The Plumbline

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. (I Corinthians 1:18 NLT) The message of the cross cannot be understood through human reasoning. If we could understand the exact things that transpired in the heavenly realms as Christ hung there, breathed his last, and then gave his all for mankind, we'd probably all be on our knees in full repentance right now. There wouldn't be one soul untouched by the intensity of that sacrifice. The human mind is not able to know fully what transpired, but through faith we can trust that what Christ accomplished was meant for our good.  The power behind the cross isn't usually fully comprehended through what we read in our scriptures. It becomes very evident in a changed life, though. The more a life is transformed by the power of the cross, the more we come to 'know' and 'appreciate' that Christ did more than just 'die' ther...

Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right. And you are healed because of his wounds. (I Peter 2:24) We may not understand fully how one man can carry the sins of all mankind, but we can trust that Christ did just that. How can one do so much for so many? We know God's ways are not man's ways, so 'how' he did it isn't as important as 'why' he did it and 'who' he did it for. He took on the sins of all mankind because of his tremendous love for his creation - all mankind. Do we fully understand his love - no, but we can see what his love can do when a life is submitted to his care! He took our sins IN HIS BODY to the cross and he hung there in our place - affording a means by which judgment for each and every one of those sins could be dealt with once and for all. Our responsibility is to lay down our old selfish ways of thinking and acting, taking on a new way of living. That new...