Sunday, March 31, 2013

The Centrality of the Cross and the Centrality of Christ

     Among preachers, they usually want to emphasize the centrality of the Cross - by that, it means Christ died for you and me.

     Yes - the suffering and death of  Jesus is of utmost importance. Paul even described it "... as of first importance... that Christ died for our sins." 1 Corinthians 5:3

     Yet, Jesus' death is not the complete story . It is just a part of a whole.

     During the 31- years life of Christ, was His death the only act that He ever did for you and me?

     For many years, I thought I already heard the complete good news - That Jesus died for me. I was surprised , when right from the pages of the Bible, I discovered also that Jesus was born for me. He was baptized for me, He believed for me. He lived His life for me. He suffered for me.He died for me, resurrected for me, and ascended for me.

     WOW... that is much more than what I was told. The gospel is not only about His death but includes His birth, life, resurrection, ascension and even His presence in our midst right now. It is not only His acts but His "being' Who Jesus is - the God/Man who is our vicarious substitute and representative. He assumes our humanity. When He died, we died, He lived his life for us. When  He died , we died, when He was raised , we were raised. ( Ephesians 2:5-6)

     While we want to look at the centrality of the Cross - we can also look at the Centrality of Christ - the God/Man , the Second Adam who was sent for us.