Why did Christ die on the cross?

Harvest Online ^ | 3/1/04 | Greg Laurie

[txzman]

This writer forget that many believers look at Christ on a necklace as an idol - that is why many wear only the cross. Granted, many others just buy it as jewelry.

[smith288]

That is what people want today: A cross without Jesus. A cross without any offense.

Not really. Protestants like the empty cross as it shows Christ has risen from death.

[Preachin']

For some, the empty cross is a picture of the believer taking up his own cross, and following Christ.

I think we Christians spend too much time looking at the cross, and we need to get on our own.

[ClearCase_guy]

I felt the same way. There is nothing wrong with wanting a simple cross. However, the woman's wording was most peculiar: "Something without the little man."

I think she was buying a decoration, and may not have known beans about Christianity.

[PleaseNoMore]

If ever you are tempted to doubt God's love for you, then take a long look at the cross. It wasn't the spikes that held Jesus there. It was His love for you.

Amen.

[JustPlainJoe]

My take on those necklaces is, He's no longer on the cross; He conquered it and death for us - so take him off.

[Aquinasfan]

Jesus didn't have to die this way. God could have redeemed us in any manner of ways. Christ's death on the cross is ultimately a mystery, but we can attempt some explanations.

What is deeply consoling to me is that I can know that my Creator knows the meaning of suffering. He understands our suffering. Suffering can't be without meaning if He allowed His Son to suffer so.

Christ's incredible suffering also gives us an idea of the importance of evil and the great debt that we owe God for our sins committed against him, helping us to be thankful for His mercy.

Intellectually, we can understand that God allows evil so that greater good may come of it, as Christ's horrible death demonstrates.

[ex-snook]

"Why Did Christ Die on the Cross? "

He was lifted up so that He would rise from the dead and conquer death and sin. Our Passover from death into life.

No greater love than to lay down one's life. By His death and resurrection He has saved the world. Thank you Jesus.

[Theo]

Isn't it really unimportant whether a piece of jewelry has a "little man" on it or not? Catholics have their crucifix with Jesus hanging on it; Protestants have their cross with Jesus having already been raised from the dead.

It ultimately doesn't matter what that jewelry has on it.

It's not "either-or" -- it's "both-and." Jesus died on the cross as a sufficient sacrifice. It's good to remember what he did there. That is the only thing Christians are encouraged to "boast" in. At the same time, Jesus is alive, the Holy Spirit is among us, we worship a living God.

This "crucifix/cross" discussion is ultimately pretty meaningless. Let's get beyond it and agree that Jesus' sufferings on the cross are a powerful message of the wrath and love of God, and his being raised from the dead is an encouragement, a demonstration of his victory over death, a promise of our future....

[anniegetyourgun]

"Christ's incredible suffering also gives us an idea of the importance of evil and the great debt that we owe God for our sins committed against him, helping us to be thankful for His mercy."

I hope it causes us to realize we can't possible pay the debt we owe. Only then will we put our trust in His finished work upon that cross to deliver us to the uttermost. It's all of Him, and none of us.

[anniegetyourgun]

"If living a good moral life would get us to heaven, then Jesus would have never died on the cross for us."

And yet, so many still think they can get there from here.

[Theo]

This thread is so full of rich doctine. What a wonderful morning encouragement. I feel like I'm reading my morning devotions! :-)

[Agnes Heep]

The answer may lie in this script from the Black Adder episode "Potato":

Blackadder: No, me; *I'm* the people who do all the work. I mean *look* at this! [goes to a table at the side of the room and picks up a small brown thing and holds it up] *What* is it?

Baldrick: Oh, I'm surprised you've forgotten, my lord.

Blackadder: I haven't forgotten; it's a rhetorical question.

Baldrick: [looking at him] No, it's a potato.

Blackadder: To you it's a potato, to me it's a potato. But to Sir Walter Bloody Raleigh it's country estates, fine carriages, and as many girls as his tongue can cope with. He's making a fortune out of the things; people are smoking them, building houses out of them... They'll be eating them next.

[Lion in Winter]

I agree with you. It does not matter if the image of Christ is on the cross or not.

All that really matters is that we embrace the cross just as Christ did as he struggled with it on His way to save us from our sinful ways.

In the movie, one of the thieves says to Him as He takes His cross... "don't embrace the cross!"

Well, it looked on the screen like He did embrace the cross almost lovingly.... well, now that I think about it.... IT WAS LOVINGLY, WASN'T IT?

[reasonseeker]

"If there had been any other way, do you think that God would have sent His Son to suffer like this? If there had been any other way we could have been forgiven, then God surely would have found it."

Of course there were infinite other ways, since God is a being of infinite possibilities. And God doesn't need to "find" any other ways, He just "knows." If this is not so, then God is not really omnipotent, nor is He omniscient, but rather limited by the minds and actions of human beings. God gave us free will, you say? Then He can just as easily take it away, so it's not really free if it can be revoked at any time, especially if God has a "plan." If God can't revoke free will, then He's not really omnipotent. Who is responsible for Jesus' death? The Jews, the Romans, all of us? It was God who planned his own Son's death as the "only" way. But as a being of infinite possibilities, it couldn't have been the "only" way. He chose to revoke the free will of human beings in order to accomplish this. Had people exercised their free will and NOT crucified Jesus, it would have been in opposition to God's Will. Jesus had to die horribly, because that's what God wanted.

[A.A. Cunningham]

A cross without the corpus of Christ is the symbol of ancient, pagan Rome and as Saint Paul wrote:

"But we preach Christ crucified: unto the Jews indeed a stumbling lock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness: But unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." 1 Corinthians 1:23-24

[Caipirabob]

Why Did Christ Die on the Cross?

The message just wouldn't have been the same if he died on a "La-Z-Boy".

[B4Ranch]

The standard reply in Hollywood today is, "Because He would get so much free advertising."

[Aquinasfan]

I hope it causes us to realize we can't possible pay the debt we owe. Only then will we put our trust in His finished work upon that cross to deliver us to the uttermost. It's all of Him, and none of us.

Amen.