The Cross of Christ

The universal symbol of Christian faith, the cross, equivalent of a gruesome gallows or an electric chair was not allowed by church fathers to depict in art until 4th century, when Constantine had seen a vision of the cross. Now the symbol of cross is everywhere. “The idea of the cross should never come near the bodies of Romans” Said Cicero. “Any one who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse says Deuteronomy. Romans preferred beheading and Jews were stoned to death when they were found guilty. But the gospels have devoted one third of its space to the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. The cross has been his final goal. The death of Jesus on the cross as an atonement is central in Christian faith.

What is the meaning of cross in our life today? When we look at the symbol of a cross it does surely evoke penitence in our life. Is that all? The meaning of the atonement is much beyond that. The cross of Christ has at least three consequences in our lives. God in Christ has achieved the salvation and reconciliation of sinners through the atonement on the cross; secondly cross is the revelation of God to us and finally it is the conquest of evil. The meaning of the atonement is reconciliation with God. God and humans were alienated from one another are made ‘at one’ again. God is also speaking to us through cross and disclosing his nature by allowing the death of His son on the cross. Satan has been defeated by the cross of Christ, and through Christ we are no longer under the tyranny of the world.

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world” Galatians 6:14. An average Roman citizen regarded cross as an object of disgrace but cross was Paul’s pride and object of boasting. The cross is the way of God that he has accepted us in Christ Jesus. Paul is addressing the false teaching in the Galatian church some of whom trusted in their merits to be accepted by God. Some people even today trust in their own merits and they miss the meaning of Christ’s cross. The cross of Christ must radically alter our lives. It is the crucified man that can preach the cross of Christ. The world must be able to see the print of the nails in our hands as we witness the cross of Christ.

Yours

Raju Achen