The Success of the Cross

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The cross was a failure in the eyes of humanity yet it's God's greatest success. So what's the reality of the success of the cross? The cross is the Triune God's success to provide salvation for all who will receive. We can think of what the crucifixion of Christ did. People ask me what did Jesus do over the founders of their religion. Jesus did what none did - rise from the dead! The idea of resurrected dead men that saves with blood is loathed as "mentally unhealthy" yet Jesus Himself conquered death. The evidence of the resurrection itself is strong yet many still want to disprove it - yet the truth triumphs!

The truth that the cross of Christ is indeed the greatest success that is viewed by the eyes of sinful humanity as a failure. So why it is viewed as failure humanly speaking? It's because the carnal mind is at war against God (Romans 8:7). The very idea that Jesus would allow all the beating and all the scourging when He is the Son of God is absurd to the human thoughts. Can you imagine if someone would allow themselves to be beaten to a bloody pulp and to be crucified when He could have the power to do so? Some would even brag that they would have probably fought back and called the angels to destroy the crowd or even do it themselves. But what they don't see is the necessity of why Jesus chose not to do so - He had a mission to fulfill. The very idea of the Son of God getting crucified when He has no fault for your sin defeats worldly thinking. Crucifixion was viewed as a punishment reserved for the lowest of the low yet Jesus who has no sin allowed Himself to die by it. The truth of 2 Corinthians 5:21 is especially absurd because people are to used to the idea that if they are good enough then God will accept them. But Jesus allowed it to happen because nobody is good enough!

The great success of the cross is that Satan sealed his doom (Hebrews 2:9-14). Would have Satan known that Jesus would raise up from the dead - he would have never crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 6:8). He probably had the desire to make sure the Father cursed the Son but it backfired. The very death of Christ is what provided the very defeat of the Devil. You can think of the prophecies all happening. Jesus was quoting Psalm 22 to point people to the prophecies concerning Him. God the Father had to forsake Him for the sake of lost sinners.

The success of the cross this. The very sacrificial love of Jesus made Him the eternal Son of God absorb the infinite wrath of the Father over sin. The wrath of the Father was there to show that sin is no joke. Jesus' bloody sacrifice was meant to absorb the infinite wrath of God for sin. Jesus being the eternal Son of God was an infinite person. Just who did God speak to in Genesis during the creation? It certainly wasn't angels and it could only be the Son and the Spirit. John 1:1-12 shows that the Word is God and is involved. The Word is Jesus Christ. So why are some cults claiming to be Christians but denying the Deity of Christ outright denying the truth found in said passage? It's because the cross fulfilled every Old Testament prophecy. Isaiah 50 and 53 were not joking about the suffering Servant and that's none other than the Lord Jesus Christ! Whoever wants to say that the wrath of God didn't fall on Jesus needs to reread Isaiah 53 diligently. It pleased God the Father to bruise His Son who complied in full obedience.

Hebrews 9 shows this one fact - the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. The sin sacrifices of the Old Testament were still repeating over and over again. They had to find unblemished clean animals to do the cleansing. Did you remember when His godly earthly mother Mary had to offer two turtledoves after she gave birth? She understood that she needed a Savior and she gave birth to the Savior. Mary stood still at the cross seeing the prophecies happen before her eyes. It's amazing how God's grace made Mary obediently stand still and how she obediently allowed the will of the Father to take place - she is truly a model for Christians to follow! She knew that her firstborn son is the eternal Son of God. It's suggested by some that Mary could have stopped the crucifixion but she chose to fully remain obedient. The very truth is that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sins and there can be no new life. Mary grew up seeing all the animal sacrifices in the Temple - now she was seeing it herself that the eternal Son of God would fulfill all the prophecies on that very Friday!

The sacrifice itself ended all Old Testament sacrifices because the sacrifice is once and for all. Hebrews 10:10-14 shows how the sacrifices at the Jewish Temple are but foreshadowing the coming of the Messiah. The success was that Jesus' death though at human eyes is a failure - it successfully offered the only excellent sacrifices for sin. The death of Christ abolished the Old Testament sacrifices. The success was fulfilled that there's now special permission to enter the Holy of Holies which was once sealed. The veil was rent from top to bottom ending the Old Testament priesthood. Before, only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies. Now every Christian has the permission to do because the cross is the biggest success (Hebrews 4:16).

We have the success of changed lives. Nobody can be saved and remain the same. The very idea of looking at how painful the punishment of Christ was for your sin is no big joke. The very holiness of God is a traumatizing thing. True salvation will not leave anybody the same. The redemption is from dead works to serve the living and true God. It's all about dying for the sins of mankind so they will not be free to sin but from sin. Matthew 1:21 says that Jesus would save His people not in their sins but from their sins. The very idea of fruitless Christianity is bogus because true converts as imperfect as they may be - don't want their old life anymore. Only false converts to the Gospel of Antinomianism are the ones foolish enough to believe that the grace of God is a license to sin. Titus 2:11-14 says that true grace teaches righteous living. Romans 6 warns that true grace is not a license to sin but a deterrent to sin.

The very success of the cross is that the cross is still empty! The tomb is still empty! Jesus did what no other religious leader can - He resurrected from the dead! Sadly, Muslims are denied that Jesus ever died on the cross or the resurrection. The bodies of various "Christian" cultists are still rotting in the graves while their souls burn in Hell. Gautama Buddha still remains dead and many still go to his final resting place to pay him homage. The body of Confucius and Lao Tzu are still in their graves. But Jesus did the impossible - He rose from the dead after a truly deadly and fatal incident. The beating of the pulp, the fact that He bled to death and all the blood was poured proved He died physically in His humanity. Many still want to think He swooned but open air is needed - which is not available in a closed tomb. The robbery theory and vision theory are also refuted by science. The evidence is abundant yet many still want to dismiss it as mere "myth" while adhering to foolish unproven myths such as atheistic evolution which they themselves can't observe!

The truth is that Jesus' death and resurrection are proofs that the cross was not a failure - it was in fact the greatest success in the history of mankind!

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