The Word of the Cross

Why the Cross?

I grew up on a small farm in North Dakota. One of my favorite memories of those years came one fall as we were wrapping up the wheat harvest. My job was repositioning the truck in the fields so that Dad could unload the combine without a lot of down time. But driving in the fields was the extent of my authority, so when the last load was finished, Dad took the combine home and I waited with the truck until Mom could bring him out to get it. In his effort to finish, Dad had pushed well into the evening thus darkness was already upon us as he’d unloaded the last hopper of wheat. With the quiet of nightfall settling in, I could feel the heat rising from the field as the refreshing coolness of a September night blanketed the field around me. The wind was calm, the sky clear, and being a mile or so from just about everything and everyone… it seemed to me as if time itself had grown still. I stood there, transfixed. Looking up at the sky, I saw the wonder of the stars as never before. As I watched, the darkened sky was filled with amazing specks of brilliance as the last remaining wisps of sunlight slipped away. I was utterly astonished by the sight of it all. Then, with the sound of perfect restful silence all around me, I bowed my head at the thought of Almighty God, who with the simple words “Let there be…” created it all.

Now, some fifty years later as I look around, the world is not so peaceful as it once was. In fact, the world is in trouble. It seems broken, even as it struggles against disease and hunger. It is beset with violence, terrorism, warfare; it is so full of hatred and anger that it appears destined for self-destruction. So we must ask: “What went wrong?” even as we mentally recall the story of Adam and Eve. But the answer to that question may very well surprise you because, from God’s perspective, even though this is not what He desires for us – from His perspective, there were no surprises, nothing unexpected happened. In that sense, nothing went wrong. Please don’t misunderstand; God hates sin and what sin does. But God knew from the start that sin would enter the world through Adam and Eve; He knew that it would become a plague of global proportion. But God also had a plan to deal with sin, a plan which He had established even before the foundation of the world; a plan whereby He would send Jesus, His only begotten Son to be the “Lamb”, the author of our salvation (1 Peter 1:18-21).

But, if that’s true, if God knew that this was going to happen, then: Why, why did God do it? If God knew that mankind was going to be capable of so much wickedness and evil, so much terrible destruction – then why did He create us, give us life? The answer to that question is best explained by way of reference to a story that Jesus told – a parable. Jesus said (Matthew 13:45) that “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant who was seeking beautiful pearls, and who, when he had found one such pearl, a pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had so he could buy it.” Yes, man is capable of much cruelty, but God also sees great value in each and every one of us. Thus He willingly gave up what was most precious to Him, His Son, in order that He might purchase each of us (you and me) and free us from the power and destruction of sin – that we might live with Him, forever. Such is the awesome love of God!

The cross was not a “Plan B”, it wasn’t God’s response to man’s disobedience, it wasn’t a last resort or an act of desperation. The cross was God’s singular plan from the very beginning. The cross was the means by which God would reconcile us to Himself – the means by which we might fully enjoy life and fellowship with Him, forever. Consequently, we must conclude that all of this is precisely what God had expected, from the very beginning.

Shocked? If one’s focus is on this life, on the here and now, then perhaps understandably so. But as dear as this life may seem, as final as it might appear, this life is not the purpose, nor the objective of God’s creative work. Rather, this is just the beginning. God’s plan for us is, and always has been: life eternal. His plan, and its wonders, are only vaguely captured by words like heaven and paradise, its splendor loosely described as mansions, its magnificence depicted as a city with streets of gold. God’s plan for us dwarfs our very imagination.

With these thoughts in mind we should embrace a new perspective as we look again at God’s word and strive to understand the story of His love and forgiveness, even as we begin to answer the question, “Why the cross?” Let us turn then to the Book of Genesis with fresh eyes. For here, we can already see the foundation of God’s plan of salvation being revealed.

The Bible and the story of Creation is an amazing work. But even as we start to read it, we need to recognize that the Bible is not a scientific journal and does not attempt to explain “How?” God created anything that He made. At the same time, the creation account from Genesis is neither folklore nor simple metaphor. What the Bible presents is a unique perspective on creation that is told to us from the vantage point of an eyewitness who observed and recorded the entire event, namely God Himself. Moreover, it is offered to us in an ancient yet picturesque language; Hebrew, making it both mysterious and beautiful.