The importance of the cross (1)

It’s interesting that in the Bible, Jesus doesn’t ask us to remember His birth or His resurrection, although we know we should, but He tells us to remember His death. When He instituted the Lord’s Supper, He said, “This do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Paul said, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The cross, like the gallows and the electric chair, is an instrument of death. So why glory in it? Because of what took place there. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” all your sins from the cradle to the grave were paid for. So the cross is God’s first and last word when it comes to salvation. It’s His first word because Jesus was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). And the cross is God’s last word about salvation, for in heaven they will sing, “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9). There is no “plan B” for salvation. The only highway that goes to heaven goes through Calvary. You can’t bypass the cross or go around it if you want to be saved. The Bible says, “Without shedding of blood [there] is no remission [for sin]” (Hebrews 9:22). As you look at the cross today, you’ll see the curse of sin, the cost of sin, and the cure for sin. And as you look at the cross, remind yourself, “He did it for me.”