When I See A Cross

Speaker: V. P. Black
Date: April 13, 2004, Tuesday Evening Worship Service During a Gospel Meeting Hosted by the Strickland church of Christ in Glen, Mississippi
Main Scripture References: Various

When you’re driving down the highway, and you see a hearse, you think of death. When you see an ambulance, you think of an accident. When you pass by a hospital, you think of sick people. When you pass by a bank, you think of money. When you pass a school building, you think of education. But, what do you think of when you see a cross? And behind me is a cross. So, for the next few minutes I want to talk to you about what I think about when I see a cross.

First, I think of SIN, for if it had not been for sin, there would have never been a cross. Sin is the worst thing known to man. In Romans 3:23, Paul said, “We have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Any person that does not believe that sin carries with it individual and national calamity is as foolish as the person who could believe that a spider’s web could keep a huge boulder from rolling down a mountain side.

Sin is the most deceptive thing known to man. It promises happiness and gives sorrow. It promises hope and gives despair. It promises sleep and gives a nightmare. Sin is the worst thing known to man. Sin is as deceitful as a left-handed Ehud [see Judged, chapter 3] who would extend his right hand in fellowship and with a light left hand plunge a dagger through our stomach. Sin is as treacherous as Absalom [2 Samuel 13-19], who would do his obeisance and at the same time steal our hearts from God. Sin is as hypocritical as Judas Iscariot, who would betray us to death with a kiss. Sin is a vulture dressed up in the feathers of a peacock. If there had never been sin, there’d be no sickness, no sorrow, no heartaches, no disappointments in life. And so, when I see a cross, I realize what a horrible thing sin is.

Also, when I see a cross, I think of THE LOVE OF GOD. What a tremendous love God must have had for mortal man to send His Son to this earth to die for sinful man. In John 3:16, we’re told that “God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

Have you ever thought about the little word “so”? “God SO loved the world”? In this word, we have an ocean in a dew drop; a hemisphere of light in a solitary luminary. Let their surveyors bring their chains and survey the word “SO” for us. Let the architect draw a picture of the word “SO”. God SO loved man that He gave His Only Begotten Son.

And the apostle Paul said in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” In 1 Corinthians 1, beginning with verse 18 [-21], Paul said, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” And it was the love of God that motivated the apostle Paul to make these statements.

I’ve read many love stories in my life, but I’ve never read anything comparable to the love that God had for sinful man. I read of a story years ago—a flood in the Deep South, where the husband and wife had climbed up into the attic; the water’s getting into the house; the water’s getting higher and higher. Finally, they knocked a hole in the roof and they were on top of the house. And a boat came by rescuing people. And the pilot of the boat said, “We only have room for one of you. We’ll take the wife and come back after the husband.” She took her husband’s hand and said, “I’ll stay with him until you can come back for both of us.” Of course, when the rescuers came back, the husband and wife had been swept into eternity. But I can understand a love like that. She, no doubt, thought about the sacrifices he’d made for his family, the things he’d denied himself that his family might have them. So, I can understand why she wanted to stay with him. That’s a love that I can understand. But the love that God had for man is beyond my comprehension. And so, when I see a cross, I think of that tremendous love that God had for man.

Also, when I see a cross, I think of the WORLD CRUCIFYING THE ONLY INNOCENT PERSON WHO EVER GRACED THIS EARTH, THE ONLY ONE WHO LIVED ABOVE SIN—and yet, the world crucified Him. What a quiet, unobtrusive life was this One they called “the carpenter’s son.” During His life on earth, He fought against sin, and with thrilling eloquence He called upon man to repent. While upon the earth, He endorsed everything that was right, everything that was good, everything that was holy. He condemned everything that was wrong, everything that was sinful, everything that was ugly—the greatest Person the world has ever known. He was so great, and is so great, that He split the centuries from BC to AD, and the heirs of those who condemned Him to die dated their letters, “In the Year of Our Lord.” He was, and is, so great that He revolutionized the whole world in three short years by giving it a new date, a new law and a new religion. He was, and is, so great that He’d revolutionized the whole world in three short years, proving to man, in His death, that there was life beyond the grave—the greatest Person the world has ever known. And they crucified Him. He was the only man who ever lived who could say to people on any occasion, “Which one of you convinces Me of sin?” in John 8, and verse 46. He resisted Satan in the wilderness for forty days. He preached and taught in the temple and in the synagogue. He ministered to the poor. He healed the sick. He cast out evil spirits. He walked on the waters. He raised the dead. He was goodness embodied, virtue exemplified and holiness incarnated. He was a Man without an equal—the highest type of humanity, and the world crucified Him.