THE CROSS
OF
JESUS CHRIST
“Tetelestai”
“IT IS FINISHED”
John 19:30
“But He was wounded for
our transgressions,
He was bruised for our
iniquities:
the chastisement of our
peace was upon Him;
And with His stripes we
are healed.
All we like sheep have
gone astray;
We turned every one to
his own way;
And the Lord has laid on
Him the iniquity of us all…
Isaiah
53:5-6
THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST
Have you ever stopped to
truly consider what the CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST means? Do you ever consider what truly happened
there when Jesus Christ hung between heaven and earth and endured suffering,
unspeakable shame, and agonizing torture the extent of which no one before or
since has ever suffered? Now some who
are skeptics might ask, how do we know this person Jesus did in fact live and
then die in that way? Man cannot deny
that Jesus in fact existed and died on the cross. The record of His existence is even recorded
in ancient history; but so many have denied and ignored the eternal
significance and meaning of the cross of Jesus Christ.
But, what does the cross mean
to you? Let’s listen to the words from
someone who seemed to have a deep personal understanding of what took place at
the cross; and because of understanding it, came to love the One who hung there
for them - and for you and me as well.
The writer knew the Cross meant suffering and shame:
“On a hill far away
stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and shame.”
Do you know why the cross was
“the emblem of suffering and shame”?
“Then the soldiers of the
governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto Him the whole ban
of soldiers. And they stripped Him, and
put on Him a scarlet robe. And when they
had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His
right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail,
King of the Jews! And they spit upon
Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head, And after that they had
mocked Him, they took the robe off from Him, and put His own raiment on Him,
and led Him away to crucify Him.”
This was some of the
suffering and shame that Jesus endured even BEFORE He was nailed to the
cross. He was stripped before a whole
band of soldiers. They made a joke of
Him. They stuck a crown of thorns upon
His head. They spit upon Him and beat
Him on His head. Then, hanging naked on
the cross before crowds and crowds of people, Jesus endured even more suffering
and shame. Nails were driven into His
hands and feet, the scars of which He still bears as He sits in heaven at the
right hand of His Father. And the bible
says, He shall bear these scars forever in His body!
But the worst suffering and
shame came when the sins of the entire world were placed upon Him. Do you ever suffer because of shame or guilt
for something you have done? Well, Jesus
took upon Himself the guilt and shame and PENALTY for every sin that has ever
been committed. He suffered the penalty
of spiritual death that should have been ours.
The bible says that on the cross, God poured out upon His own Son, who
never committed any sin, all the judgment that should have been ours. Listen to what God did for us through Jesus
Christ and His work on the cross:
“To wit, that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them;”
2Corinthians 5:19
When the payment for our sins
was completed, Jesus proclaimed that
what God had demanded for man’s sin debt to be paid, GOD PROVIDED. Jesus said these words: “IT IS
FINISHED.” John 19:30 What does
the cross mean? It means our debt for
sin has been PAID IN FULL - even if we never accept that it is. Jesus died even for those who will never
accept Him as their Savior. The words: “It is finished.” mean that God is
SATISFIED with Jesus’ work on the cross.
The cross means that there is now NO SACRIFICE that anyone else at all
can make to atone for sins (no person, no priest, no one, not you, not I, NO
ONE at all) because Jesus’ work upon the cross was SUFFICIENT for God. Listen to what God’s word says about this:
“the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL.”
Hebrews 10”10.
The cross means FREEDOM from
the guilt and penalty of sin. And
after the payment was made, Jesus then gave up His spirit, He died
physically. BUT, after 3 days in the
ground, He rose from the dead. Victory
over sin and death had been won! Now the
bible says that ANYONE at all who accepts Jesus as Savior, receives eternal forgiveness of sins and
eternal life - forever.
What does the cross of Jesus
Christ mean? It means that we are all
sinners accountable to God, not for our sin any longer, but for WHAT WE THINK
OF God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who was crucified there for us. God’s word now says:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you shall be saved…” Acts 16:31.
And whom God saves, He saves
FOREVER. The cross stands forever as God’s
testimony of love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, wisdom and power. Once more, listen to what the Cross meant to
that writer mentioned above:
“And I
love that old cross, where the dearest and best,
for a
world of lost sinners was slain.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my
trophies at last I lay down.
I will
cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it one day for a crown.”
What does the cross of Jesus
Christ mean to you?
“And they said, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you shall be saved…” Acts
16:31
“For by grace are you
saved through faith: and that
not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God;
Not of works, lest any
man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
“…and him that comes to
me I will in no wise
cast out.” John
6:37b