I’m thankful for the strength of many churches in the US but at the same time I realize that we live in a time of great challenge and opposition to the church. In these times it’s more important than ever to get the vital issues right. You see, opposition doesn’t come out of nowhere, it is often formed over years and even decades of slowly eroding theology and weakening faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

One of Oprah Winfrey’s favorite theologians and author of the book “The Universal Christ”, Father Richard Rohr says:

“I believe that Jesus’ death on the cross is a revelation of the infinite and participatory love of God, not some bloody payment required by God’s offended justice to rectify the problem of sin. Such a story line is way too small and problem-oriented.”

“The theory of substitutionary atonement has inoculated us against the true effects of the Gospel, causing us to largely “thank” Jesus instead of honestly imitating him.”

“I’ve always tried to find a deeper inner connection with the purpose that Christ had here on earth,” Margit says. “All my life, I thought it was just for him to die on the cross for my sins. But I now recognize that Jesus actually taught me Christ consciousness.

I want to talk to you about the cross today because, unfortunately, the cross has quietly crept to the sidelines in many churches. We have ended up with a sort of crossless Christianity. It may have cross symbols but there’s failure to see the real need for the gory details of sin, death and the suffering it causes. A crossless Christianity will often be big on practical needs, personal improvement and social activism, and weak on personal guilt, the holiness of God and the need for repentance. 

“Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.”

Primarily a crossless Christianity is a Christianity without sacrifice, because, quite frankly, the need is not seen or felt. 

Story of Chernobyl. In order to stop the radiation from continuing to poison the air there had to be sacrifice. No machine could do the job of those firefighters who went out on the roof to shovel off the chunks of radioactive material. Their sacrifice saved the lives of others. 

There are many similarities to the cross of Christ and the Chernobyl nuclear accident. For one we can’t physically see what is doing so much harm. Because this many people try to downplay the dangerous effects. “

1Co 1:18

18  For the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.

The cross of Christ is considered foolishness by many because they don’t recognize the danger they are in. They fail to see what sin is and how much destruction it is causing. They don’t understand God’s holiness and that he must punish sin in order to remain holy. 

When we talk about the cross, we are speaking about 3 historical facts which have profound theological impact.

1. Jesus’ voluntary death (sacrificial and substitutionary) 

3  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

The truth of these events is the basis upon which Christianity is built, upon which our understanding of salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life is found.  

Here are 5 reasons why the cross of Christ is vital.

The cross had a Godward aspect and a manward aspect, however, we don’t often discuss the Godward aspect although it is the primary reason for the cross. 

The idea of sacrifice for sins and protection of God’s holiness can be seen from the earliest Scriptures. When Adam and Eve sinned something had to be done, there had to be a temporary fix in order for them to have some sort of ongoing relationship with the holy God. God provided this temporary fix through the sacrifice of an animal. This animal provided Adam and Eve a covering for their naked bodies. This was a symbol of their sin and the fact that they tried to hide themselves from God. Now they would need to be temporarily hidden from God’s presence until a complete solution could be offered. 

21  And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Adam and Eve were then expelled from the Garden because of their sin they could no longer enjoy an unhindered relationship with a holy God. 

Again when God initiated a relationship with the people of Israel, he put many boundaries and limits upon this relationship in order to protect them and to protect his holiness.

We see these limits very clearly in the building of the tabernacle, a place of worship for God’s people. The entire layout communicates the idea of God’s holiness and the need for there to be limits on who has access to God’s presence. 

33  And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.

2  and the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.

These key symbols pictured how serious God is about his holiness. The curtain or veil separated the ark of the covenant from the people. They knew that they had no right to enter into the holy presence of God. Even if they had offered the necessary sacrifices, they were not holy enough to be in God’s presence, there was still the defiling presence of sin in their hearts. Only the priest could enter the holy of holies once on the day of atonement once the sacrifice had been offered for the people. 

When Jesus died on the cross we see something significant happen, the veil that protected God’s holiness from man’s uncleanliness and protected man from God’s holiness is ripped apart. 

The veil is torn!

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Now man can go into the holy of holies, he can once again have fellowship with God because of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

The better we understand the power and purity of God’s holiness the more we will value the cross and the more we will be in awe of this great privilege God has given us through faith in Jesus to enter into the holy of holies without harm to ourselves. 

Nearly all religions will have some way for man to cleanse himself from impurity or sins. 

• Hindus bathe themselves in the Ganges

All of these washing must be repeated, they are temporary, and they all must be done by the individual himself. 

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

Christ’s death on the cross gives us the only true and permanent solution to our impurity. In this Christianity is unique among the religions of the world. Christ provides a way for us to be cleansed from our sins that is permanent and that is outside of ourselves. No one can wash their own sins away because they are impure themselves. Imagine trying to clean a dirty rag using nothing but the dirty rag itself. You can’t do it, you need something else to come and remove the dirt from it. You need something clean to effectively remove impurities from something uncleant. This is what Jesus did for us. 

15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

God protected his holiness by giving man the opportunity to cleanse himself from sin, not temporarily through the sacrifice of an animal, through the repetition of a prayer, or through any other act that you or I can do. God provides us with a forgiveness that is full and complete, that forgives past, present and future sins. A forgiveness that is found by faith in Christ and remains with us for eternity. 

To forgive is one thing but God did much more than that with the cross. The cross not only makes us innocent but it also makes us righteous in God’s eyes. God’s holiness is not just about avoiding sin, it’s not just about refraining to do something you know...