The Shame of the Cross

"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know-- Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it." (Acts 2:22-24)

I have often heard modern preachers use the message of the cross to actually exalt men rather than God! A few months ago I heard one of the most renowned preachers of our day on the radio. He said (and I paraphrase), "You are special. If you ever question your worth, if you ever question how special you are, look to the cross. There you see Jesus stretched out and dying, all for you. There you see how special God thinks you are. You are worth the life of the Son of God!" Etc, ad nauseum.

The cross has been made to lift up the worth of fallen man, but the Biblical testimony is much different. The first time the message of the cross was preached by someone in the church to those outside it, the cross was preached to the shame of men and to the glory of God! Peter says, "You have murdered the Messiah! The Father, knowing you would betray your King, gave Him to you anyway. Jesus, knowing He would be illegally delivered to die like a criminal, chose to allow the objects of His love to treat Him like scum. This you have done, and done thoroughly." Anybody feel good hearing that? Peter sure could've learned a lot from today's positive, upbeat, seeker-sensitive movement.

If you haven't guessed it by now, I differ with the aforementioned modern preacher on this point: ladies and gentlemen, you are NOT worth the life of Jesus. Jesus died for you, and you don't deserve it. All we deserve, as enemies against a holy God, is death, hell, wrath, judgment, torment, you get the idea. (Well, actually, none of us can imagine the depths of the punishment we rightly deserve.) But in spite of our idolatry, (blaspheming the King of the universe and choosing to act as lords of our own lives) God chose to have mercy. And THAT, my friends, is amazing grace.

Look to the cross, and if the sight has never broken you before, I pray it utterly shames you even now. I hope you weep and mourn that your sin led the Lord of glory to die among the wicked--naked, bleeding, and forsaken. There is no room for self-worth here. But see here the King of kings high and lifted up, pouring His infinite love upon infinitely unworthy vermin. His love is unimaginable. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17).

"God be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13).

(Note: this is not an exhaustive presentation of the Gospel, as my previous post makes clear. I just want to point out that any "cross" that makes men feel good about themselves is not the cross of Christ. (Luke 20:17-18) His is a cross of shame, disgrace, and pain-- the same cross which we are called to bear with Him.)