The Power of the Cross

From the moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden, all of creation longed for the coming of a redeemer to restore what had been lost at the hands of sin.

We see in Genesis 3 that the first sin brought on two primary consequences:

1. Separation from God

2. Death

The other consequences of sin – all forms of pain and suffering – stem from these two primary consequences.

Despite mankind’s disobedience, God never stopped pursuing His people. Every moment of history leading up to the coming of Jesus pointed increasingly to our desperate need for a Savior.

Then, in one glorious moment, Jesus restored all that had been lost.

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

Matthew 27:50-52

God lost no time in displaying that indeed “it is finished” (John 19:30).

Immediately upon Jesus’ death, God proved His victory. The two things that had been taken by sin in the garden were instantly restored – personal relationship with God and life’s victory over death.

When Jesus breathed His last breath, Matthew tells us, “At that moment,” meaning instantly, the curtain at the temple was torn in two. The curtain at the temple was long used to separate the common people from the presence of God. But in that moment, God released His presence and made a way for us to live in personal relationship with Him once again. This was immediate, tangible, visible victory over sin’s attempt to separate us from God.

Secondly, in that same moment, we see that “many holy people who had died were raised to life.” There is no greater display of victory over death than mass resurrection! God wasted no time in asserting His dominance over the power of death.

The heart of God

The beautiful thing about this moment is that it instantly reveals to us the heart of God. His eternal will has always been to draw us unto Himself and to be in relationship with us for eternity.

Jesus fulfilled all spiritual law through His death on the cross, giving Himself up as the perfect sacrifice, so that we could walk in the full freedom that fulfillment of the law brings. He Himself took on the full weight of the consequences of our sin – death and separation from Him – so that those consequences now hold no power.

Lest we wonder if what Jesus did was truly enough, He put it on full physical display immediately upon Jesus’ death by tearing the curtain in two and raising the holy dead to life.

Now, when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive the beautiful reward of all He did. We receive eternal life, and we receive relationship with the God of all Creation. We also receive the hope that all these things will be brought to their fullness when Jesus returns again in full glory.

As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12,

“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Salvation in Jesus provides us abundant life and relationship with God now, while we are still in this broken world. And it provides us the promise and hope of everlasting life and perfect unity with God for all eternity.

This is the power of the cross – immediate and everlasting, proven from the first moment to the last.