The Deal

"And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight - 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister."
Colossians 1:20-23

There are many times that I hear of, or read of, or actually experience first hand, people knocking the cross of Jesus Christ. People wear it as a piece of jewelry around their necks, some of whom I wonder if they have any idea what it stands for or the work that was done there. Rock stars wear large crosses with glittering chains as an accessory, because it is cool. I find it interesting, to say the least. Because a cross in Biblical times was to the people of that time the same thing as an electric chair is to us in our day. How many people would wear an electric chair necklace? It is all very interesting indeed.

What Christ did on the cross was a very amazing thing. He paid the penalty, which is death, for our sins. The Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death...." The ultimate payout for our sins is death. Someone has to die, namely us. But Jesus came and went to the cross to die in our place, so that we wouldn't have to. He gave His life so that we may live. He has reconciled us to God the Father "in the body of His flesh through death" so that we can be presented "holy and blameless" before the Father. What a deal. To exchange this life of sin and darkness and hopelessness, for a life that is holy and blameless before the Father, a life of light and full of hope. What a deal.

So beloved, be encouraged. The work that Jesus Christ did on the cross, was the only work that needed to be done. There is no list of rules to check off. There are no regulations to follow in fear of messing up. It is not religion. What Jesus did on the cross He did once and for all. He didn't say from the cross, "It's almost done!" No. He said, "It is finished." There is nothing else that we can do for our salvation. We have been reconciled to God through Christ in His death on the cross. We just believe and accept that by faith.

Yes, we try to keep doing things that we think in our own minds, will make us "acceptable" to God. We try doing good deeds. People who don't really know Jesus have this concept that there is this great big Cosmic Scale in the Sky, that, if they do enough good deeds that outweigh the bad deeds they have done, then they will go to heaven. Beloved, don't get all caught up in that thinking, or in any thinking that says you have to "do" something to be good enough to go to heaven. Jesus reconciled us to God through His death on the cross; through His body being broken, and through the shedding of His blood. Sin doesn't have to have dominion and power over our lives any more. No longer do we have to live our lives in chains, in bondage to our sin. We are made free in Jesus Christ. Do you want to be truly free today? Turn to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He set aside His glory in heaven, to come to earth to die, so that you and I could live and be free. I get to trade my life of sin which is deserving of death, for a life that is presented to the Father as holy and blameless. What a deal!