Friday, January 4, 2008 at 1:01am
The power of the gospel
Column: For His Glory
This column originally was published on June 29, 2007.
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
What is it about the cross that makes it the power of God? Imagine with me that you are standing right in front of the cross the day Jesus was crucified. Can you see His bruised body, the blood dripping from his nailed, pierced hands? Sweaty and bruised He hangs on this dreary Friday afternoon. You know He is innocent and yet you just do not understand why a man who spent His days healing and preaching good news to the people is dying like a criminal. You hear His violent cry "MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" and immediately recognize he is quoting Psalm 22:1, and this leads you to study the prophecies of the Messiah and you recognize that at the cross the power of God is evident in a dichotomy.
On the one hand, you know that the penalty for breaking God's law is death (cf. Romans 6:23) and all of us are deserving of death for we all have broken/sinned against the law of God. Therefore, this innocent man named Jesus is dying because the law of God was broken. The law stands and death is its penalty.
Yet why must I die, you ask? You realize, when you study the Ten Commandments, that you have broken all of them. You have given a higher priority to your career, your desires or other people than to God and therefore have violated the first commandment, "You shall have no other Gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) and stand guilty before God. You have forgotten His day of rest and stand guilty before God. You have lied and have thereby given "a false witness against your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16) and stand guilty before God. You have lusted for another man or woman, stolen or cheated, coveted, disobeyed your parents at some point in your life and hence that makes you an adulterer, a thief, coveter and dishonored your parents, all in direct violation of the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth commandment.
Guilty is the verdict for "sin is the transgression of the law or lawlessness" (cf. Matthew 7:23, 1 John 3:4). Sin is living without the law of God, and we all have done that and continue to do that. Yet why is Jesus, "who had no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21), dying on my behalf?
That is the power of the gospel. You and I cannot rectify the violation of God's Holy Law — "For all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) — and since the Ten Commandments are eternal, God gave us His Son who "personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed" (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus died so you will not be guilty of all the broken laws you have committed. The innocent for the guilty is the power of the gospel. You who deserved the pain and agony He received, in turn get the peace and joy that is His.
At the cross the power of the gospel tells you that the penalty for violating God's law is real, and yet God paid that penalty with His own Son so you can seek shelter in His grace because there will be a day when those who have refused His grace will pay the penalty for themselves.
My prayer is that you would study the cross of Christ for yourself. See the interaction between God's law and His grace, between His mercy and His Justice. The dichotomy of the cross is that in one single event you have the reminder that the violation of God's law leads to death, that you are guilty and yet that the acceptance of His Son leads to forgiveness and eternal life.
Jesus said, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14, 15). Study the cross, and you will know the power of the gospel and receive the grace to live under the shadow of the Almighty God.
— — —
Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He is currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Gio Marin.
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
What is it about the cross that makes it the power of God? Imagine with me that you are standing right in front of the cross the day Jesus was crucified. Can you see His bruised body, the blood dripping from his nailed, pierced hands? Sweaty and bruised He hangs on this dreary Friday afternoon. You know He is innocent and yet you just do not understand why a man who spent His days healing and preaching good news to the people is dying like a criminal. You hear His violent cry "MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" and immediately recognize he is quoting Psalm 22:1, and this leads you to study the prophecies of the Messiah and you recognize that at the cross the power of God is evident in a dichotomy.
On the one hand, you know that the penalty for breaking God's law is death (cf. Romans 6:23) and all of us are deserving of death for we all have broken/sinned against the law of God. Therefore, this innocent man named Jesus is dying because the law of God was broken. The law stands and death is its penalty.
Yet why must I die, you ask? You realize, when you study the Ten Commandments, that you have broken all of them. You have given a higher priority to your career, your desires or other people than to God and therefore have violated the first commandment, "You shall have no other Gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) and stand guilty before God. You have forgotten His day of rest and stand guilty before God. You have lied and have thereby given "a false witness against your neighbor" (Exodus 20:16) and stand guilty before God. You have lusted for another man or woman, stolen or cheated, coveted, disobeyed your parents at some point in your life and hence that makes you an adulterer, a thief, coveter and dishonored your parents, all in direct violation of the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth commandment.
Guilty is the verdict for "sin is the transgression of the law or lawlessness" (cf. Matthew 7:23, 1 John 3:4). Sin is living without the law of God, and we all have done that and continue to do that. Yet why is Jesus, "who had no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21), dying on my behalf?
That is the power of the gospel. You and I cannot rectify the violation of God's Holy Law — "For all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) — and since the Ten Commandments are eternal, God gave us His Son who "personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed" (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus died so you will not be guilty of all the broken laws you have committed. The innocent for the guilty is the power of the gospel. You who deserved the pain and agony He received, in turn get the peace and joy that is His.
At the cross the power of the gospel tells you that the penalty for violating God's law is real, and yet God paid that penalty with His own Son so you can seek shelter in His grace because there will be a day when those who have refused His grace will pay the penalty for themselves.
My prayer is that you would study the cross of Christ for yourself. See the interaction between God's law and His grace, between His mercy and His Justice. The dichotomy of the cross is that in one single event you have the reminder that the violation of God's law leads to death, that you are guilty and yet that the acceptance of His Son leads to forgiveness and eternal life.
Jesus said, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14, 15). Study the cross, and you will know the power of the gospel and receive the grace to live under the shadow of the Almighty God.
— — —
Gio Marin is the pastor of the College Station and Waller Seventh-day Adventist Church in the state of Texas. He is currently working on a master of divinity degree at Andrews Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, with a dual emphasis on systematic theology and church growth & evangelism. Send him an email at {email GioMarinColumn@aol.com}GioMarinColumn@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Gio Marin.