Punishment on the cross is the symbol of sin. It is the rack which humanity
must shoulder as a symbol of wrath. As the wages of sin is death (Roman 6:23),
human beings, the sinner, cannot escape from the wrath. However, Jesus Christ,
the only son of the God, died on the cross. It means he is hiding the sin of humanity,
so we can avoid Lord’s wrath and punishment. This is our salvation.
God decided not to see the sin of humanity after he saw Jesus bleeding on the cross.
So the cross is the core of God’s love. Because of the death of Jesus on the cross,
God forgot the sin of humanity. Then if you want to be purified by Jesus, we must
confess that we are sinners who let Jesus die. If we do not confess it, we cannot hide
behind the cross.
Hiding behind the cross means “Lord, take the cross which is supposed to be ours
and give us new life”. It is the urgent request. It is the strong and desperate cry for
Jesus “Lord, save me and die on the cross instead of me”
Those who stand in front of the cross know how much they are shameless people.
However, some people continuously demand to receive something from God.
God told us “ask and it will be given to you” but God already gave us His only son
Jesus Christ. Then, the sincere Christian, who can see their shameless image, cannot
require something from God. Rather, they are still thinking how they can make God
rejoice and be happy. They willingly want to give something to God.
Those who realize that they are shameless are the ones who love God.
They are the ones who live only by the grace of Jesus.
/ Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #380 (2014-04-05)
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