Published: January 22, 2010 01:38 pm      

What does the cross mean to you? (Part III)

This time we continue our investigation of what really happened on the cross, and its significance to you and me. One of Jesus’ last statements from that cross was, “It is finished”, which is a one word statement in the common Greek language of the day. This word, or statement would have meant something specific, depending on the hearer and their place in society. The first two meanings of the word, “tetelestai”, related to those who were servants and to those who were artists or sculptors (see last week’s column).

Those who were merchants understood this word to mean “THE DEBT HAS BEEN PAID!” If you had purchased something from one of the merchants in Jerusalem, they would have taken your money and then given you a receipt which had the word, “tetelestai” written on it. To them, this was a commercial term which meant “paid in full”! Here’s what the Bible says about you and me: “We have ALL sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23)!” Every one of us have come up “short” of God’s holiness. We’ve ALL blown it! We’ve all fallen short of God’s expectations, every one of us! Because God expects perfection! He’s a holy God and He expects nothing less than holiness from us. In fact, we cannot enter His presence unless we are indeed perfect! That’s rather unsettling, isn’t it?

Sin has a very high price tag! In Romans we read, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (vs 23)!” Listen up a minute. NONE of us have the means to pay the penalty for our sin. Every one of us is bankrupt wen it comes to the payment God requires for sin! But the good news is, Jesus came and paid the bill for us! Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that through His poverty you might become rich (vs 9)!” It is God’s grace alone through the finished work of Jesus on the cross that satisfies God’s requirement! And it is God’s grace alone in Christ that gives us the resources to please Him!

Listen to this: “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ (2 Cor. 5:21)!” Jesus literally became sin, taking upon Himself the sins of all the world. For us this means we can stand “rightly” before a holy God in the righteousness of God’s Son, Jesus! You see, God can only accept US on the basis of His accepting His own Son, Jesus, of whom He said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!” When God looks at you and me in Christ (in relationship with Him), He sees Jesus, and He is pleased! As children, each of us had (or have) a need to know our father is pleased with us. Some of us may have spent our entire lives trying to please our dads, and perhaps never did. But God is pleased with us just because of Jesus! Doesn’t that take the pressure off a bit?

Next week, one more look at what the cross means to you and me!