CROSS PURPOSES

By Rick Mathes

Luke 23:33 ³³ When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

Two thousand plus years later and we are still marveling over the Cross that became our Lord’s throne as He gave His all for all of His. That same Cross attracts and repels and our world hasn’t been the same since. It is a place for the hopeless to receive mercy which for the lost world just doesn’t make sense. They can be so near their salvation and yet be so far; a real enigma.

You have to admit that His crucifixion was a strange event. Come on, God was nailed t a tree and died? How could such a thing happen? Why would you want a dead god? Well glory to Him, He rose from the dead and that makes it all make sense, like Josh McDowell wrote in “The Evidence Deserves a Verdict.” But no, who wants facts that oppose their preconceived conclusion? Only those He causes to understand will ever receive the Holy Spirit and accept this atonement and guarantee of our eternal life.

It was all unequaled suffering that is not known in our day. We just don’t understand the horror our Lord suffered mentally in the garden and physically on the death stake.

His sacrifice met the just standard Father God has set for the forgiveness of sin. He could not have put the bar any higher. The death of His own Son was the ultimate display of His love for His created.

It was the forgiven thief that was the first to welcome our returning Lord to His throne. Our Savior took three days to set the captives free but the thief couldn’t wait. He said, “Today you will be in paradise.”

This was a totally peerless example of God’s justice, forgiveness and love. There has never been an equal nor will there ever be. Just imagine: He died deader than a door-nail and raised Himself up to life! A dead corpse decided on His own to come back to life. This has got to leave you breathless and in complete submission to His Lordship and your hope of eternal life in the New Jerusalem.