When you see the cross, what comes to mind? Perhaps suffering. Shame. Rejection. Death. Yet the cross is one of the greatest paradoxes Scripture presents to us: how could something so brutal and dehumanising become the most beautiful expression of God’s love? How could an instrument of death become the very means through which life was given to the world?
As we learnt last week, the cross is the wisdom of God. What appeared to the world as foolishness—a sinless man dying the most humiliating death—was, in fact, God’s perfect plan unfolding. Through the very thing that seemed most foolish to men, God accomplished what human wisdom could never accomplish: the redemption of the world. (1 Cor. 1:23-29)
“For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a mighty flood, they are too heavy for me.”
Psalm 38:4 NKJV
Whenever we look at the cross, we are reminded of how much of a burden it is. Sin is so heavy that it took the cross to deal with it (Col. 2:13-14). As pleasurable as sin may seem, we learn that it is also very burdensome. There was no other way to deal with the problem of sin apart from the cross.
In that sense, the cross becomes our blessing. We can look at it not only as a reminder of how hideous and heavy sin is, but also of the joy and peace that comes with knowing that it has been dealt with. The debt that we owed because of sin, the debt we could never pay back, was satisfied by God in Christ through the cross. (1 Pet. 2:24)
And the cross also reminds us of how easy it is for us–-if we are not sensitive enough—to miss out on what God is doing, even when it is happening right in front of us. The Messiah that the Israelites had long waited for was right in front of them. He had performed so many wondrous miracles and fulfilled so many prophecies. In fact, He was still fulfilling prophecies right in front of them, yet they chose to crucify Him. This tells us that if we are not sensitive, prophecy could be running along; God could be doing amazing things before us; He could even stretch out His hands towards us, and yet we could remain blind to see it. (Jn. 1:10-11, Lk. 19:41-44)
Scripture describes it as having eyes but still not seeing (Mk. 8:18, Isa. 6:9-10). Whenever I read the story of the crucifixion, I utter a prayer under my breath that may it never happen that God is working right in front of me and I am blind to see it. May I always have the eyes to recognise what He is doing and the heart to respond to Him.
The cross reminds me that God’s promises do not fail simply because we fail to recognise them. What He promised from the beginning, since the days of Adam, was eventually fulfilled (Gen. 3:15, Josh. 21:45). The Messiah came. The prophecy was fulfilled. The plan was accomplished. If God has spoken, He will fulfil His word.
“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”
Numbers 23:19
Everyone, regardless of age, gender, religion, or ideology, can agree that betrayal is one of the worst kinds of pain. Imagine the very people you healed, clamouring for your own death. Imagine one of your close companions being the one who sold you—literally—to your killers. But regardless, what had to be done had to be done.
The cross was Jesus’ pain, but beyond that, it was His purpose. When Peter spoke against Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus rebuked him immediately. He made it clear that His suffering and death were not an unfortunate interruption to His mission; they were central to it. The Son of God had taken on human flesh to accomplish the work of redemption—to crush the serpent’s head and break the power of sin (Gen. 3:15; Matt. 16:21–23; Heb. 2:14–15). The cross was Jesus’ pain, but beyond His pain, it was His purpose.
This gives us something to learn. We, too, must remember that our lives have a purpose in God. Disappointments will come. Hurt will come. There will be moments when the road ahead is nothing like what we expected. But purpose gives us a reason to keep going. If Jesus could endure the pain of the cross because of the joy and purpose set before Him (Heb. 12:2), then we must also learn to look beyond the discomfort of the present and remain faithful to what God has called us to do.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23 NKJV
Another thing the cross reveals to us is that God’s justice and His love can co-exist. God had already established the consequence of sin: the wages of sin is death. Because God is perfectly just, He could not simply overlook sin and declare it inconsequential. So instead, He reached out to us in love by taking the fall for us. He provided a way out. He bore the consequences in our stead and gave us His righteousness in exchange for our sins. So now, the cross remains a reminder of the Great Exchange—the just for the unjust, the righteous for the unrighteous, the Son of God for the sons of men.
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.”
1 Peter 3:18 NKJV
One of the greatest displays of God’s power is the cross (1 Cor. 1:23-24). With one singular act, He single-handedly took away the sins of the whole world, making salvation available to as many as would believe. He dealt with the sin problem, paid its ultimate price, gave mankind the much-needed redemption, and brought us into His victory. What mankind struggled for years to achieve and still couldn’t achieve, God achieved in a moment.
Still, it is an epitome of self-restraint. No nails were powerful enough to hold the King of glory; He stayed because He chose to. Jesus stayed hung on that cross for our sake. Scripture says for the glory that was set before Him, He endured the cross (Heb. 12:2).
And this is what makes me sure that, contrary to the belief of some people, the cross is not just a reminder of Christ’s sufferings; it is also a reminder of His love. For God so loved us that He gave Himself up as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. For God so loved us that He chose the cross.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 NKJV
All in all, that cross that was made to look like a place of defeat became the turning point for everyone who believes. What looked like shame became glory. What looked like the end became the beginning of redemption. The cross became our place of victory.
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”
1 Corinthians 15:57 NKJV
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