Yesterday I went to a conference at Holy Trinity Brompton (that's a fairly big church in London, near to Harrods, for those of you who haven't heard of it...). The conference was mainly centred around musical worship and those involved in that, and I have to say it was the best conference I've been to in a long time.
But, despite all the excellent teaching on Song-writing and on leading worship in church, the seminar which touched me the most was the one entitled "The Cross of Christ"
Jesus' cross is taken for granted so often by Christians that it has lost some of its impact. We no longer see the cross as a symbol of humiliation and suffering, but rather as just something which symbolises the fact that we are christian in the same way that a crescent moon is the symbol of islam.
In Roman times the cross was used only for certain types of people:
- Political enemies of Rome
- Slaves who had defied their masters
- Violent criminals
Essentially, for the lowest of the low.
The condemned were hung naked, flogged, in full view of everyone, begging for their lives as they slowly suffocated under the weight of their own bodies, no longer able to lift their lungs.
To be hung on a cross was the ultimate humiliation, and as Graham Tomlin, who spoke on the subject yesterday, said: "It is almost proof in itself that Jesus existed, because no person in their right mind would invent a religion in which the hero, their saviour, would have died on a cross!"
He then went onto explain the reasons for why Jesus had to die. I've often struggled with this in my own thoughts: "Why could God not forgive us without anyone dying?"
Tomlin explained the following:
Jesus was fully man and fully God. As He was a perfect man he had no sins for which to pay a price. As he was fully God, God experienced everything that Jesus did, as he is an integral part of God.
When something wrong happens we often just excuse them, for example, if someone bumps into you on a bus, they say sorry, we say "don't worry" and instantly forget about it. We excuse their behaviour as there is no price to pay, we lose nothing in doing so.
Forgiveness comes into play when something much more serious happens. When your husband or wife sleeps with someone else. Or when a teacher abuses your child at school. Or when a drunk driver hits and kills your toddler. (That last one struck a raw nerve with me too.)
In those situations we have two choices as humans. We can either choose the more immediate and obvious route of revenge, i.e. "He has to pay!" or we choose to forgive, i.e. "I have to pay" There is always a price to pay, and it has to be paid by someone.
The price is paid in pain. There is no way to forgive someone without paying the price yourself. That is why it is never easy to truly forgive.
If someone owes you £100 and you forgive him the debt, you are £100 poorer as you now have to use £100 of your own to pay back your creditors. You cannot forgive that debt without losing £100.
As God is a god of love, he chose the route of forgiveness. He paid the price of sin himself. He Himself experienced death in order that we might experience life. That was the price. That is what he did for us. He paid the price of our wrongdoings by experiencing death in the most humiliating way. A death that should have been yours and mine.
Can there be a greater love?
But, despite all the excellent teaching on Song-writing and on leading worship in church, the seminar which touched me the most was the one entitled "The Cross of Christ"
Jesus' cross is taken for granted so often by Christians that it has lost some of its impact. We no longer see the cross as a symbol of humiliation and suffering, but rather as just something which symbolises the fact that we are christian in the same way that a crescent moon is the symbol of islam.
In Roman times the cross was used only for certain types of people:
- Political enemies of Rome
- Slaves who had defied their masters
- Violent criminals
Essentially, for the lowest of the low.
The condemned were hung naked, flogged, in full view of everyone, begging for their lives as they slowly suffocated under the weight of their own bodies, no longer able to lift their lungs.
To be hung on a cross was the ultimate humiliation, and as Graham Tomlin, who spoke on the subject yesterday, said: "It is almost proof in itself that Jesus existed, because no person in their right mind would invent a religion in which the hero, their saviour, would have died on a cross!"
He then went onto explain the reasons for why Jesus had to die. I've often struggled with this in my own thoughts: "Why could God not forgive us without anyone dying?"
Tomlin explained the following:
Jesus was fully man and fully God. As He was a perfect man he had no sins for which to pay a price. As he was fully God, God experienced everything that Jesus did, as he is an integral part of God.
When something wrong happens we often just excuse them, for example, if someone bumps into you on a bus, they say sorry, we say "don't worry" and instantly forget about it. We excuse their behaviour as there is no price to pay, we lose nothing in doing so.
Forgiveness comes into play when something much more serious happens. When your husband or wife sleeps with someone else. Or when a teacher abuses your child at school. Or when a drunk driver hits and kills your toddler. (That last one struck a raw nerve with me too.)
In those situations we have two choices as humans. We can either choose the more immediate and obvious route of revenge, i.e. "He has to pay!" or we choose to forgive, i.e. "I have to pay" There is always a price to pay, and it has to be paid by someone.
The price is paid in pain. There is no way to forgive someone without paying the price yourself. That is why it is never easy to truly forgive.
If someone owes you £100 and you forgive him the debt, you are £100 poorer as you now have to use £100 of your own to pay back your creditors. You cannot forgive that debt without losing £100.
As God is a god of love, he chose the route of forgiveness. He paid the price of sin himself. He Himself experienced death in order that we might experience life. That was the price. That is what he did for us. He paid the price of our wrongdoings by experiencing death in the most humiliating way. A death that should have been yours and mine.
Can there be a greater love?
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