Man Fully Alive!

On the cross, Jesus substituted his life for ours, taking our sin and giving his righteousness.

"And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' And some of the bystanders hearing it said, 'Behold, he is calling Elijah.' And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, 'Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.' And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!'" (Mark 15:33-39)

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

John Calvin said, “In the cross of Christ, as in a splendid theatre, the incomparable goodness of God is set before the whole world.” In his classic book The Cross of Christ, John Stott said, “If we are looking for a definition of love, we should look not in a dictionary, but at Calvary.” 

The ultimate expression of both God’s glory and God’s love is found in the cross of Christ. On the cross, God glorified himself. His justice became manifest. His wrath was satisfied. His grace and mercy exploded. On the cross, Jesus atoned for our sin, paid for our failures, bled for our transgressions, and died for our iniquities. He reconciled us to himself, cleansed us of our filth, redeemed us from slavery, rescued us from hell, reinstated us into communion, and restored us to life. On the cross, Jesus substituted his life for ours, taking our sin and giving his righteousness. As the church father, Irenaeus, said, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” On the cross, Jesus died to make us fully alive.