“When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, ‘This man truly was the Son of God!’” ~ Mark 15:39 (NLT)
We cannot be Christians without the Cross. The Cross tells us sin has been “crossed out” and dealt with. The Cross tells us what a holy God thinks about our sinful nature—it had to be judged. Someone had to be punished for our sin. It was either going to be us or a substitute. The Cross gave us our substitute: Jesus Christ, who died in our place.
Most of the world doesn’t even know what it is doing to Jesus Christ. To count Him of no worth, to misunderstand His work at the Cross, to live as if He had never lived or died, to reject His claims to be master of our lives, or to relegate Him to a brief hour on Easter or Christmas is to despise Him as surely as the soldiers crucified Him on that hill far away. To reject Jesus is to throw away the only chance for forgiveness.
Jesus died in our place on a wooden cross two thousand years ago so we could be forgiven. We only have to accept that forgiveness. We have to accept the Cross. The Roman army officer realized that something extraordinary had happened and said, “This man truly was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).
We can attend church regularly, teach Sunday school, and even sing in the choir, yet if we refuse to accept the Cross, we will be shut out of heaven. You and I cannot get to heaven except through the door shaped like a cross.
Suggested Reading: Mark 15:21-41
PRAYER
Lord, give me a fresh vision of the Cross, and all that You accomplished by becoming the substitute for my sin. Let my life reflect a deep understanding of Your sacrifice. Show me new ways to make You the complete master of my life. Amen.
