It doesn’t matter what culture you are from; the cross is strange and offensive. To those accustomed to the rigors of advancement under a religious hierarchy, the cross is offensive because it allows the people who DON’T EVEN CARE about holiness to have immediate access to God.
To those whose brand of spirituality is more abstract or philosophical, it is offensive for its violence and extreme measures. I mean, is it really necessary for God to suffer a violent death in order to redeem us? Surely we weren’t in such a terrible place as to warrant such extreme action! And surely the real God would have more self-respect than to humble himself to death on a cross…especially for people so ignorant as to hate him!
While the cross doesn’t cease to offend the thought patterns that dominate the world, it is only in the painful death of God that one thing could be made abundantly clear. God loves us.
He could have just let his voice boom from heaven and tell us that he loves us…but is that really enough for us to go on? Does humanity have a good track record for taking God at his word? What if we miss heard him? What if he really loved only the people who were present to hear him? What if his love was just for a certain period of time? I’m sure you’ve seen enough debates over scripture to agree with me; when our faith is defined by words in human language, any number of scenarios could pop up to unravel our faith. Even if God made the perfect sermon to explain his heart towards us, in the process of time the meaning would be muddied enough to make room for doubt.
But while words can never be clear enough to erase all doubt, there is a language in which God speaks that does prove strong enough for our faith. It is the language of love. The fact remains, there is no scenario that is more disgusting or damning for mankind than for us to murder God in the flesh. I know some people today are pretty disturbed by what they perceive to be the downward spiral of our society — but do we honestly think that sexual confusion and irreverent attitudes are a worse evil than killing God?
Jesus came giving us God’s best, healing the sick, welcoming the outcasts, and forgiving the wicked. Then we murdered him! There can be no greater crime, and therefore no better time for God to reveal his righteous judgment. And reveal it he did. He said, “forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing”. And when he finally breathed his last and the earth began to quake, it was not his murderers that were torn in two, but the temple curtains that were intended to keep God separate from a sinful world. Our greatest crime ended in forgiveness and an outpouring of God’s presence.
If he could forgive the people who murdered God, what possible barrier could stop him from forgiving you?
The cross is God’s Good News to a confused world. It is not a theologically sophisticated act, but a declaration that there is no limit to his love for us. He is absolutely determined to absolve us of guilt. How offensive! But oh, how wonderful!
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. –Romans 5:6-8 (ESV)
Stephen Fulton 
Reblogged this on Call to Witness.
Who can express proper awe and gratitude for God’s love–a love that took him to a cross? “He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). How amazing is that?! I shake my head in wonder, but praise God, “he is absolutely determined to absolve us of guilt!” Thank you, Stephen, for this thoughtful meditation, and for becoming a follower of my blog, From the Inside Out. I pray that, as you’re able to visit, you’ll find the posts meaningful.
[…] our worst sin (killing God in the flesh) can not derail God from his redemptive purpose. In the crucifixion, we discovered that God loves us to death (see Romans 5:6-8)…but what hope is there in a […]