Time and eternity intersect at the Cross
Time and eternity intersect at the Cross
8 April 2020
The redemptive work of Christ on the cross is brought to light at Easter. Photo: Aaron Burden
I’ve long been a fan of the writings of Oswald Chambers, who is probably best-known for the devotional, My Utmost For His Highest. These writings have had a significant impact on my life, so it seemed only natural, when beginning to meditate upon Easter, that, alongside my Bible, I turned to the Scottish-born author and preacher.
Chambers, understandably, has quite a bit to say on the subject of Christ’s death and resurrection, and as I researched his work I began to formulate how I could translate some of his insights into my own article. Then I read the following entry in one of his devotionals; words that I encourage you to read, slowly re-read, and allow time for their significance to deeply embed itself into your hearts and minds.
The Cross of Jesus is the revelation of God’s judgment on sin. Never tolerate the idea of martyrdom about the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Cross was a superb triumph in which the foundations of hell were shaken. There is nothing more certain in Time or Eternity than what Jesus Christ did on the Cross: he switched the whole of the human race back into a right relationship with God. He made Redemption the basis of human life, that is, he made a way for every son of man to get into communion with God.
The Cross did not happen to Jesus: He came on purpose for it. He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8 NKJV). The whole meaning of the Incarnation is the Cross. Beware of separating God manifest in the flesh from the Son becoming sin. The Incarnation was for the purpose of Redemption. God became incarnate for the purpose of putting away sin; not for the purpose of self-realisation. The Cross is the centre of Time and of Eternity, the answer to the enigmas of both.
The Cross is not the cross of a man but the Cross of God, and the Cross of God can never be realised in human experience. The Cross is the exhibition of the nature of God, the gateway whereby any individual of the human race can enter into union with God. When we get to the Cross, we do not go through it; we abide in the life to which the Cross is the gateway.
The centre of salvation is the Cross of Jesus, and the reason it is so easy to obtain salvation is because it cost God so much. The Cross is the point where God and sinful man merge with a crash and the way to life is opened – but the crash is on the heart of God.
– Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Just as Chambers writes “the crash is on the heart of God”, so, too, did the words in this devotional come crashing into my understanding of the phenomenal redemptive work of Christ on the cross, taking me to a deeper place of understanding and humble thankfulness.
What powerful words they are to express God’s ultimate act of sacrificial love in redeeming a lost humanity – words that convey the true meaning of Easter far more poignantly than anything I could muster.
Scott Simpson is the Assistant Editor-in-Chief.
Comments
Thank you so much for this.
The cross is actually an emblem of death. Whoever carried a cross at Jesus's time was considered condemned and was on his way to his death bu crucifixion.
When the Lord was stating the conditions for discipleship, He made the bearing of the cross (ie daily dying ) one of the central conditions for anyone to follow Him, in Lk.9:23 Hr said, "If any man will come after me(follow me, become my disciple, have a part in me), let him deny himself, and take up his CROSS daily and follow me" He actually meant LET HIM CONSIDER HIMSELF DEAD. Various scriptures later revealed that disciples are men and women who were dead to their old lives, dead self, dead to ambition. Col.3:3; 2Cor. 5:14