The Problem Of The Cross

The basis for our message is in 2 Corinthians 5, some very familiar words, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (v. 21).

Our thoughts are to center around the Cross of Calvary, the greatest theme a preacher can ever have. The message of the Cross will never be exhausted, for the half has not yet been told. We will never be able to fully understand its meaning until one day we meet together around the throne of God in heaven.

The Central Theme Of The Bible

First of all, and here I think there will be no possible argument, it is the central theme of the Bible. The Old Testament anticipates the Cross; the Gospels experience it, the Epistles explain it, and the book of Revelation exalts it.

The whole theme of the Bible is Calvary: not the life of Jesus, not the example and the teachings of Jesus, great and wonderful as these are, and essential as they were to the plan of redemption. Nothing less than a perfect life could ever have sufficed as a sacrifice for human sin. But it is the death of our Lord Jesus Christ which is the central theme of the Book.

The prophets in Old Testament days anticipated and spoke about it many times. It was Paul’s great theme in all his letters, and it is the crowning theme of the song of those who have been redeemed and are even now in the glory, “Worthy art Thou,” they cry, “for Thou hast redeemed us unto God by Thy blood” (see Revelation 5:9).

The whole Bible centers around the Cross, the whole message of the Word of God finds its focal point at the Cross of Christ. I am seeking simply and clearly to proclaim to you that which is at the very heart and root of the Christian Gospel. We do not work towards the Cross, Christian experience begins at it.

The Supreme Objective Of Christ

Not only is the Cross the central theme of the Bible, but you will find that the Cross was the supreme objective of the life of Jesus Christ. He came in order that He might die. That which marks the end of a man’s ambitions and hopes was the realization of His whole life’s purpose. That which all other men seek to avoid, He deliberately planned, and moved with a face steadfastly set toward Jerusalem.

Let these two facts register in our minds first of all: that the Cross is the central message of the Book, and that is the supreme purpose of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Necessity Of The Cross

But let us get to heart of our problem now, that unquestionably the Cross requires explanation. Why must Jesus die? Surely it must have been possible, if God is a God of love, to bring men into His presence in heaven without the necessity for a sacrifice.

“I can never understand,” says somebody, “the character of a God who demands death in order that other people might be let off.” That seems to be utterly contrary to the assumption that He is a God of love. Why should there be any necessity for Calvary?

That may be the very thing which is keeping some people back from a saving experience of God in Jesus Christ. It may be that the necessity for the Cross almost makes you doubt the love and the character of God.

Let me begin, therefore, by admitting that the problem of the Cross requires explanation, because death is always the outcome of sin. In using that word “death,” I use it in its twofold sense. First of all, there is physical death. Why should anybody die? I believe that a doctor would tell you that every bit of our body is renewed completely once every seven years. Why should not that process of restoration continue indefinitely?

There is no explanation of death except that it is the outcome of decay and of suffering. And there is no explanation of suffering and decay except that they are rooted in breakdown, and failure, and tragedy, and sin. Sin is responsible for physical death.

Not only is that so, but this word “death” has a much bigger meaning in the Bible than just the physical. For death, in the Word of God, is in essence a spiritual matter: it means separation from God. Back at the beginning of the human story our first parents rejected God’s right to rule their lives and refused to admit His sovereignty. Then they died, not physically, nor mentally, but spiritually: they were cut off from all contact with God.

If I believe in God at all, I must surely believe in a God who is righteous and who is just, and He could never possibly admit into His presence men and women who have been guilty of sin, and who have rejected His authority. If He were to do that, then the whole moral order of the universe would break down, and heaven would cease to be heaven.

Man, because of sin, is separated from God. That is something which men experience in this world today. They are born like that—out of touch with God. We are born into a world which has made its verdict concerning God, which does not want God. If you would be a Christian, there has got to come a moment in your personal life when you reverse the verdict. In other words, to be a Christian, you have got to move under the protection of the Cross of Calvary.

You are not automatically a Christian because you attend church or because you believe certain doctrines. You are a Christian because there has been a moment in your life when you have reversed the verdict. You are born separated from God, spiritually dead, and that is the bankrupt, helpless condition of the human race today, except as one by one men repent and turn to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Death is separation from God, and hell is simply the projection of that condition through out all eternity for men who refuse to reverse their verdict.

Hell is as sure as heaven, and hell is the projection of a condition of life which is separate from God.

“Oh,” says somebody, “that’s wonderful. I get on quite all right now without God; I’ll get on all right in eternity without God.”

But will you? The difference between Earth and hell for the man who rejects Jesus is this, that while you are here, you have dollars and cents to satisfy the appetites of your body and your mind, but in hell you have nothing: hell is the eternal, conscious ruin of a man who spends eternity with all his cravings and all his appetites and all his desires without a cent to satisfy them. That’s hell—you’ll find the picture in Luke 16.

The Innocence Of Jesus

But if death is the inevitable outcome of sin, and if separation from God is the inevitable result of man’s rebellion to God’s authority, why should Jesus die? This is one thing absolutely certain, that He never sinned at all. It provides an interesting study to read through the Gospels to discover the number of people who attested the innocence of Jesus Christ.

If you want to know the worst that anybody thinks about you, ask your enemies. But let me bring in imagination here those who hated the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what they have to say.

Judas, you wretched man, who betrayed the Master for 30 pieces of silver, what have you got to say about Him?

“I have sinned, for I betrayed innocent blood.”

Herod, you scoundrel, you who had warnings from the greatest preacher ever born, John the Baptist, you who sinned so often that when you meet face to face with Jesus He has not a word to say to you—Herod, what do you think about Him?

“I find no fault in this man.”

Pilate, you coward, you who are too afraid of what people think to make up your mind for yourself, what have you to say about Jesus?

“I find no fault in this man.”

Not once, but three times, those words ring out in the early morning air on the day of the trial of our Lord.

And upon a cross, hanging alongside the Master Himself, is a thief, who is there for his own guilt and his own sin. What does he have to say about Jesus?

“We indeed suffer justly for our sins, but this man has done nothing amiss.”

One by one, friend and foe can be brought forward to bear united testimony to the fact that He knew no sin. If you are following me carefully and thoughtfully, that statement only adds to our problem. If this man was without sin, then how do I explain the justice of the Cross? The only explanation of death is that it is the result of sin, but Jesus had no sin. Therefore can it be that something has gone wrong with the moral law of the universe and God has failed?

Oh no! Could it be possible that the death of Jesus Christ upon the Cross has to do with the sin of other people? The only logical explanation is that somehow or other it must have had to do with the sin of somebody, or He should not have died. Do we realize that?

Some men suggest that Jesus Christ was the victim of circumstances, a martyr to a good cause, and inevitably suffered because of His teaching. Such a man, if he thinks into his position hasn’t got a leg to stand on. That explanation of the Cross is a travesty of the truth and it is sheer blasphemy upon the authority and character of God. There is no satisfactory explanation of the Cross except that it is directly connected with sin. It certainly was not connected with sin in the Jesus, therefore it must be related to other people’s sin.

Let me ask you very reverently to come with me to that green hill outside the city walls, and let us ask ourselves honestly if there is some evidence in what happened there that the death of Jesus had to do with human guilt?

Observe first of all this—the reticence in all the four Gospel accounts concerning physical suffering. With the utmost respect to those who may think differently, I feel that the man who emphasizes the agony of the body of Jesus and places the whole question in the material realm is doing a grave injustice to the truth. I observe practically no statement whatever concerning the physical agony of Calvary.

But let us think then a moment of the attitude of God. I am amazed as I realize that heaven seemed to be silent. I recall two instances in the life of the Lord Jesus where a voice spoke from heaven. One was at His baptism, when He emerged into public ministry, and we are told that a voice from heaven spoke and said, “This is my beloved Son, hear Him.” And again, when He went up into the Mount of Transfiguration and took with Him Peter, James, and John, they heard a voice saying, “This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him.”

But now, when He was the victim of a murderous mob, nailed to a Cross, spat upon and mocked at, heaven was silent! How strange! Could there be a moment in all history when God’s Son was more beloved by Him then He was there? Yet God has nothing to say.

Oh, my friends, God said nothing, but He did something, for my Bible tells me that for three hours, the sun was blotted out. Midday turned to midnight, the Lord Jesus hung upon a tree in the darkness, and at the end of those hours, those mysterious hours, which must have struck terror into the hearts of everyone who was standing there, they heard a shout, “It is finished!” It was the shout of a victor, the shout of a triumphant God.

And in the moment, those who were by the temple saw the veil taken by some unseen hand and rent in two from the top to the bottom. That veil stood between the Holy Place and the Holiest of All, and it was the symbol to the Jewish people that they were separated from God. Within that veil was the presence of God. There could only the High Priest go once a year on the Day of Atonement, and that not without blood for the remission of the sins of the people.

Oh, yes, I am beginning to find evidence on that great Day of Atonement that His death had to do with our sin.

But let me take you just a step further. Was there any evidence in the attitude of the One who died that his death had to do with our sin? I find it difficult to imagine the fear and the questioning that must have been in the minds of those people when, without warning, the light of the sun went out. As they gathered there, shivering in the dark of midday, suddenly came the cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Why, indeed? Every other man all through history who had assurance in a living God has been able to bear testimony in the last fleeting moments of his earthly life that God was with him. But in the moment of His death, He cried, with the bitterest torment and agony of soul, “Why hast thou forsaken me?”

His cry was, “My God, My God—out of the depths of that darkness You are still Mine. Though you slay me, I will trust You. Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” In this moment of all moments, He is conscious of utter loneliness and separation from God—this eternal Son of God, the Light and the Glory of heaven, the One before whom angels in heaven worshiped and bowed from before the foundation of the world—the spotless, pure, holy Lamb of God. “Why hast thou forsaken me?”

A man would be a fool if he attempted to answer that question. All I can say is that

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood,
Sealed my pardon with His blood,
Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

My thinking friend, let us get this clear together; Jesus was not trying to persuade God to love us, He was making it possible for God, who was demonstrating His love at that moment, to save us and yet to maintain the righteousness of His character.

Jesus was not trying to placate the anger of God, as some modern theologians suggest is the position of the conservative evangelical teachers—they need to learn a little bit more about what we teach. God had not to be reconciled to man—man had to be reconciled to God. What He was doing was meeting the demands of God’s holiness, and revealing to every one of us what God thinks of sin. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”