates the
cross!
At the same time that the cross lays bare the evil in man, however,
it also reveals the goodness, mercy, and love of God as nothing else
could. In the face of such unspeakable evil, such diabolical hatred
vented against Him, the Lord of glory, who could destroy this earth and
all upon it with a word, allowed Himself to be mocked and falsely
accused and scourged and nailed to that cross! Christ “humbled himself,
and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross ” (
Phil:2:8).
When man was doing his worst, God responded in love, not merely
yielding Himself to His tormenters but bearing our sins and taking the
judgment we justly deserved.
Therein lies another serious problem with the symbol, and especially
with Catholicism’s crucifix, which portrays Christ perpetually on the
cross, as does the Mass. The emphasis is focused upon the
physical suffering
of Christ as though that paid for our sins. On the contrary, that was
what man did to Him and could only condemn us all. Our redemption came
about through: His bruising by Jehovah and “his soul [being made] an
offering for sin” (Is 53:10); God laying “on him the iniquity of us all”
(v. 6); and His bearing “our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Pt
2:24).
The death of Christ is irrefutable evidence that God in
righteousness must punish sin—the penalty must be paid or there can be
no forgiveness. That God's Son had to endure the cross even after crying
to His Father in agonizing contemplation of bearing our sins, (“[I]f it
be possible, let this cup pass from me” — Mt 26:39), is proof that
there was no other way mankind could be redeemed. When Christ, the
sinless, perfect man and beloved of His Father, took our place, God’s
judgment fell upon Him in all its fury. What then must be the judgment
of those who reject Christ and refuse the pardon offered in Him! We must
warn them!
At the same time and in the same breath that we sound the alarm of
coming judgment, we must also proclaim the good news that redemption has
been provided and God’s forgiveness is offered for the vilest of
sinners. Nothing more evil could be conceived than crucifying God! Yet
it was from the cross that Christ in infinite love and mercy prayed,
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). So
the cross proves, too, that there is forgiveness for the worst of sins
and sinners.
Tragically, however, the vast majority of mankind rejects Christ.
And here we face another danger: that in our sincere desire to see souls
saved we adjust the message of the cross to avoid offending the world.
Paul warned that care had to be taken not to preach the cross “with the
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect”
(
1 Cor:1:17).
But surely the gospel can be explained in a new way that is more
appealing to the ungodly than those old-time preachers presented it.
Perhaps today's techniques for packaging and selling could be used to
clothe the cross in music or a beat or entertaining presentation such as
the world uses that would give the gospel a new relevancy or at least
familiarity. Psychology, too, can be drawn upon to provide a more
positive approach. Let us not confront sinners with their sin and the
gloom and doom of coming judgment, but explain that their behavior isn’t
really their fault so much as it is the result of abuse they have
suffered. After all, are we not all victims? And didn’t Christ come to
rescue us from victimization and our low view of ourselves and to
restore our self-esteem and self-confidence? Blend the cross with
psychology and the world will beat a path to our churches, filling them
with new members! Such is today’s new evangelicalism.
Confronting such perversion, A. W. Tozer wrote: “If I see aright,
the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New
Testament. It is rather a new bright ornament upon the bosom of a
self-assured and carnal Christianity....The old cross slew men; the new
cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses.
The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross
encourages it....The flesh, smiling and confident, preaches and sings
about the cross; before that cross it bows and toward that cross it
points with carefully staged histrionics—but upon that cross it will not
die, and the reproach of the cross it stubbornly refuses to bear.”
Here is the crux of the issue. The gospel is designed to do to self
what the cross did to those who hung upon it: put it utterly to death.
This is the good news in which Paul exulted: “I am crucified with
Christ!” The cross is not a fire escape from hell to heaven but a place
where we die in Christ. Only then can we experience “the power of His
resurrection” (
Phil:3:10),
for only the dead can be resurrected. What joy that promise brings to
those who long to escape the evil of their own hearts and lives; and
what fanaticism it seems to those who want to cling to self and who
therefore preach what Tozer called the “new cross.”
Paul declared that in Christ the Christian is crucified to the world and the world to him (
Gal:6:14).
That is strong language! This world hated and crucified the Lord whom
we now love—and in that act it has crucified us as well. We have taken
our stand with Christ. Let the world do to us what it did to Him if it
will, but we will never again join in its selfish lusts and ambitions,
its godless standards, its proud determination to build a utopia without
God and its neglect of eternity.
To believe in Christ is to admit that the death He endured for us is
exactly what we deserve. Therefore, when Christ died, we died in Him:
“[W]e thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead [i.e.,
all have died]: and that he died for all, that they which live should
not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and
rose again” (
2 Cor:5:14-15).
“But I’m not dead,“ is the earnest response. “Self is still very
much alive.” Paul, too, acknowledged, “For the good that I would I do
not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (
Rom:7:19).
Then what does “I am crucified with Christ” really mean in daily life?
It doesn’t mean that we are automatically “dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (
Rom:6:11). We still have a will and choices to make.
Then what power does the Christian have over sin that the Buddhist
or good moralist doesn’t have? First of all, we have peace with God
“through the blood of his cross” (
Col:1:20).
The penalty has been paid in full, so we no longer try to live a good
life out of fear that otherwise we will be damned, but out of love for
the One who has saved us. “We love him, because he first loved us" (
1 Jn:4:19); and love moves the lover to please the One loved at any cost. “If a man love me, he will keep my words” (
Jn:14:23),
our Lord said. The more we contemplate the Cross and meditate upon the
price our Lord paid for our redemption, the more we will love Him; and
the more we love Him, the more we will desire to please Him.
Secondly, instead of struggling to overcome sin, we accept by faith
that we died in Christ. Dead men can't be tempted. Our faith is not in
our ability to act as crucified persons but in the fact that Christ was
crucified once and for all in full payment of the penalty for our sins.
Thirdly, after declaring that he was “crucified with Christ,” Paul
added, “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life I now live in the flesh I live by [faith in the Son of God], who
loved me, and gave himself for me” (
Gal:2:20). The just “live by faith” (
Rom:1:17;
Gal:3:11;
Heb:10:38) in Christ; but the non-Christian can only put his faith in himself or in some self-help program or phony guru.
Tragically, the Catholic’s faith is not in the redemption Christ
accomplished once and for all upon the cross, but in the Mass, which
allegedly is the same sacrifice as on the cross and imparts forgiveness
and new life each time it is repeated. It is claimed that the priest
transforms the wafer and wine into the literal body and blood of Christ,
thereby making Christ’s sacrifice on the cross perpetually present.
There is no way, however, that a past event can be made present.
Moreover, if the past event accomplished its purpose, then there is no
reason for wanting to perpetuate it in the present, even if that could
be done. For example, if a benefactor pays a creditor the debt someone
owes, the debt is gone forever. It would be meaningless to speak of
re-presenting or reenacting or perpetuating the payment in the present.
One could well
remember with gratitude the payment that was made, but no
reenactment would have any virtue since there no longer remains any debt to be paid.
As Christ died, He cried in triumph, “It is finished,” using a Greek
expression that meant that the debt had been paid in full. Yet the new
Catechism of the Catholic
Church says, “As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation
for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or
temporal benefits from God” (par 1414, p 356). That is like trying to
continue paying installments of a debt that has been paid in full. The
Mass is a denial of the sufficiency of the payment Christ made for sin
upon the cross! The Catholic lives with the uncertainty of wondering how
many more Masses it may take to get him to heaven.
Many Protestants live in similar uncertainty, fearful that they may
yet be lost if they fail to live a good enough life or lose their faith
or turn their backs upon Christ. There is a blessed finality to the
cross that delivers us from such insecurity. Christ need never be
crucified again; nor can those who have been “crucified with Christ” be
“uncrucified” and then “recrucified”! Paul declared: “For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God” (
Col:3:3). What assurance for time and for eternity!
TBC (http://www.thebereancall.org/content/finality-cross)
Whenever
I have preached through the story of Jesus' birth, I am struck with the
simplicity and profundity of the Christian gospel. You can see it from
the very beginning. It's right there in what the angel said to Joseph,
"You shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people
from their sins" (