Christianity is becoming more and more obsolete in America today. The simple faith of Christianity has been relegated to the sideline, especially in urban areas and intellectual communities. Now practical atheism is the most practiced religion in America (practical atheism exists when people simply live like there is no God even though they may intellectually believe in a "higher power"). Many have lost sight of the fact that one day they will each have to give an account to the King of the Universe. In Japan, where less than 1% of the population is Christian, the cross is not understood nor appreciated. But yet, the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross is the most important event of history.
But how do we share these important truths with a world that doesn't understand? I think that we must start by highlighting the absolute primacy and necessity of the cross of Christ! The cross was not just a possibility that God chose out of a list. Some think, that since God is omnipotent that He could forgive anyone's sin if He wanted to. In fact many rest in this assumption without placing their faith in Christ. They believe that since God is a loving God, and that since they have been "good people," that when they die, God will simply weigh their deeds on a balance scale and if the good outweigh the bad, than God will sweep their sins under the rug. The truth however is that God is just and no sin will go unpunished! The Psalmist says, "For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you (Ps. 5:4)." A sinner can not be in the presence of a holy God. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul said that the "wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:23)." Everyone who has committed the smallest sin deserves death and can not be in the presence of a Holy God! So for us to enter into the presence of God, we must not only be sinless, but God must see us as perfect. This is an impossibility for us! We are hopeless in our own standing. We not only need our sins forgiven, but we also need to be perfect. That is the beauty of the horrid, gruesome cross of Christ! When God the Son came to earth and lived a perfect life as a humble servant and then gave His own life on the cross as a penalty for sins, it allowed God to see those that believe in the cross for their salvation as pure, sinless people who have inherited the righteousness of Christ!
The following verses stress the absolute necessity of the cross of Jesus Christ:
Leviticus 17:11 "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life."
Hebrews 9:22 "Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins."
Hebrews 2:10-11 "For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source."
John 3:14-17 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
