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Scripture Reading: Eph. 1:7-9; 1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 21:22-23; Heb. 9:14; Luke 24:25-27, 44-46; 1 Cor. 2:2; 18, 1:23; Gal. 5:11
This book is divided into two sections. The first ten chapters of this book are the first section and are concerning Christ. With this chapter we will begin the second section concerning the cross of Christ. According to the revelation of the Bible, the cross of Christ refers to the death of Christ. This is a very significant matter that occupies a special place in the Bible. In order to know the significance of the cross, we will consider various aspects of the cross of Christ.
Ephesians 1:7 says, “In whom we have redemption through His blood...according to the riches of His grace.” Speaking of God’s beloved Son, this verse says that we have redemption through His blood according to the riches of His grace. By His abounding grace God made known to us “the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself” (vv. 8-9). On the cross and through His blood, Christ accomplished the redemption that was planned according to God’s good pleasure. The cross was planned by God according to the good pleasure of His will. Knowing the cross enables us to know the mystery of God’s will.
Other than Christ Himself, nothing in God’s plan has a higher place than the cross. Christ and the cross are at the center of God’s plan. Christ is the center of God’s purpose, and the cross is the center of God’s procedure. Christ is the purpose of God’s plan, and the cross is the procedure of God’s plan. Everything in God’s plan takes Christ as its purpose and is carried out for Christ, and everything in God’s plan takes the cross as its procedure and is carried out through the cross. Hence, Christ is the center of God’s purpose in His plan, and the cross is the center of the procedure in God’s plan. God has determined to do everything in His plan in Christ, and God has determined to do everything in His plan through the cross. Without Christ, God’s plan has no purpose, and without the cross, God’s plan has no procedure.
God’s plan is eternal. Because the cross is part of God’s plan, the cross is not only a matter in time; it has an eternal element. Many people think of the cross, which is God’s solution for man’s salvation, as a historical event in time. They think that the Lord Jesus came to establish a way of salvation after man sinned and deserved to perish. Although such a thought does not seem wrong, it is far from the revelation of the Bible because it makes the cross an afterthought in the carrying out of God’s plan in relation to the problem of the fall. However, the Bible reveals that the cross was planned and determined by God in eternity (1 Pet. 1:20). Before man sinned and fell, or rather, before man was created, before the universe was created, and before time came into being, that is, in eternity without beginning, God planned the redemption of the cross according to His good pleasure and His foreknowledge. The cross is part of God’s eternal plan, not an afterthought. The cross was planned by God in eternity but fulfilled in time. For this reason the Bible says that Christ, who accomplished redemption on the cross, was prepared by God before the foundation of the world. Long before the foundation of the world, before anything had come into being, God in His eternal plan determined that Christ would carry out the way of salvation on the cross. The cross was determined before the foundation of the world in eternity past.
The cross comes out of eternity past, and it will continue to exist in eternity future. Christ is in heaven as the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 5:6), and in eternity future He will still be the Lamb who was slain (13:8). Christ being called the Lamb indicates that He was slain, and being slain is a matter of the cross. Therefore, Christ as the Lamb should remind us of His cross. In eternity future Christ will still be the Lamb, and He will still be called the Lamb. This indicates that in eternity future the efficacy of His cross will continue, and we will continue to remember the cross.
In eternity future the relationship between God and His redeemed ones will be based on Christ’s status as the Lamb. Thus, in eternity future the efficacy of His cross will remain between God and those who have been redeemed. The efficacy of His cross will not only be remembered by us but also enjoyed by us. In eternity future God will be with us as the light of life and everything in the Lamb who was slain (21:22-23). We will enjoy the fullness of God and express the glory of God in the Lamb who was slain. His death on the cross is eternally efficacious in us and between God and us. As a result, we will have an eternal relationship with God. Through the eternal Spirit, Christ offered Himself on the cross without blemish to God (Heb. 9:14). Hence, the accomplishments of His cross are eternal, not temporary. The efficacy of the cross is eternal; it is not limited to time.
The cross is eternal and belongs to eternity. The cross was planned in eternity past and will remain in eternity future. The place of the cross in eternity speaks of the significance of the cross. We must not diminish the significance of the cross by considering the cross to be something transient, something related merely to time.
In eternity God planned and determined that the cross would be fulfilled in time. Hence, even before the time of its fulfillment, God used types, figures, and prophecies in many portions of the Old Testament to reveal the cross in a clear and detailed way.
In the Old Testament types and prophecies God not only revealed the coming Christ, but God also spoke of the work of the cross that would be fulfilled through Christ. The Old Testament reveals Christ before His incarnation, and it also presents the cross in a definite way. The Old Testament is full of Christ, and it is also full of the cross.
For example, the sacrifice in the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:21), the sheep offered by Abel (4:4), the sacrifices offered by the patriarchs (8:20; 12:7; 13:18; 22:13; 26:25), and the passover lamb (Exo. 12; cf. 1 Cor. 5:7) all portray the work of the cross. The altar and the sacrifices (cf. Heb. 13:10), the smitten rock (Exo. 17:6; cf. 1 Cor. 10:4), and the bronze serpent (Num. 21:9; cf. John 3:14) are further examples of types related to the cross. Even the hanging of a convicted person on a tree is a type that portrays the cross (Deut. 21:22). Genesis 3:15, Psalm 22:1 and 6-18, Isaiah 53:4-10, and Zechariah 12:10 all speak of the cross.
If we understand the Bible, we will see the importance of the cross through the Old Testament types and prophecies. Everything that God intends to fulfill and obtain, everything that He promises to His chosen ones, and everything that He gives to His people involve the work of the cross. Everything is achieved through the cross. Christ and the cross are at the center of the Old Testament prophecies: Christ is the purpose, and the cross is the procedure. In order to understand the prophecies in the Old Testament, we must know both Christ and the cross. Christ and the cross are the key to the prophecies in the Old Testament. If we know Christ and His cross, we will have the secret to understanding the prophecies in the Old Testament. This is what the Lord Jesus revealed to His disciples after His resurrection (Luke 24:13-27, 44-46).
The Old Testament ushers in the New Testament, and the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament. The Old Testament prophecies take Christ and His cross as the center, and the New Testament revelation also takes Christ and His cross as the center. The New Testament emphatically speaks of Christ being the center of everything, but it also speaks just as emphatically concerning the cross. The four Gospels present Christ and the cross. The four Gospels portray Christ to us, and they also portray the work that He accomplished on the cross. If we want to understand the four Gospels, we must know both Christ and the cross.
The book of Acts testifies concerning the resurrected and ascended Christ and concerning His cross. Through the cross Christ was ushered into resurrection and ascension to become the resurrected and ascended Christ. In order to know such a Christ, we must see His cross, and we must know Him through His cross. Christ is the goal in the book of Acts, and His cross is also the basis of the book of Acts.
The Epistles place equal emphasis on Christ and His cross. Paul said, “I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Paul preached nothing other than “Christ crucified” (1:22-23). He did not present signs for the Jews or wisdom for the Greeks. Instead, Paul considered Christ and the cross of Christ as the power of God (vv. 24, 18). Christ and the cross are the center of Paul’s speaking. Paul was hated by people because he preached the cross of Christ (Gal. 5:11). Paul was used by God, and his message was powerful because he preached the cross of Christ. Peter and John also presented Christ, who accomplished redemption, and His cross as the center of their speaking (1 Pet. 1:3, 18-19; 2:21-24; 3:18; 4:1-2; 1 John 1:7; 3:16; 4:10; 5:6). In order to understand the Epistles, we must know Christ and His cross. We can touch the reality in the Epistles only by seeing Christ and His cross.
The book of Revelation is a “revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1). This book opens a heavenly veil to reveal Christ; therefore, it is a particular book concerning Christ. However, Revelation reveals that the Christ who has received glory in heaven and for eternity is the Lamb who has been slain (5:6). When Revelation speaks of the status of Christ, it refers to Him as the Lamb standing as having just been slain. The title Lamb reminds us of the cross of Christ and turns our attention to the cross of Christ. Hence, Revelation also takes Christ as its center and the cross of Christ as its focus.
Both Christ and His cross are the center of the New Testament revelation. If we want to know the New Testament revelation, we must know not only Christ but also the cross. Christ and the cross are the secret to understanding the New Testament revelation.
The cross occupies an important and central place in the Old Testament prophecies and in the New Testament revelation because the cross is the center of God’s work of redemption. God’s work of redemption was carried out by Christ and through the cross. Just as there is no redemption apart from Christ, there is also no redemption apart from the cross. Both Christ and the cross are the center of God’s redemption. Forgiveness, cleansing, justification, sanctification, reconciliation, regeneration, eternal life, emancipation, and every other spiritual blessing in God’s redemption are in Christ and through the cross (Eph. 1:3). In order to obtain and experience these spiritual blessings, we must know Christ and His cross. We can obtain these blessings only in Christ, and we can experience them only through the cross.
