The circumstances and events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, make two things very clear:
1. Man’s nature towards God: one of enmity.
2. God’s nature towards man: that of redeeming love.
“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) The fact that men were so used (motivated) by sin and Satan, that they knew not what they were doing, speaks of man’s spiritually dead condition. ALL MANKIND was made a spiritually dead being by Adam’s sin and spiritual death: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.” (Romans 5:12, 18a, 19a) “For as in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22a).
Thus, all who are born of Adam are born with an inherited spiritually dead nature that is estranged from God, is at enmity with God due to the fact this nature is sinful, and is also at conflict with one another. This spiritually dead sin condition is what has written human history and is determining the course of mankind today: “What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:9, 13-18, 23)
When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, the human instruments that hung him there did so because of Sin’s enmity within human nature: “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.” (John 15:25) It was the enmity of man’s sinful nature that drove the nails that hung Christ on the cross. It was the redeeming love of God’s nature, that let those nails remain so that atonement for sin would be made.
The reason Christ died was because God laid our sin upon Him on Calvary and He yielded Himself to die to pay the penalty for our sin: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “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.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Thus the judgment of the cross is: “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.” (2 Corinthians 5:14) Since we are all the sinner for which Christ died, then we must repent and trust Him to save us—or we will perish.
SHARING
