The Message of the Cross

By Henry Clarke


You and I, cannot even begin to fathom with our finite minds, what it was like, for the Lord Jesus to die on the Cross for your sins and mine. The physical torture itself, would have been enough punishment, but our Savior went a step further.

He bore in His body, the sins of the whole world world, past, present and future. When we take into consideration, the fact that we commit thousands of sins, throughout our lifetime, and yet our Savior was bearing the penalty and punishment for sins that were committed in the past, present and even sins that were not yet committed.

Death by crucifixion was by far the most cruel, barbaric form of capital punishment, ever invented by man. It was invented by the Persians between 300 - 400 BC, and perfected by the Romans. Its intended purpose was to provide a death that was particularly slow and painful.

According to history, the condemned would have difficulty inhaling, due to hyper - expansion of the chest muscles and lungs. The condemned would therefore have to draw himself up by the arms, leading to exhaustion. When no longer able to lift himself, the condemned would die within a few minutes

Our Lord however, gave up His life on His terms, when God's purpose was accomplished in our behalf. How can we neglect so great a salvation. The cross was a symbol of shame and humiliation, as far as man is concerned. But for the Christian, it's a place of victory, over sin, death, the grave and the devil, and in this we rejoice.

"All God’s plans have the mark of the cross on them, and all His plans have death to self in them". –E. M Bounds

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