"The Christ of the Cross"

Let me share with you just a few words to think about and put some serious thought into all this. Jesus did not die for nothing! His death was not forced on Him by the physical power of people. He laid down His life freely because He chose to (John 10:17-18). Just think, Jesus gave up His life of His own free voluntary will, knowing the horrors He would face, just because He wanted to save us from our sinfulness. He is our REDEEMER! When Jesus arrived by birth into our world, He was on a death mission and He knew it. How would you like to know ahead of time that you would suffer a dark, horrible fate that would send you into an eternal world of gloom and doom just to save someone else? The prostitute, the drug user, the rapist, the murderers, the liars, the adulterers and those who commit indecent and vile acts would be the beneficiaries of your dying. We run from such people, especially if they are into a depth of sin we have never touched. We remove ourselves thinking how much better off we are than they, yet in all this, Jesus voluntarily laid down His life as a ransom, to buy them (and us) back. Look how much different He is than us!

The cross of Christ dealt with our sin FIRST! After the dealing with our sin, then there is example. He came to "seek and save the lost." He came to save "the sinners." (I Tim. 1:15) He came "to destroy the works of the devil." (I John 3:8) In all this, there is one theme that needs to hit our hearts: WE ALL HAVE A SIN PROBLEM! Christ took our sin problem, went voluntarily to death to deal with it and that is a love that should reach to the depth of the human soul! Too many are trying to live by example without the cross. There is no newness of life, no sharing in God until we come to the Christ of the cross. When we see the relationship of Jesus and His cross to our unholiness, then we will begin to perceive the greatness of His love for us. Seeing His love, His death mission because we are unholy will bring you to your knees and place within you a desire to be like Him. "My sin - Oh, the bliss of the glorious tho't - My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more: Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul!"