The Work of the Cross

I believe in the finished work of the cross of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Most believers know and agree that Jesus died in our place as a sinner so that we would not have to suffer the judgment and sentence for the personal sin we committed while following our fleshly desires as a fallen creature. That work in simple terms was the greatest act of love ever performed.

In doing so, Jesus fulfilled all that was ever going to be required by God's Holy justice concerning the death penalty that required the shedding of blood for the removal of sin from the record of mankind. The sin issue confronting man has been dealt with once and for all. There will be no other sacrifice required. The requirement of God's judgment of sin and the sentence of death has been satisfied for all of eternity by what Jesus accomplished on the cross. All of God's wrath was poured out upon Jesus when He was nailed to the tree by the very men He was dying for.

But I also believe there was much more accomplished by Jesus through His work on the cross than just salvation. "Just salvation?" That doesn't sound right. It's not just salvation, it's a great salvation … there is nothing of greater worth or value than the blood of Jesus that bought salvation for us.

But there were other very important meaningful things going on that fateful night and next morning before Jesus was nailed to the cross. The Roman army wasn't known for compassion but rather brutality, and they were good at it. Jesus was just another Jew to them; so starting to make sport of Him, they spit in His face, struck Him with their fists and even ripped out part of His beard, which most Jewish men grew.

We dare not forget the scourging that He received at the hand of Pilate; the beating itself brought Jesus almost to the point of death as Pilate made an effort to try and satisfy the Jews lust for blood. And blood is what they got. The Roman scourgings were ordinarily very severe, and not limited to the forty stripes the Jews usually gave.

In fact, some scholars are of the opinion that Pilate himself scourged Jesus with his own hands, because John wrote … "Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him."

The punishment of scourging was horrible; the victim in this case, Jesus, would have been bound with chains to a low pillar, stripped naked and beaten with a flagellum, a whip with leather thongs tipped with lead balls and sharp spikes called … scorpions … appropriately named because of their painful sting. The severity of the damage inflicted upon Jesus is evident from His inability to bear the weight of the cross after this beating. Added to that, the loss of sleep during the previous 24 hours didn't help.

Jesus would have been a bloody mess after having His back torn open from the metal ripping and tearing His flesh. This was just the beginning of the shedding of His blood, the pouring out of His life for your total restoration; again may I say it was much more than … just salvation.

They mocked Him as the King of the Jews by placing a crown on His head that was made of sharp thorns one to two inches long. Placing it on His head isn't the correct word … it was forcibly jammed into His scalp; sliding, scraping along the skull under the skin, most likely penetrating down the forehead to His eyebrows.

In minutes His head started swelling from the bleeding under the skin, darkening the already bloody facial tissue making Him unrecognizable even to His mother and Mary Magdalene, both of whom stayed by the cross to be as close to Him as they were allowed. All of His disciples, except for John had forsaken Him and fled out of fear. Even God the Father turned His back on Jesus.

I cannot even begin to imagine what Mary, as a mother watching all the events as they unfolded through the night, how she must have felt, and now the cross; the pain in her soul, the anguish, the gnawing agony and emotional torture on her whole being … she didn't sign up for this. Yes, she followed God's will and gave birth to the Son of God … but this?

At any point during the events of the night and even after He had been nailed to the cross, Jesus could have ended all He was subjected to with just a word from His lips … but He didn't. How was Jesus able to endure all the pain, suffering, torture and separation from God for us? Love … it's just that simple. That's His nature … He can't help Himself.

Every once and a while I begin to wonder and question just how much "man" Jesus really was. I say that knowing that Jesus was both a man, and yet at the same time, God. Was Jesus more God than man? Was this why Jesus was able to live as a man without sin? Was He really like us?

Think about this … If He was God in Heaven as the Word, how could He divest Himself of His divine nature … that would be IMPOSSIBLE. He could not … CEASE TO BE GOD … just as God cannot cease to be Holy. Jesus did not cease to be God when He took upon the form of a man … God cannot be less than what He is.

Will you admit that there was something different about Jesus? He wasn't normal. How could He be? He was born of a virgin. That's not the usual way.

But when you look at what Jesus went through as a man; the scourging and the crucifixion … being both God and man … I believe only His physical humanity could have died on the cross.

It's been said that God died on the cross … but God cannot die … although Jesus the man did.

Jesus cries out, "Father forgive them" and then pours out for us what's left of the life in His body; as I look at the blood that ran down the cross, the water that poured from His side, (reminiscent of the life giving water that flowed from the Rock when Moses struck it with his rod in the wilderness) I must say … yes, Jesus was a man and died as a man.

His dead body became cold and stiff just like any other man. After His body was taken down from the cross He was buried in a borrowed tomb; but He wouldn't need it very long. Jesus didn't stay there … He came forth out of the tomb … I believe even before the stone was rolled away. The stone wasn't keeping Him there. It was only rolled away to show the world that He was no longer there … He had risen from the dead.

Okay, so what are some of the other things we should know about the work of the cross besides the price of our salvation that Jesus paid in full for us?

Most of us know and believe from what we read in the Word of God that the stripes, the marks left upon the back of Jesus from the scourging that was inflicted upon Him were purposely given for the physical healing of our bodies. Pilate and the Jews didn't know that, but this was part of God's design and will that was carried out.

All that Jesus suffered; the agony in the garden, the mock trial, the scourging, the crown of thorns and the worst of all … the six hours on the cross … hours of excruciating pain and torment from trying with what little strength was left, to hold Himself up as high as He could so He could breath, while God the Father poured all the sin of the world, past, present and future into His own Son. The Word says that God made Him to become sin for us who knew no sin. Jesus had seen the effects of sin, but had never felt sin itself in His body before.

I also believe that God took every sickness and disease of man, and placed them within the body of Jesus as He hung on the cross, adding even more physical pain and suffering. I believe that the weight of every curse brought upon man by sin was also borne by Jesus upon the cross. Because of that, Jesus has set us free from every curse that man's sin has caused.

The work of the cross not only gave us salvation, but along with salvation came healing. I'll speak to this in a moment.

The object of this discourse about the work of the cross is to make known to those who just might not know … that when you accepted Jesus as your Lord, when you were born again, you received a measure of the Holy Spirit, a down payment of sorts; call it your first withdrawal from the treasury of Heaven. God opened up, not only a savings account for you, but also what I call … a checking account with unlimited funds. But it is up to you to write the check.

So what's in this checking account? Whatever you have need of. Notice I did not say whatever you want. Needs are things like … freedom from worry and fear, finances, safety, peace, love, joy, etc. In John 16:24, Jesus said this … "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

What's it take for your joy to be full? How about health? How about the healing of sickness and disease? Healing … I have found that healing is not a simple thing to get. And why is that? It shouldn't be that way. As I have just explained … it has already been taken care of … on the cross just like the sin problem. It's part of the work of the cross.

Now stay with me here … the Lord spoke to me and said this. "There are times when you do not need to pray for healing. You already have it. I gave healing to you just like I gave salvation to you. It's part of the total package of the new birth. When I was invited into your spirit, soul and body, I brought healing with Me."

Peter knew this, which is why he did not pray for the lame man asking for money at the temple; but rather just spoke this declaration of faith to the man … "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."

Peter said … "such as I have" … meaning the healing power that was resident within him. We have that same power of healing dwelling within us. It has been deposited in our account by Jesus and we have been given His Power of Attorney to use as we represent Him and declare words of faith … in His name. That's what Peter did. So why shouldn't we? Go ahead and write the check and then … sign His name to it.

But if you don't feel comfortable just making a declaration of faith, and you prefer to pray, go ahead and pray. There is nothing wrong with prayer. Jesus said to ask the Father in His name. The mistake most people make when praying is that they just … "tack on" … the name of Jesus at the end of their prayer. That's not what asking in His name means.

Asking God … "in the name of Jesus" … means you are asking the court of Heaven to grant your petition, whatever it is, as if Jesus has given you the power and authority to represent Him, as if He was the one asking.

All I am saying is … follow your heart; the Holy Spirit will tell you whether you should pray for someone's healing or just … declare it so … like Peter did. Either way, it's still Jesus that does the healing through faith in His name.

Remember … there was more to the work of the cross than … just salvation.


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