March 30: THE WAY OF THE CROSS

It is such a contradiction that many cannot grasp the possibility of eternal salvation coming by way of a Cross. How could a symbol of weakness and shame give out a message of strength and hope? Before Easter arrives in a few days, let me tip you off to a few truths.
Actually, Easter has more than one paradox for us. Among the verses in the Bible that presents the paradox of the cross is Ephesians 1:7-8 (NIV) “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”
God acted intentionally at the cross to make a way for us to return to Him. I know that blood and cross are not subjects that people like to talk about, but all need to internalize this truth. Only the precious blood of Christ, shed for us on Good Friday, can cover our sins and transgressions.
In Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, there is a grave of a Civil War soldier. The stone bears the date of his birth and death and these words: “Abraham Lincoln’s substitute”. In the woe and anguish of the war, realizing that thousands were falling in his place on the field of battle, Lincoln chose to honor one particular soldier as his substitute and make him as symbol, as it were, of the fact that the soldiers who perished in battle were dying that others might live. When you and I come to the Cross of Christ, each of us, supplying his own name, can say “My substitute”.
In response to this kind of experience, Issac Watts once penned, “But drops of grief can never repay the debt of love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away, it’s all that I can do.” The Cross is empty now, of course. It long ago gave up its victim to the Ressurection. The effect of that empty Cross is still powerful Think about it.

“Sometimes, Lord, special times get so overloaded with a secular or
consumer influence, that we miss the truth. We can’t really afford that! Amen”