The Way of the Cross
Sin is not merely an issue of ethics or moral conduct. It is directly connected to the matter of life. This is the reality of humanity, living the life of sin, being an existential sinner whose existence and life cannot be separated—”sin is me, and I am sin.” The cross, where the precious and righteous life of Jesus Christ was poured out, is the only way to existentially transform sinners.
The Core of the Gospel Is the Cross
The gospel is Jesus Christ, and the core of the gospel is the cross. The Bible clearly teaches about the cross and sin. It diagnoses the human condition that needs the gospel of the cross as “dead in transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). In other words, it describes the sinner as “dead” needing life. How did death enter the world? In Genesis, God said that if the covenant was broken and the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil was eaten, death would surely come (Genesis 2:17). Despite the warning that rebelling against and rejecting God’s perfect love would bring death, people sinned. Adam and Eve were still alive physically. However, the death described in the Bible refers to a spiritual separation from God due to the loss of the original image He created.
Then what was God’s plan of creation? Regarding the original form of humanity, Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” God’s image and likeness can be understood as the nature and manner of existence of the Triune God.
The Essence of Sin Is in the Life of Self
The image of God can be seen as the personal attributes of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God’s image reflects the essence of His life—mutual love, shared trust, and constant joy. The likeness of the Triune God represents the communal form of existence in unity and love. This is the original image of our life. Though humans were created beings, they were blessed to joyfully participate in God’s love, wisdom, and power. But having betrayed that blessing, we could no longer share in His glory. We entered a “state of death,” unable to fellowship with God. The original design—depending on and delighting in God—was destroyed. We became self-centered beings, establishing ourselves as independently existing. Created to unite with the self-existing God (Exodus 3:14), we committed rebellion by placing ourselves in His position. That is the essence of sin.
Death as Sin Chosen by One’s Own Will
So, humanity’s disconnection from God is not merely punishment, but the result of choosing sin. Then what life did Adam and Eve begin to live? Not the life of God, but a flesh-driven, self-centered life.
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). This life of self is, in reality, a life under the influence of Satan (Ephesians 2:2), enslaved to follow his will. As a result, we became children of wrath and slaves to Satan.
“Sin Is Me, I Am Sin”—God’s Love for Existential Sinners
Death is found in sin. It is not God who killed us, but sin itself that caused death. Sin is a matter of life. Thus, sin is me, and I am sin—our existence and life cannot be separated from sin. The only way to save existential sinners is the atoning cross through the Savior.
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.(Romans 5:12, 18,NIV)
And the love of God became reality when His Son, Jesus Christ, came into this world, took on flesh, lived in the likeness of sinners, and paid the full price of our sin and death by being judged and dying. The cross is the clearest expression of God’s true intention toward sin. When it comes to the way of the cross, there is no other answer but to believe according to the Scriptures.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8,NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.(Galatians 2:20,NIV)
The Way of the Cross Is God’s Power
The apostles shared the crucified Christ crucified everywhere they went. Also, the theme of praise in the book of Revelation is “the slain lamb” (Revelation 5:12). Jesus came to give eternal life to us existential sinners who deserved eternal death, and the only way to do that was through a cross.
The world recognizes Jesus Christ of the Cross as a teacher and prophet, but refuses to accept him as the Savior who gave Himself to save us. In a nutshell, the world rejects the cross. The Apostle Paul acknowledges that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who have not experienced that power, but it is God’s wisdom for those who know it. For those who don’t believe, it’s always just a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (Romans 9:33).
The Cross Destroys Sins, Death, and Satan
Nothing other than the cross can reveal how terrible sin is, how miserable the circumstances of sinners are, and how appropriate the eternal death and punishment of hell inflicted on sinners is. Also, only through the cross can we know how much God loves us who are sinners, how precious we are, created in God’s image, and how vast God’s dream for the church is. And it is only through the cross that the power of sin and death is broken, and Satan is no longer able to dominate us.
Therefore, the Calvary Cross is the core of the history of the universe and this world from eternity to eternity. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, is worthy of the title of superior above all things.
》Prayer Points
1. The cross of Jesus Christ is God’s declaration that all humanity is under His judgment (Romans 3:19). From God’s perspective, whether healthy or sick, young or old, king or servant, educated or uneducated, righteous or evil—all are sinners who fall short of His glory. A servant of sin and Satan cannot overcome sin. Let us pray that all sinners will be united by faith with Christ in His death and resurrection, so they may be freed from sin, death, and the power of Satan, and live as righteous people.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.(Romans 6:6–7,NIV)
2. The cross was God’s perfect and sovereign work of salvation, completely unexpected by anyone. The Lamb, Jesus Christ, prepared by God Himself, was not the kind of Messiah the Jews expected, so the cross became a stumbling block to them. The cross rejects all human effort and declares only God’s grace, exposing the sinner’s inability and lack of worthiness for salvation. That is why it seems foolish to the Greeks, but to the Church that God has called, it is the power and wisdom of God. The cross is the core and turning point of spiritual warfare. Let us pray that the gospel of the cross will be revealed clearly among all nations and that the victory of God’s kingdom will be proclaimed.
23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.(1 Corinthians 1:23–24,NIV)
》 Urgent prayer requests around the world need your prayer!
