Imagine Jesus Christ hanging on the cross, suffering and dying for your sins. So often, when we think about the cross and even our salvation, we focus on the cross itself. We focus on the nails in His hands and feet. We focus on the physical suffering and the physical pain that Christ endured. This was the picture of my salvation. When I walked down the aisle at Emmanuel Baptist Church when I was 12, this was what I professed to believe as I gave my life to Christ-- that "Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead three days later so that I might have eternal life." While every bit of this is true, I think we're missing the greatest part of the crucifixion of Christ--the most important part.
A few weeks ago, I began reading Radical by David Platt. I felt a strong calling on my life to begin living and growing in my faith and my walk with the Lord. You see, I had been pulled astray from my walk with Christ by influences, situations, and the things of this world, but the most humbling and amazing thing to me was that through my wandering and doubt, He never left my side. So, I began reading Radical, and I couldn't put it down. One day, as I was reading, I read something that knocked me to my knees; something that I had never heard preached from a pulpit, that I had never heard from a Sunday School teacher, that I had never heard at a church camp or conference--it's not about the nails. I re read this passage multiple times to ensure that I understood it. I'll share it with you below:
“What happened at the Cross was not primarily about nails being thrust into Jesus’ hands and feet but about the wrath due your sin and my sin being thrust upon his soul. In that holy moment, all the righteous wrath and justice of God due us came rushing down like a torrent on Christ himself. Some say, “God looked down and could not bear to see the suffering that the soldiers were inflicting on Jesus, so he turned away.” But this is not true. God turned away because he could not bear to see your sin and my sin on his Son.
One preacher described it as if you and I were standing a short hundred yards away from a dam of water ten thousand miles high and ten thousand miles wide. All of a sudden that dam was breached, and a torrential flood of water came crashing toward us. Right before it reached our feet, the ground in front of us opened up and swallowed it all. At the Cross, Christ drank the full cup of the wrath of God, and when he had downed the last drop, he turned the cup over and cried out, “It is finished."
This is the gospel. The just and loving Creator of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful people and sent his Son, God in the flesh, to bear his wrath against sin on the cross and to show his power over sin in the Resurrection so that all who trust in him will be reconciled to God forever.”
Excerpt From: Platt, David. “Radical.” Multnomah, 2010-05-04. iBooks.
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Did you read that?!?! It's not about the nails, or the whips, or the Roman soldiers, or Pilate, or any of the various things we highlight in our Easter programs. The cross and the crucifixion is about Christ enduring the wrath of God for the sins of all mankind. So, think about it for a second--God's wrath-- the same wrath that flooded the Earth due to wickedness, the wrath that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, the wrath that was built for centuries by every sin committed by every human being from Adam and Eve all the way until Christ's return. That wrath. This was the wrath Christ endured on the cross. This was why Christ was sweating blood in the garden. Can you imagine? We sing, "Every sin on Him was laid" but have you ever thought about what that means? He took on God's wrath for US. for you, for me, for every human being that wanders, has wandered, and will ever wander this Earth. That's amazing right there. To me, that gives going to the throne for forgiveness a whole new meaning. You approach the throne through Jesus's blood knowing that your debt has been paid in full. Again, we sing, "Jesus paid it all" but until now, I had no idea of the true price that He paid. We see the picture of the cross. We see the anguish, the nails, the suffering. But do we ever stop to think about the wrath the immeasurable suffering of Christ on that cross as he felt the brunt of God's mighty wrath.
I don't know about you, but this left me eager and longing to tell someone, anyone, the good news. I'd long known that Christ took my place, but I now see it through an entirely different lense.
Praying for you guys always!
-K
