“Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have
kissed” (Psalm 85:10)
In our culture, sin is no longer considered an issue. Although
some people might admit to making mistakes or being wrong, few will actually
say, "I have sinned." The Lord, however, takes sin very seriously.
Until we learn to see transgression as He does, we will never understand what
happened at Christ's crucifixion.
The cross was God's perfect answer to a terrible dilemma.
Because the Lord is holy and just, He hates sin and must respond to it with
punishment and wrath. Yet He also loves sinners and wants to be reconciled with
them. The cross of Christ was the place where God's wrath and love collided.
The only way to rescue fallen mankind from eternal punishment
was to devise a plan whereby the Lord could forgive sins without compromising
His holiness. There was no way to overlook transgressions; His wrath had to be
poured out--either on us or a substitute. But there was only one possible
substitute: the perfect Son of God.
So Jesus came to earth as a man and suffered the Lord's wrath
for us as He hung on the cross. Sin was punished, divine justice was satisfied,
and now God could forgive mankind without compromising His character. His wrath
was poured out on His Son so that His love and forgiveness could be lavished
upon us.
Because of human limitations, we'll never grasp all that
happened while Jesus hung on the cross. We can begin to comprehend only the
physical suffering He endured, but in the spiritual realm, Christ bore so much
more--the very wrath of God. This costly redemption plan proves God's great love.
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