The Message of the Cross

When I was in my teens, I went one night with a friend to a tent mission. The evangelist was preaching about Jesus on the cross. He talked about the various wounds that had been inflicted on the Saviour – his back, his head, his hands, his feet, his side – and he gave an explanation as to how each wound had a particular significance. I was impressed.

The next morning, I went over it all to my father. “That may be,” he told me. “But those physical wounds were nothing compared to his pain in suffering your sin.” He was right! 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” That’s what happened on the cross on Calvary. God the Son became man, perfect, sinless man, so that he could bear the wrath of God the Father for our sins, so that we might go free. And more than that – that we might have transferred to us, his perfect righteousness.

George W Bethune, one of the greatest theological minds of the 19th century, on the day before he died, expressed it simply:

I read God’s holy word and find

Great truths which far transcend my mind

And little do I know beside,

Of thought so high and deep and wide.

This is my best theology

I know the Saviour died for me.

That is the message of the cross! Is it your message?

By Wor. Bro. Rev. Ian McClean, Grand Chaplain