What Happened at the Cross?

I am a firm believer that fear is the most destructive force within the human consciousness. Fear drives people to engage in destructive habits, to hurt loved ones, and to isolate themselves emotionally and physically. Most Christians will say that the answer to these problems can be found at the foot of the cross. Although I agree, the picture of the cross that I see painted far too often is one that makes God a fearful Deity.

It is unfortunate, but a vast majority of Christians subconsciously believe that God says, “You either love Me or I’ll kill you.” Some Christians even portray a more fierce God by adding that He will not just mercilessly kill you, but he will burn you alive in sulfurous flames over the course of eternity.

So I ask, did God really say to our first parents, “If you eat of the fruit, I will be forced to execute you without pity?”¹ That statement may sound harsh, but in reality, this is what many think when push comes to shove.

It gets even worse. It is suggested that even though God must arbitrarily kill all law breakers, a substitute has been found in God’s Son. So instead of God killing us; He kills Jesus to atone for our transgressions. We call this God’s justice and somehow we accept it as righteous. While the unfairness of this concept wars against our very moral fiber, we fear to examine this outrageous belief. After all, God is sovereign, who are we to ask questions.

Long before the earth was created a crisis arose in the government of God. “There was one who perverted the freedom that God had granted to His creatures.”² This freedom was expressed in the great Law of Love. This Law was foundational to God’s government and expressed itself in the self-giving attitude of his created beings who treated one another as God treated them, with respect and dignity.

The one who perverted this freedom was none other than Lucifer, the great Light Bearer, the being who entered into God’s very presence and glory. Feeling himself to be equal with God he coveted the right to enter in on the mysteries of creation. He resented his exclusion from councils held in unapproachable light. God was arbitrary in denying him his rights. He would force God’s hand by enlisting the support and backing of the other inhabitants of heaven. “While secretly fomenting discord and rebellion, he with consummate craft caused it to appear as his sole purpose to promote loyalty and to preserve harmony and peace.”³ No longer a light-bear he became Satan, the Adversary.

Suddenly, the freedom of the entire universe was in jeopardy. It only takes one self-centered person within the family to imprison everyone else. All were caught up in the controversy over God’s character. All begin to take sides and debate the issues that had been raised. Was God arbitrary? Was His law an infringement on their freedom? Was God severe in his decisions? Would he kill anyone who dared question his judgment? Was he vengeful and exacting?

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians support Satan’s point of view by their picture of God. As a result many are afraid of God. The very best news in the whole universe is that God is not the way His enemies (and many of his friends) have made him out to be. We have no reason to fear God. It is true He warned our first parents that if they broke trust with Him they would die. But never did he say, “You either love me, or I’ll kill you.” No one will ever die at the hands of our gracious God.

The unrighteous reap the natural consequences of distrust in this life and in the hereafter. When “the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with his mighty angels with a flaming fire” those who reject God and the good news about his son “will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from his glorious might.”⁴ This glory from which they are excluded will be life-giving to the righteous. “The sinners in Zion are afraid: fearfulness has seized the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings” (Ready for the answer?) “HE WHO WALKS RIGHTEOUSLY AND SPEAKS UPRIGHTLY”⁵ I hope that the fire of God’ glory NEVER goes out since we will all be living it! Hallelujah!

God’s glory was hidden at the cross. A dark cloud veiled the Father’s presence as his son endured the horrible aloneness that the sinner will experience. What became of Satan’s charges as Christ was lifted up on that barbaric instrument of torture? Do we see God killing His Son on the cross? No! We hear Jesus crying out, “My God, why have you given me up?”⁶

What picture of God do we see revealed at the Cross? We see Christ praying for those who are screaming for his execution. We see him speaking encouragement to those dying along side him. We see him making provision for his mother’s welfare and comfort. There was no anger, no vengeance, no retaliation, only love and kindness.

If we want to know what happens to sinners when they die - if we want to know what the Bible means when it says, “the wages of sin is death”⁷ than we have simply to look at the cross. Jesus died the sinner’s death; He died the second death. What happens when Christ returns and this controversy is brought to an end? Again, the answer is found at the cross. We don’t see God laying his hands upon his son in punishment. We don’t hear Jesus crying, “My God, My God, why are you beating me up? Why are you killing me?” No, the words from the cross are, “Why have you given me up? Why have you forsaken me?” The Father sadly parted from His Son’s presence and Jesus died.

The Cross was the supreme demonstration to the whole universe that God had told the truth when He said, “If you sin, you will die.” The Cross was the ultimate demonstration of HOW sin destroys. The natural consequences of rebellion is the inability to live in the presence of a life-giving God.

The paradox of the Cross is found in the people that attempted to murder Christ by nailing Him to a tree. These were commandment keeping people. They even had laws to protect them from breaking laws! They observed the laws of health even to the point of straining gnats our of their goats milk. They were meticulous in their tithe-paying, frequently paying a double tithe. They could quote scripture far better than most modern day scholars. They looked forward with anticipation for the coming Messiah. And finally they hurried to get the crucifixion accomplished so as not to interfere with their 7th day Sabbath worship.

These people were commandment-keeping, tithe-paying, health-reforming, bible-quoting Sabbath-keeping Adventists. They were proof that if one worships a God from fear, one can do everything God requires and still be His worst enemy! Oh, that we would come to grips with this fact and realize that worshipping God out of fear produces the heart of a rebel.

And if we persist in rebellion, if we are untrusting, self-centered and self-serving, one day God will say, “He that is, let him be.”⁸ God values our freedom, even the freedom to reject him. He will honor our choice. We will die horrible, miserably and alone, but not at the hands of God.

Jesus died to reveal this truth about God. He died to show us that God is not to be feared. Jesus came to reestablish a trust relationship with his children so that we can have AT-ONE-MENT with God, so that we can live forever in His life-giving presence. Praise God! This is healing good news; this is true salvation. Please beware of any who would support Satan’s picture of God and pervert the truth revealed at such a price on the Cross.