0919. The Cross and the Christ Objective

The Cross and the Christ Objective

"Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb_12:2).

There are seven things for which Christ died, which are well worthy of our consideration. These passages clearly set forth the fact that when Christ went to the Cross, He had a definite objective before Him in our behalf.

1. He died "that He might bring us to God" (1Pe_3:18). Man was alienated from God by His sin. He dwelt in a far country. Our God is a holy God and cannot fellowship with unholy things. He is a just God and cannot receive the guilty. Jesus Christ became the daysman between God and man. It is through Jesus Christ, that we have access unto the Father. Christ said, "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me." We are brought to God and received of God, because we are washed in the Blood and made clean.

2. He died that He might save us from the penalty of the Law (see Gal_3:10, Gal_3:13). The Law of God said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," and "the wages of sin is death." Jesus Christ was "made of a woman, made under the Law, that He might redeem those who are under the Law." He was sinless. He could look into the faces of His fellowmen and say, "Which of you convinceth Me of sin?" Therefore Jesus Christ could step in under the Law, being the God-man, and receive upon Himself the curse, setting us free. To-day every believer stands free from the Law. The thunders and lightnings of Sinai hold no terrors to him.

3. He died "that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2Co_5:21). To be forgiven is good, to be lifted from under the curse of the Law is good; but to be made righteous is far better. When Christ died, He did not only receive the penalty of our sin, but He gave unto us the glory of His righteousness. The Apostle Paul desired to stand before God robed in the righteousness which is in Christ Jesus. He had no desire to parade in human righteousness. The Old Testament Scripture "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord," would certainly bar every son of Adam from God, were it not for the fact that Christ died that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

4. He died "that He might save us from this present evil world, according to the will of God" (Gal_1:4). The call, "Come out from among them and be ye separate" is God's clarion call to the believer. When Jesus prayed in the upper room, He said, "Those whom Thou hast given Me out of the world." "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Also He said, "The world hateth them." Surely Christians are called to go "without the camp, bearing His reproach."

5. He died that we might live for Him here (see 2Co_5:14). Separation from the world is not enough. We must be separated unto God. When God called Abraham, He said, "Get thee out." But He also said, "I will take thee in." The believer must not think that he has reached the highest pinnacle of attainment, when he has separated himself from the worldly life. The Lord Jesus wants him to bring all his ransomed powers and lay them at His feet as "a living sacrifice." He wants him to give himself to God, and his members as instruments of righteousness to God.

6. He died that we might receive the placing of sons (see Gal_4:4-5). One of the heresies of the age is universal brotherhood, or, oppositely stated, "universal Fatherhood." All people are not God's sons. To become a child of God we must be born again. We are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. This is made possible only through the work of the Cross. When Christ died, He died in order that we might become sons.

7. He died that we might live together with Him there. When Christ went to the Cross, He had before Him not only the present accomplishments of the Cross, but He saw the believer living with Him, in Glory, throughout endless ages. He died for this very end. He died to make possible His second advent, the sounding of the trump, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the rapture of the saints. When Christ died, He died in order that the marriage and the marriage supper might become a blessed reality. He died that we might reign with Him for a thousand years; He died that He might bring down the New Jerusalem from God out of Heaven, and that He might dwell in the Holy City unto the ages of the ages.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR