Do you remember the 'THE OLD RUGGED CROSS' as we celebrate this year's Easter?
This familiar old hymn, The Old Rugged Cross was written in the 1912 by Reverend George Bennard, brings us to the central theme of our Christian faith: the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For it was on that Cross that Jesus took upon his body the weight of humanity’s sins (yours and mine) so that through faith in Him as the son of God, we might inherit His righteousness and come before the throne of Almighty God.
Jesus knew that the wrath of God for the punishment of our sins was more than we could bear and through His love for us, He bore our punishment upon His body. On that Cross, one of the greatest events in history took place: *the great exchange*…my sins and their rightful punishment for His righteousness.
As we approach Easter, we see the shadow of the Cross over us and realize what a marvelous gift of salvation that has been given us through grace.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! *All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."*
2 Corinthians 5:17-20
Our personal reconciliation to God must occur first; this relationship is at the core of LIFE: here now present and eternal. So let us look again to the Cross and its lessons.
For it is at the Cross that we come face to face with our sinful lives. It is at the Cross that we receive salvation. It is at the Cross that our lives find their true meaning. It is at the Cross that we meet God, in all His majesty and righteousness. It is at the Cross we face our eternity. It is on the Cross that we witness Christ’s spiritual suffering for our sins. It is on the Cross that Christ was stripped bare of His righteousness before His Father.
Oh, the pain that our Lord and Savior suffered as He realized that He was separated from His Father. He was experiencing the torments of Hell for you and me. As Jesus hung there on that Cross, He forsook all His power as God that could have set Him free of all that suffering. Yet He bore that suffering because of His great love for mankind. He bore our sins, the sins of all mankind on that Cross. As Christ did this for us, our sins were stripped away and He gave us His robe of righteousness to cover our nakedness before a Holy God.
Through grace, we witness the awesome, incredible great exchange. When He died bearing our sins, we became reconciled to God clothed in Christ’s righteousness. With Christ’s death, the huge curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the common people in the temple was ripped from top to bottom. No longer was a priest needed to yearly offer sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people. The barrier between God and all mankind was no longer. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice, once, and for all time. He is our great high priest, our advocate before our Father God. Now we can freely enter into the presence of God for we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Then, on the third day, Jesus arose from the grave for He had defeated death; He arose victorious over death (sin)!
Embrace the truth and the power of the resurrection! Do you believe in Easter and the resurrection of Jesus? If you do, then you can believe that your career, business, investment, education, ministry et cetera can be resurrected and put back on the path to recovery. Remember that our God is in the resurrection business and He has His eye on you, His faithful servant and child.
May you meet God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit at the Cross this Easter season as you stand, praying for the healing of your family, church and country.