A fitting symbol

May 29, 2006

By Dan Turpin

In the cross of Christ I see three things: First, a description of the depth of humanity’s sin. Second, the overwhelming love of God. Third, the only way of salvation.

— Billy Graham

Many times I’ve said, “If I were as big and great and holy and powerful as God, I wouldn’t want to fellowship with someone as little and insignificant and bad and weak as I am.” Why would God who is all-powerful love humanity — you and me in particular — like He loves himself?

God has chosen the Cross to symbolize the depth and intensity of His love for us. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (NIV).

How much does God love and value people? The Cross represents God’s love for us, and the value He ascribes to humanity. When mankind sinned, God’s pure system of justice required that He give an appropriate offering for our redemption.

What did God possess equal to the value He places on you and me? His life! God’s life was the only thing that could suffice as a substitute for us. God offered himself, and divine justice was served on a hill in Jerusalem known as Golgotha (the place of the skull).

Peter Lewis said, “The Cross was too terrible to be optional, the suffering involved too enormous to be unnecessary, and the Sufferer too precious to His Father to have been given over needlessly to such pain.”

The Cross is a fitting symbol for the love of God. The Lord treasures people. But on the other side of mercy, there is justice. The Cross also speaks of God’s justice and righteousness.

Justice will never be satisfied unless an appropriate sacrifice is offered in its behalf. Good works cannot satisfy God’s sense of justice. Why? We are blemished and tainted by sin. We are corrupt. Even an angel could not suffice as a sacrifice for our sins. Why? They do not equal the value God attributes to mankind. God loves us more than everything else.

Madame Guyon writes, “God gives the Cross, and the Cross gives us God.”

“The Cross is God’s centerpiece on the table of time,” says Paul Guttke.

Look at the Cross. God loves you and values you as His creation. The next time you are tempted to question your significance … look at the Cross.

Dan Turpin is senior pastor of West Coast Church (AG) in Englewood, Fla.