“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2)
Introduction
The value you place on something or someone determines what you get out of it. If you place high value on your relationships, you will get the best out of them, and this is literally true for virtually everything in this world. Apostle Paul in the scripture above expresses the high premium he placed on the cross of Jesus. George Bennard (1873-1958) in his classic, the Old Rugged Cross, said he would cherish the old rugged cross; for him the cross of Jesus Christ holds a high attraction. Below are some reasons why we should place a high premium on the cross of Jesus where was crucified:
The cross is where both the compassion and judgment of God collided: Because sin had to be punished, Jesus had to become man to pay the penalty on our behalf for the sins of mankind. God because of His love for mankind dealt a hard blow on Jesus on the cross for mankind to be saved (Romans 5:8). On the other hand, the anger of God on sin was also displayed at Golgotha where Jesus died. God couldn’t behold the sin Jesus bore on that cross, so He turned away and pitch darkness fell on the land from 12 noon to 3pm (Luke 23:44-45).
The cross is the place of salvation: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). The cross of Jesus is representative of the bronze serpent pole that Moses erected in the wilderness. The Israelites were being bitten by snakes and the cure for the snake bite was for them to look up and behold the bronze pole (Numbers 2:4-8). The cure for the toxic power of sin is to look up and believe in the cross of Jesus.
The cross is the place of crucifixion: “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be SLAVES OF SIN”(Romans 6:6). When Jesus hung on the cross we were united with Him, and the old Adamic carnal nature in us was crucified with Him. Every true child of God is no more in captivity to sin. We are no more under the tyranny, rulership and control of Mister Sinful Nature. We are no longer under obligation to obey our old sinful nature (Romans 8:12).
The cross is the place of death: “And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last” (Mark 15:37). Jesus died on the cross around 3pm after being nailed to the tree for six hours. The more we value and embrace the cross, the more the allurement, pleasure and fascination of the world wane. Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:14 said, “Because of that cross my interest in all the attractive things of the world was killed long ago, and the world’s interest in me is also dead” (TLB). When we fix our gaze on the cross, its attraction trumps the attraction of the world; likewise, when the attraction of the world fascinates us so much, we get distracted from the cross and its wonders.
The cross is the essence of Christianity: Without Good Friday, there wouldn’t be resurrection morning. Because Jesus rose, every child of God has the hope of resurrection. The same power that went into the grave and brought Jesus out is still available till today to help us live godly lives, rout out demons, heal the sick, revive dreams and businesses, etc. There is hope of eternal life because Jesus rose.
Conclusion
What attraction does the cross of Jesus hold for you? Receive Jesus today and visit the cross daily. Have a blessed new month!
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