As we have progressed through the plan of God, and have seen the beauty of His holiness, the power of His sovereignty, and the wonders of His love, we must also realize that the crux of history, the power of conformity to His image, and the central truth of all ages is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His cross, and His rising, are both the sorrow and joy, the sad ending and bright new beginning, and the setting and rising sun of the hope of humanity. Truly, all things center in Jesus Christ. He is in the process of becoming everything to everyone, and at the culmination of the ages and the restitution of all things, He shall truly be All in all. We can speak of Him as "King of kings and Lord of lords" so casually at times, yet consider what glory He merits, that as the great kings that God is refining into His image are a great nation, Christ is King over those glorious kings. As these lords of His choosing are His special people, He is even Lord of these lords. And as the priests of God learn their role through much suffering, and through the working of the cross, Jesus Christ, as the only way to the Father, is the great High priest of our calling.

It is a hard heart that can approach the hill of Golgotha carelessly. The scene of man’s redemption is so fraught with both tragedy and triumph that it tears at our hearts with both deep sorrow and tremendous joy. The scene of Christ’s voluntary affliction, His knowing sacrifice, is so mysterious in it’s profundity, and awesome in it’s revelation of God and His nature of pure Love, that it is always overwhelming to look upon.

The Spirit, through Isaiah, reveals Christ as the slaughtered Passover lamb, the voluntary blood offering, and scapegoat of humanity. Despised, rejected, and well acquainted with sorrows, He is clearly shown to be the carrier of our burdens, and the sacrificial satisfaction of our transgressions.

But what happened at the cross exactly? Did God make Christ a sacrifice simply that He might "offer" something to a stiff necked people that would reject Him (aside from a elite few who had some spark of goodness that the hellbound multitudes did not)? - And how does this cross apply to our lives – what is it working in us, and for what purpose?

The first aspect of the cross that presents itself to any who come to it’s shadow, is the salvation that Christ has wrought by the offering up of Himself, and the mighty power of atonement that is in His precious blood. One of the most famous passages in scripture addresses the hope of salvation that is found in His sacrifice, and states God’s sovereign purpose in sending forth His Son to such a destiny:

The purpose of the cross is clearly defined as salvation of the world - not condemnation. This salvation is brought about because God so loved the world, even as we were all dead in trespasses and sins, as mentioned in the last chapter. We see, as in the passage from Isaiah, the obvious hopelessness of man’s condition, and reality that there was NO "spark of goodness" in ANY of us that would or could respond to God without Him sovereignly quickening us by His Holy Spirit and revealing His Son Jesus Christ to us. Paul, quoting various scriptures, confirms the totality of man’s bondage and rebellion in his letter to the Romans:

9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
¹⁰ As it is written:

      " There is none righteous, no, not one;
       ¹¹ There is none who understands;
      There is none who seeks after God.
       ¹² They have all turned aside;
      They have together become unprofitable;
      There is none who does good, no, not one."^{[b]
       13} " Their throat is an open tomb;
       With their tongues they have practiced deceit";^[c]

      " The poison of asps is under their lips";^{[d]
       14} " Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."^{[e]
       15} " Their feet are swift to shed blood;
       ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways;
       ¹⁷ And the way of peace they have not known."^{[f]
       18} " There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:9-18)

What a picture of hopelessness and despair! How could we ever believe that there was anything in man that could "choose God", or any circumstances by which we might find salvation, save the love, wisdom, and all powerful drawing of God Himself! The Word is so clear that we were all dead, and that any hope or power of salvation was to be found in the loving will and divine wisdom of God alone. For indeed, the Spirit clearly states through John in the opening of his gospel:

A totally sovereign salvation! Born of God – not of our own will, the will of man. The Spirit again underlines the source of salvation to be in God alone, by His Son, and the lack of our participation in our spiritual birth is clearly emphasized. Our redemption, sanctification, and ongoing growth is all by the divine hand, working alone, as a potter shapes his clay. We are truly His workmanship, and we hear the Spirit speak this truth again through the second chapter of Ephesians. The Amplified version of the Bible brings this awesome reality out beautifully:

It brings comfort and peace to know that we are God’s own handiwork, that we are taking paths that He has prepared ahead of time, and that He has made us a life to live, that we cannot fail but walk in. To perceive the great guiding hand of God on our lives, and recognize it as weaving the very fabric of history itself, is a reassurance that can bring rest to our souls as we meditate upon His works. In the words of the Psalmist:

Knowing salvation to be completely of God, and the cross entirely of His wise purpose and foresight, we can give glory to His name and rejoice in the certainty of His complete triumph when we hear the Only Begotten, Jesus Christ, declare:

We can also better understand how far the redemption of the cross reaches, and how fully and utterly God’s justice has been satisfied by the blood of the spotless lamb, when we discern the universal, cosmic reconciliation that has been brought about by this great centerpiece of God’s plan of the ages:

For the blood of Christ is indeed powerful to save, to reconcile, and to restore! The cross of His suffering was decreed and agreed before the very foundation of the world, in the perfection of God’s Holy will, and the immutability of His wisdom. This was a cross that would make peace! This was a cross that would reconcile all things to God! Holy, holy, holy, is the blood of the lamb, Jesus Christ, and blessed be that name forever!

Brethren, one of the most profound truths of our faith in Christ that is dangerously ignored and even contradicted by many who claim to preach the gospel, is the truth of our sharing in His suffering. Suffering, in this "health and wealth" day and age, has grown to be seen increasingly as a sign of cursing rather than blessing, and a state of being to be avoided, rather than accepted and embraced. There is a lack of clarity in the church, and in many dear saints, as to why God still brings such severe fire to our lives, if it be that He truly loves us, and as a result of this uncertainty the faith of many is undermined. Saints of God, I solemnly declare to you that suffer we must – not as sinners, but in fellowship with our Lord - nor as reprobates, but as those whom in Spirit of Christ has placed at enmity with the spirit of the world. And though the suffering is real, with terrible pain at times, He always gives us seasons of respite, and the suffering itself is indeed an honor!

Peter, by the Spirit, makes it abundantly clear that our trials are to be cause of rejoicing. They are actually the refining hand of God, heating up the furnace of our lives, that He may mold us carefully into the image of His Son. Hear also what the Spirit says through Paul in his letter to the church at Philippi:

To us it has been granted! This statement shows that not only is our belief in Christ given by God, showing His sovereignty in salvation, but that our very fellowship in His sufferings is also a gift, an honor, and a privilege bestowed upon us by God. I need hardly tell you how little this is preached! Furthermore, we know that as we go through the furnace of our afflictions, He is with us always, in the midst of the flames, even as He was with His three Hebrew sons who would not bow the knee to a false god:

What a wonderful picture God paints of His faithfulness and His fidelity when we consider that scene in Babylon! Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were saved through the fire of affliction – not from it! It is a constant temptation to the disciple to avoid the way of cross, to look this way and that, in the hope of finding "another way", by which we might make our entrance into the promised blessings ahead. But it is not so – whether on the grand scale of our lives, or in the day to day circumstances, we must have faces set like flint to suffer gladly and gratefully for the glory of our dear Lord:

Our lives, and the spirit realm that we inhabit, are very real battlegrounds, and our eyes must be full of the light of Christ’s own glory, and a consciousness of His utter triumph if we are to live out that wonderful victory in a manner befitting the saints of the Most High, and disciples of the Lamb. Our attitude toward our trials must be the same as our Lord’s and we must gain a deep spiritual comprehension of the blessedness of our Father’s discipline. As Paul wrote to Timothy by the Spirit:

We must have this same soldier mentality when it comes to our trials, remembering the great captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is this very suffering that prepares us to be glorified together with Him:

Let us view our lives and our sufferings from the eternal perspective of God, that we may understand the incredible disparity between our trials in this life and our wonderful inheritance in Christ:

These trials, these purgings, and these refinements, are but a light affliction when compared to the weight of glory to come! What joy the Spirit ministers to our hearts when we contemplate this! Let us suffer gladly for such a God, who in His benevolence is disciplining us in the ways of His Kingdom, and chastising us to conformity to the image of His Son:

He chastises us for our profit, that we might be "partakers of His holiness"! The cross in our lives, though heavy and extremely painful, yields fruit in all who are trained by it. The passage also exhorts us to "readily be in subjection" to our Father. Not begrudgingly, or with mutterings and complaining, but in complete agreement with His perfect will - for we share in such a marvellous inheritance, and are following in the footsteps of such a great Savior. Let us readily accept the same cup from our Father, confessing that we are willing to be processed in the same manner:

Amen! Let it be so with us!

Jesus Christ, and His cross and resurrection, are the centerpiece of the Kingdom, and the Gospel of that Kingdom. A sure mark of apostasy and deception is when a "gospel" is preached that has whitewashed those elements from the message. Hence, such fables as "health and wealth", "name it and claim it", and "have faith in faith", arise. Man centered, fleshy, and carnal doctrines to tickle the ears of the spiritually deaf. Brethren, I would earnestly beseech you to walk warily, being as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves, for there are many wolves among us, who have exchanged the glory of God for a lie, and are piping a tune to lead even the elect astray, were it possible. Whole sermons are preached without mention of the cross, whole sessions of praise and worship take place without the name of Jesus Christ even being mentioned! Let it not be so with us! For it was Paul, by the Spirit, who said:

Paul had sat at the feet of Gamaliel, a renowned teacher of Israel, and was extremely educated in the wisdom of the flesh. Yet he clung to the message of the cross as the banner of salvation, and extolled the Lord Jesus Christ ceaselessly, for he knew that all the wisdom and knowledge of this world was as dung compared to the Lord and His glory. In his epistle to the Galatian saints, Paul, by the Spirit, emphasizes the sufficiency of the cross as his gospel, declares his own fellowship with Christ and His cross, and exposes the apostate desire in some to do away with the cross and it’s suffering:

Indeed, Paul saw the very evidence of his qualification to minister by the things he had suffered for the sake of Jesus Christ and His gospel!

In an age where Christian writers and theologians list their credentials as their degrees, certifications, and ministry results, usually next to a big glossy photograph of themselves on the flap of whatever publication they are peddling, it is almost alien to hear the Spirit speaking through Paul regarding the qualification of suffering! Paul indeed understood the purpose behind our tribulations in this life and recognized the true sign of God’s approval, boasting in these things, rather than the vain achievements of the flesh, which are driven by worldly ambition and often at odds with the humility of Christ. The Spirit issues a wonderful proclamation through him to the church at Galatia:

This beautiful passage is a declaration that should be inscribed upon the heart of every disciple of our Lord. I have been crucified with Christ…we have been redeemed by the cross and the blood of the lamb, and understand how completely our sin was laid upon Him and how we died with Him. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…we do not belong to ourselves, having died. We are legally vessels of the Lord, and instruments of His Spirit, as His life proceeds forth from Him and enters this realm through His saints. The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God…our walk is a walk of faith – and not a faith in anything else but Christ Himself. Our comprehension of our sin being judged on the cross and our subsequent innocence before God, our belief in His ongoing benevolence, and our hope of entering into our full inheritance in Him all come by faith, which, lest any man should boast, we must again state to be a gift of God. Who loved me and gave Himself for me…the reality of the Love of God, and the confession of the heart and character behind the cross, must ever permeate our spiritual vision.

We must always take heed, lest we ever allow the cross to be removed from the Gospel we preach. On the surface it would seem to be impossible for such a transcending truth to be discarded and left by the wayside, but it is precisely this centrality and eternal relevance that causes such an all out attack from the powers and principalities of wickedness.

Truly there is salvation in the cross, and in the blood of the Holy Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly we can gaze up at His sacrifice in hope, as the revelation of His great atonement is unfolded to our hearts yet more and more. Truly we must cry "Amen!" when the finger of God points us to the way of suffering, and when the hand of the Lord gives us His cup of sorrows to drink from. For we are His – bought and redeemed at such a price, dead on the cross with Him, and dead to our old nature, and the transgressions that held us captive – yea, dead to Death itself. For the cross is the power of God to save, cleanse, and reconcile, and that great sacrifice of our mighty King stands out from the panorama of history as the moment of truth, the moment of triumph, and the foundation of our hope, brought into sharp focus and joyous fulfillment three days and three nights later, when Jesus rose again…