Steve Gaines

By Steve Gaines, Ph. D.

Each Easter season we make simple wooden crosses available to our church members. We ask them to put them in their yards as a reminder that 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ died on a cross for the sins of the world.

I believe it is fitting that the cross is Christianity’s symbol, because that was where God’s love and God’s wrath came together. As the Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), Jesus bore God’s wrath for us and extended God’s love to us. On the cross, Jesus gave us God’s mercy and grace through His sacrificial, shed blood.

Jesus’ primary purpose was not to give moral and ethical and religious teachings. As the sinless Lamb of God, He came to die on the cross to pay our sin debt in full, once and for all time. This is the heart of Christianity, and it is non-negotiable.

The atonement was necessary because there was something broken in us. Our sin had alienated us from God. And if Jesus had not shed His blood on a cross, you and I could never know God. There is no other way except through the cross.

Do you know Jesus? Perhaps you have heard about Him all your life, but the cross has never been personal to you. Friend, nothing could be more personal. Whether you accept or reject Christ’s sacrifice on the cross determines whether you will have peace with God and your sins forgiven. It determines whether you will spend eternity in heaven or in hell.

If you are a believer, you can do more than put a cross in your yard and attend an Easter worship service. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:2, “Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” Thank Him for what He did on that wonderful cross by each day offering up your own life to Him in return.