It’s ugly, gruesome, violent,
and uncomfortable—it’s all of
these things, so why focus on the crucifixion? Because that’s where Jesus
did what He came to do. In the Bible, Paul summarizes Jesus’ purpose
by saying that Christ, the sinless one, became sin for us so He might pay
the penalty
for sin on our behalf (see 2 Corinthians
5:21).
We often look to increasing our
self-esteem, following directions for better living, or finding a purpose
in life to solve the problems we face … but
none of these self-help strategies tackles the source of our true problem.
They merely address the symptoms of our greatest need.
Our greatest need is to be fully
and unconditionally loved, forgiven, and reconciled to God, our Maker.
Yet there is no way we are able to accomplish this on our
own. Why? Because we are born sinful—the world is broken and so are we.
We learn in the Bible that we are “by nature the [children] of wrath” (see
Ephesians 2:3). On our own, we try to find value in ourselves and purpose
in our work and others, but this approach continuously falls short because
it relies
on events, circumstances, and people that are also steeped in sin.
Instead, we
focus on what Christ did for us on the cross. We focus on the cross because
it is there that Jesus paid the price for our sin. We focus on
the cross
because it is there that the division between God and humanity is destroyed
(see John 19:30). We focus on the cross because it is there that
we are declared children
of God (see John 1:12). We focus on the cross because it is there that
we can come into a renewed and restored relationship with God. We
focus on the cross
because it answers our greatest need and in the process reveals our identity,
provides guidance, and gives purpose (see “How can
Jesus becoming poor make us rich?”).
