It is Easter weekend and my instagram feed is full of some great images and proclamations of faith. 50% have gone with a simple message 'the cross = love' using just three symbols ✝=♥. What they MEAN is true, BUT the statement on it own is vey, very far from true.
I am torn on whether this type of expression is helpful or not. Christians on the whole like to proclaim the GOD OF LOVE. He is absolutely the universal force of love in its most true and powerful form. But He is also a judge, a law giver, a punisher and so much more. My concern is that this is part of the general move of our modern church to make God more palatable. I question whether we as the church dumb God down to a year round Santa in the sky who throws down love, free candy and farts rainbows.
The cross certainly was not seen by Jesus as a symbol of love. In fact He was quite rightly terrified by it . The cross was a sign of Roman authority and of the harshest sentence reserved for the worst anti-imperialists. The cross stood for power and judgement. It was a symbol of the Roman world super power and that they had authority to judge anyone and everyone.
Jesus was accused of claiming He was The King, this crime was nailed above His head so people could see the charge. He was guilt as charged and had indeed said that He was King of the Jews. This is what Christ means, it is greek for King, Messiah is Jewish for King. So really we should refer to Jesus not as Jesus Christ but Christ Jesus, KING JESUS! He was tortured and murdered as a form of capital punishment for claiming to be a King.
The cross was so gruesome that it was rarely used on any Roman. It was reserved for slaves who disobeyed as an attempt to terrify other slaves in to submission. (FYI Roman slaves were primarily caucasian). The cross stands for death, it had been perfected over 500 years to elongate death and ensure the spectacle was truly harrowing. The person was usually beaten and tortured and then nailed through hands and feet to a T shape or the cross shape we often see. The cross shape was to provide a suitable place to place the judgement 'over them', quite literally. They were stripped naked usually and hung in a public place so as to cause the maximum shame. They were guarded so that as they cried for help their loved ones would be unable to do anything except look on in horrific turmoil as they slowly agonisingly died. Death could take from a few hours to several days!!
Jesus is the only man in history to come back to life after being killed on a cross and staying dead for 3 days. This miracle is called the resurrection. It is important as though Jesus died for out sin a we will talk about in a moment, the resurrection was evidence that He was more than a man. He was God in flesh, God incarnate, He had the authority to lay down His life AND to take is back up. The death of Jesus is ONLY meaningful as a cosmic changing event because of WHO died. Plenty haver died on a cross, millions have given their lives in the place of others. The resurrection proves what Jesus' life had suggested and that is WHO had given their life. He was and is God, the Word active in the creation of the universe and the Word which holds the universe together. Jesus said no less than 21 times that he would raise on the 3rd day...! This fits with prophetic patterns throughout the Bible. In one amazing example of His power preparing people to understand WHO He is Jesus heard His friend Lazurus had died. He didn't go straight away, instead He waited TWO MORE days..! He then went and spoke to Lazurus' sister Martha. Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again.", she replied I believe he will in resurrection (referring to heaven) Jesus then said Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?". This amazing declaration of His power and authority was clearly a divine claim. Martha responded with one of the direct confessions of Jesus being God. "Yes, Lord," she replied, "I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."(see Bible verses at bottom!)
Ok so why this whole thing?
Why was Jesus willing to be brutally killed on a cross and then rise from the dead?
Easter IS ABOUT Judgement.
Humanity is not perfect, hopefully that doesn't need to be expanded on! The very best of us still get it wrong and usually hurt others in the process. Getting it wrong big or small is called sin. It means literally to miss the mark.
God created us for relationship with Him, not just on earth but for eternity. We see the arrival of Sin in the first book of the Bible when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and let pride rule their choices to try and be gods for themselves. They ate from the tree. When this happened we see another tree appear on the horizon millenniums in the future, this second tree being the one that Jesus would die on. Sins mounted agains each of us throughout or lives and they have to be acknowledged and paid for. God says the 'result of sin is death'. God introduced from the first family the concept of sacrifice, a method to cover/pay the consequences of sin. This was a temporary measure. The ultimate answer was one enormous sacrifice, one so valuable that it would pay the cost of sin for all time. No animal or human or anything on earth could be so significant. The answer was that God gave His very own son, the most valuable thing He had. Jesus shouted aloud on the cross before He died, 'IT IS FINISHED!' finally the battle agains sin had been won. This would be a sacrifice that would never need to be repeated, it would count for all, forever!
Unlike the other high priests, he (JESUS) does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. - Hebrews 7:27.
There is great irony in the tool of judgement of the world power, the cross, was the tool used by God to satisfy the judgement of God once and for all. Paul describes this in the Bible so well saying that God made a 'spectacle' of the whole thing.
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. - Colossians 2:15
'God so loved the world' that is everyone past, present and future that He paid the cost for us. The story of the whole Bible is God and His mission to get His family back. We are all now able to be counted as sons and daughters of God because Jesus has paid the price of sin with His own death. The blood shed on the cross was shed for you and me. Jesus declared this himself as He established the Lord's supper which we take as wine and bread at church regularly to remember. When God the father looks at us those who are 'in Christ' bear the mark of His blood to show our sins have been paid for. He championed over death itself by His resurrection so we can be sure that we too will have resurrection in to an eternity with God. THIS IS THE GLORIOUS MESSAGE OF EASTER!
Christians are those who say to God; 'thank you for your sacrifice, please let the blood shed at the cross count for me too! My old life is forfeit, I will now live for you.'
This is what it means to be 'born again' there is a symbolic enactment of this in baptism (being submerged under water) which Jesus initiated for those to go through as part of following Him so they would have a defining moment where they publicly enacted the death of their old life and were 'reborn' in to a lew life in christ.
SOOOOO!!!
THE CROSS DOES NOT EQUAL LOVE ✝≠♥
WHAT JESUS DID ON THE CROSS EQUALS LOVE
JESUS EQUALS LOVE 🤴🏽=♥
I am not trying to split hairs what I want is for you to understand that our God of love is also a God of justice. That the wages of sin mean that you and I will be separate from God for eternity (described as hell) unless our sins are paid for. Easter is an act of immeasurable love by the God of love to make a way for us to be united with Him. He endured the brutal judgement stacked up against us on our behalf. When Jesus shouted 'it if finished' He meant it, it was all done. This was a cosmic moment in time that changed everything. He did this all so could call us home as sons and daughters! THIS IS THE GOSPEL - meaning 'good news'.
I am guilty, I have every wrong of my life counting against me and it will lead to separation from God eternally. Jesus died on my behalf on the cross. He rose to show that He has authority to give me eternal life. I only need ask Him for His sacrifice to count for me and then live for Him. My sin is wiped away by His blood!
The greatest act of love in the history of the world is only meaningful to those whom acknowledge it. Imagine someone went through a huge elaborate act of love to woo someone and it was simply ignored. They would not have accepted this love. The love was there and on offer but meaningless to the would be recipient. So it is with the cross. This act of love must be accepted and acted on for it to have meaning for you! If you haven't ever acted on God's love for you then I encourage you to do so. Not only will it mean you have a relationships with God now but that your sin debt is paid and you have eternal life to look forward to. Please message me through this site, insta or whatever or alternatively speak with a christian friend. It is God's desire that non should perish, hence the whole thing, and it is my desire too!!
So if you post a ✝ = ♥ that it totally cool and I think perhaps it is a conversation starter but my encouragement is not to don't reduce the event to another 'God is a big Santa' and it is all about 'fluffy love'. Every celebrity declares their love for all on their social media feed, brands talk about loving their customers and so on. God demonstrated what pure love is, when we were His enemies He endured the torture of the cross to pay the ultimate price for our sin. Why? Because He loves us extravagantly.
JUST READ HOW WONDERFUL THIS IS!
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (us all). Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation (back in His family). - Romans 5:6-11
HAPPY EASTER - I PRAY YOU KNOW AFRESH THE WONDER OF THE GOD'S LOVE FOR YOU AND THIS TURNS YOU TO HIM IN WORSHIP AND AWE!!!
Big love ♥️
Joss
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. - Colossians 1:16
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. - John 1:3
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. - Colossians 1:17
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” - John 11:17-27