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Guest
To many, the cross is little more than a piece of wood. And sadly, to many Christians, they see it as only the physical object that served as the instrument of death for our Lord. All they can see is the physical cross itself, and little more. But the cross is more than the wood that made it up; more than just the place where Jesus died, and FAR more than an event in history...
It is THE event in history; it is God's victory over Satan.
To understand more about the cross, we first must understand about the seriousness of the trouble mankind was in.
When God created Man, mankind was created perfect, without any blemish or stain:
"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." (Genesis 1:27-31, NASB, emphasis mine)
"This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes." (Ecclesiastes 7:29, NASB)
But in the Garden of Eden, Satan persuaded man to eat of the tree forbidden to them by the Lord:
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." (Genesis 3:1-6, NASB)
By disobeying the Lord, Man had broken fellowship with God.
To comprehend this, we must realize that God is absolutely HOLY. He is set apart from is, distinct and unique. And he is perfect, without blemish or stain. His standards of right and wrong, good and evil are also perfect and beyond reproach. God's character is absolutely PURE, and is without any tarnish or imperfection; because of this, he cannot be in fellowship with sinners or his perfect character is compromised, and he is no longer God. Mankind's sin marred him horribly, and this separated him from the Lord.
To put it another way: imagine if you will a white carpet and a bottle of clean water. If the water is poured on the carpet, it will not stain it, because the water is pure and has nothing in it that can stain the carpet. But if black dye is added to the water, the water is then polluted and will stain the carpet is it is poured on it. No matter how pure the dye may be, it WILL stain the carpet by its' very nature. And thus is the nature of man after he sinned against God; no matter how noble his attempts, no matter how magnificent his deeds, they are still tainted by the impurity of sin.
But how can one sin be such an offense to an almighty and omnipotent God?
Consider this: when a person commits a crime, there are two factors that denote its' severity: what the crime was, and against whom it was committed. If you commit a crime against the city, that is bad enough. If you commit it against the state, it is worse. And if you commit it against the Government, that is grave indeed.
So consider now committing a crime against God almighty: the most innocent being of all? To commit a crime against someone so innocent and pure is indeed a horrific offense, and deserves the most severe of punishment. God did absolutely NOTHING to deserve disobedience from his children; he had given them everything, and yet they heeded the words of Satan, in effect siding with him.
In short: sins are only the SYMPTOM: it is sin itself, the "missing the mark" that separates us from the Lord. It is this bent, this desire to veer from the perfect will of God that has put a wall between us and God Almighty.
This is why mankind is separated from God...
... and Satan was behind it all.
Why?
Satan hates mankind because man was given control of the earth by God, and that is what Satan had wanted. When Satan sinned against God, he wanted to be Lord over the earth, and have it for his dominion, but instead, he was removed from his position in heaven, along with the 1/3 of the angels that followed him. Additionally, Satan hates mankind because God loves man, and Satan hates God. Therefore, he hates anything that God loves. And while Satan cannot directly hurt God, he can indirectly hurt him through US.
So, by separating Man from God; Satan does the following: 1) he "gets back" at God for throwing him out of heaven as one of his angels, and: 2) sets up his own kingdom on earth by subjugating man and therefore taking dominion of the planet.
And as mankind has sinned against God, he is now destined for the same place that Satan and his angels, whom have also sinned, are headed towards:
"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;” (Matthew 25:41, NASB)
"And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15, NASB)
Now we understand the severity of the situation man was in.
We will examine the role of the cross in Part 2.
I bid you all peace.
YBIC,
-Sojo414
It is THE event in history; it is God's victory over Satan.
To understand more about the cross, we first must understand about the seriousness of the trouble mankind was in.
When God created Man, mankind was created perfect, without any blemish or stain:
"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." (Genesis 1:27-31, NASB, emphasis mine)
"This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes." (Ecclesiastes 7:29, NASB)
But in the Garden of Eden, Satan persuaded man to eat of the tree forbidden to them by the Lord:
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." (Genesis 3:1-6, NASB)
By disobeying the Lord, Man had broken fellowship with God.
To comprehend this, we must realize that God is absolutely HOLY. He is set apart from is, distinct and unique. And he is perfect, without blemish or stain. His standards of right and wrong, good and evil are also perfect and beyond reproach. God's character is absolutely PURE, and is without any tarnish or imperfection; because of this, he cannot be in fellowship with sinners or his perfect character is compromised, and he is no longer God. Mankind's sin marred him horribly, and this separated him from the Lord.
To put it another way: imagine if you will a white carpet and a bottle of clean water. If the water is poured on the carpet, it will not stain it, because the water is pure and has nothing in it that can stain the carpet. But if black dye is added to the water, the water is then polluted and will stain the carpet is it is poured on it. No matter how pure the dye may be, it WILL stain the carpet by its' very nature. And thus is the nature of man after he sinned against God; no matter how noble his attempts, no matter how magnificent his deeds, they are still tainted by the impurity of sin.
But how can one sin be such an offense to an almighty and omnipotent God?
Consider this: when a person commits a crime, there are two factors that denote its' severity: what the crime was, and against whom it was committed. If you commit a crime against the city, that is bad enough. If you commit it against the state, it is worse. And if you commit it against the Government, that is grave indeed.
So consider now committing a crime against God almighty: the most innocent being of all? To commit a crime against someone so innocent and pure is indeed a horrific offense, and deserves the most severe of punishment. God did absolutely NOTHING to deserve disobedience from his children; he had given them everything, and yet they heeded the words of Satan, in effect siding with him.
In short: sins are only the SYMPTOM: it is sin itself, the "missing the mark" that separates us from the Lord. It is this bent, this desire to veer from the perfect will of God that has put a wall between us and God Almighty.
This is why mankind is separated from God...
... and Satan was behind it all.
Why?
Satan hates mankind because man was given control of the earth by God, and that is what Satan had wanted. When Satan sinned against God, he wanted to be Lord over the earth, and have it for his dominion, but instead, he was removed from his position in heaven, along with the 1/3 of the angels that followed him. Additionally, Satan hates mankind because God loves man, and Satan hates God. Therefore, he hates anything that God loves. And while Satan cannot directly hurt God, he can indirectly hurt him through US.
So, by separating Man from God; Satan does the following: 1) he "gets back" at God for throwing him out of heaven as one of his angels, and: 2) sets up his own kingdom on earth by subjugating man and therefore taking dominion of the planet.
And as mankind has sinned against God, he is now destined for the same place that Satan and his angels, whom have also sinned, are headed towards:
"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;” (Matthew 25:41, NASB)
"And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15, NASB)
Now we understand the severity of the situation man was in.
We will examine the role of the cross in Part 2.
I bid you all peace.
YBIC,
-Sojo414
