The Work of the Cross

By Michael Walker

“The cross” is a simple phrase used to refer to the greatest single act in history. An act that has transformed the world. An act that produced a seismic shift in the whole world. An act with profound depths. Those simple words, though, have within so much more than just the crucifixion of Jesus nearly 2000 years ago. A new place for us was ushered in – the Kingdom of God. This book intends to convey something of the fullness of what is meant when we refer to “the cross” and as such brings again the message of great hope to mankind which was ultimately authored by no lesser a character than God himself. This book is an examination of scriptures to try to reveal something of the magnitude of the cross, of what we, the whole of creation and God can expect to receive from that monumental event.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781716099052

Michael Walker

Michael Walker is the bestselling author of Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood and What You Want Is in the Limo: On the Road with Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, and the Who in 1973, the Year the Sixties Died and the Modern Rock Star Was Born. He has written about popular culture for the New York Times and is a contributing editor at the Hollywood Reporter. He lives in Los Angeles.

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The work of the cross

Introduction

When Christians are chatting or preaching, sometimes the expression The cross might be heard, but what is meant by that expression the cross?

I suspect most of us kind of know what is meant by the cross and you might correctly talk of Jesus being crucified on the cross to set us free from sin. But, there is so much more that is wrapped up in the cross, and so I want to take us on a journey that hopefully will expand our ideas of what the cross encompasses. This whole concept of the cross is absolutely fundamental to the Christian faith and is very much like the axle around which the wheels of our lives spin. The cross is absolutely central to our faith, to who we are, and it should also be absolutely central to all that we do. We should never forget the cross and even less should we take it for granted. We should fully trust in the cross and fully live in the outcome of the cross. That said, for most of us, this is what working out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) is all about. It will be, probably for all of us, a process. I just want to stress that what I am bringing here is only an outline. The Bible has a huge amount to say on the whole work of the cross, from Genesis to Revelation such that I don't believe just one small book can fully explore this subject.

As I said above, to most of us the cross is about Jesus being crucified for our sins, but this is, interestingly, a Western mindset that is increasingly focussed on ourselves, on my sin, on my unworthiness. There is some truth in that, but it should not be our focus – it should not be our primary concept of Jesus. In Eastern Christianity, if you ask a Christian there what the cross means, they will say something like The cross? Why, that's the prelude to the resurrection! In the early church, there was a similar emphasis not on the cross, but on the resurrection. For example, there are ten references to the resurrection in the book of Acts (all are in the context of what was being preached as good news), whereas there are only 3 references to the cross (or the tree) and those only refer to the form of execution. I am not saying that one view is right and the other wrong (for both are in part right), but what I do believe is that we in the West need to make every effort to eradicate the cult of the self which has seriously infected the church here (that infection has come from the wider non-church society, though ultimately from the satan) and the cross is as good a place as any to start from. The real problem with the cult of the self is that it is a pernicious form of idolatry – pernicious in that we will be led astray very subtly and a cult because it will be difficult and painful to escape from. But, with the full work of the cross, we have every hope. Many churches over the past decades (and possibly longer) have only preached the sin aspect of the cross, rather than its fullness. This distorted and reduced theology means that many Christians will never live as intended by God. As one preacher has said, a half-truth that becomes the whole truth is a lie. It is worth remembering too that we do have a very subtle enemy who really does not want us to know too much.

Given the centrality of the cross in our faith, I believe it is incumbent on us to study the cross regularly. Just as academic Bible researchers are distilling more and more truths from what the Bible has to say, combined with other researchers who are delving into the Hebraic roots of the faith, so also each of us also need to be expanding our knowledge of what the cross is about. There is nothing the enemy would want more than to mislead Christians into the cross, to encourage wrong or poor theology and to spread lies. There are many lies (full or partial) that have crept into typical church theology so we need to be continually on our guard against error. Examples include:

- The notion that Christians, when they die, will go to Heaven and non-believers go to Hell.

- Stressing moral performance (making undue effort to do the right thing) above knowing God (that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

- Sin simply being wrongdoing rather than the idolatry that it is consistently portrayed as in the Bible from beginning to end.

- Worship being the singing of songs.

- Christians being under grace, not law (an example of emphasising one verse while ignoring many others).

- The Kingdom of God being of little importance (evidenced by a lack of teaching and preaching).

- The fear of God being irrelevant.

- A belief that Jesus came to establish a new, and the only true, religion.

In studying the cross, I am not suggesting completing a course or two on that subject, though if that is an option, then you may benefit. Rather, simply reading the whole of the Bible on a regular basis would be an excellent way to start, while at the same time asking God to help with understanding of the more difficult bits. Or, from time to time, listening to reputable teachers or reading their books. There are many ways and a vast array of resources is available to us now. Also, while reading or studying a particular area, we must always be mindful of the larger picture, the grand scheme of things in the Bible and integrate that smaller area into the larger picture, rather than separating it out. An example of the larger picture might be what is the whole gospel account about, rather than solely focussing in on a couple of verses and ignoring the larger picture. Then, how does that whole gospel account fit into the whole of the scriptures?

It is a fundamental idea that in order to appreciate something of the most well known aspect of the cross, it is necessary to have an awareness of sin – the two are inextricably connected and it is not possible to fully know the work of the cross without also fully knowing sin. I do not mean knowing ALL our own sins, never mind anyone else's, but rather knowing what sin is, what effect it has on oneself, society and God. Tied in with the cross are the after effects of the cross itself – the resurrection of Jesus, His ascending back to Heaven to be with His Father and, at some certain point in the future, His return. When I refer to the full work of the cross, I am referring to all these after-effects as well as the cross itself. Also, as we will see, there are the opposite to after-effects (perhaps called pre-effects) where the cross is consequent to certain biblical events such as the Fall in Genesis 3, the tower of Babel in Genesis 11, the exodus, the mis-named Mosaic Law and the fall of Jerusalem.

However, there is so much more to the cross than just sin. We need to be mindful that in Jesus' ministry, His main teaching focus in the four gospel accounts is not sin – it is the Kingdom of God (which is the same as the Kingdom of Heaven). All of Jesus' teachings on the Kingdom of God have their culmination in the full work of the cross, especially with Jesus' crucifixion (not His ascension) marking His enthronement as the King of the Jews and hence the ushering in of the Kingdom of God for all that want to live in a new place. This is perhaps the big subject, the primary purpose of the cross that is so rarely talked about and largely forgotten about in modern Western Christianity. Jesus did not come to bring a new religion into the world – after all, Jesus and the disciples (aka apostles) did not call themselves Christians – if they had any name it was followers of the way. The nomenclature the way suggests that rather than a whole new religion being birthed, there was a new way of doing life, which indeed there was, with the new way involving a new covenant coupled with a new faith in God and very importantly, this new way was not solely for the Jews, but for all people everywhere, for the rest of time. Generally, the Jews at the time of Jesus were relying not so much in God or faith, but in their ancestors, particularly Abraham and Moses. If those apostles had been asked, all would have said that they were Jews, not Christians. They were obedient to the Jewish laws and rules (well, those ordained by God, not man). If we think of Christians as being distinct from the Jews then I believe we are going against what the Bible teaches us, for we, the Gentiles among us, have been grafted into the cultivated olive tree, which is God's chosen people. In today's parlance, the apostles would be described as Messianic Jews – in other words, Jews who acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. These people, the Messianic Jews, also sometimes called completed Jews, are in a very real sense our brothers and sisters, but so too are the other Jews if we acknowledge what the Bible tells us about our being grafted in and our adoption by God. We are all within the same family of God.

As we shall see, this Kingdom of God was not a new concept that Jesus suddenly introduced the world to. It is referred to throughout the Old Testament, though not necessarily using that phrase. The flood in the time of Noah, the tower of Babel, the exodus, the tabernacle, the temple, the fall of Jerusalem, the return from exile and subsequent invasions all point ultimately to the final form of the Kingdom of God when all the world's political ruling systems will be annihilated, when those systems that one way or another rely on bullying to control people (and that includes Western democracies) will be replaced by a theocratic system that truly cares for all people (rather than merely claiming it cares for the poor and disadvantaged while striving after more power and financial wealth). This is what Jesus ushered in and is still advancing today. A system that has love, the unconditional agape love, at its very core, coupled with justice, compassion, mercy, grace and kindness to name a few qualities.

And so, our New Testament is not some kind of independent work that has little relevance to the Old Testament, but is rather the culmination of the Old Testament, with the gospels, Acts and Revelation continuing the saga that starts in Genesis 1, finding its conclusion at some time in the future when all evil will finally be fully dealt with and God will kind of move house from Heaven to the new earth to be with perfected man and all His perfect creation. Almost all of the New Testament provides regular references back to the Old Testament, which provides the evidence of that continuity, while conversely, there are vast swathes of the Old Testament that refer to the New Testament.

We also find in Isaiah's significant prophecy of Messiah in chapters 52 and 53 that there is a whole host of other things that come out of the cross – all that is encompassed by the Jewish concept of Shalom. This word, although a common Jewish greeting, is not easily translated into English as there is no corresponding word. Think of mental health, physical health, well-being, being whole and complete, prosperity (not necessarily financial, though it might be), peace, welfare, being in harmony with the world, its people and God. Most Christians know by His stripes we are healed, but there is so much more that seems not to be often mentioned in the context of Jesus' death.

Also inextricably connected to the cross is the nature of Jesus – His fully divine nature encased in a fully mortal human being. This book assumes that we all know that Jesus is the Son of God – the second person of the triune Godhead. Also, I assume that we all know and agree that not only was Jesus fully divine, but He was also fully human. When I say He was fully divine, that really means He was fully God, as much as the Father is fully God and the Holy Spirit is also fully God. It is beyond the scope of this book to more fully explore this great mystery and so I will assume that we have a level of faith that simply accepts these mysteries.

On the Alpha Course, that wonderful introduction to the basics of the Christian faith, the host, Nicky Gumbel, remarked on how so many people have, as an item of jewellery, a cross, commonly on a chain. He reminded us that the cross is actually a form of execution, but that we never see a gallows, an electric chair or a guillotine miniaturised and made into a fashion accessory. This is indicative of the cross, as a symbol, being something more than a mere form of execution. Perhaps not for everyone, but certainly for some people, the cross signifies more than a punishment for crimes. We also see most church buildings adorned with one or more crosses, whether it be from intricately carved stone or wood, or set in stained glass or in artwork or on the notice board. This is again indicative of how important, how central, the cross as a symbol is. For a lot of Christians though, they may not have a full grasp of what the cross was about and what was achieved by Jesus and what we can, in faith, believe in and put our trust in. Without the cross, there would be no Christianity (though as I've already said, that was NOT the purpose of the cross – a new religion is man's invention), which I suspect some people would be happy with, but without Jesus and hence Christianity, there would not be any hope for the huge majority of the Earth's population. Because of the cross, every single person since the time of Jesus has, in theory at least, the opportunity to know salvation before they die.

On that subject of there being people not happy with Christianity, there are of course two primary forces at work in the world – the satan and God. The satan's primary purpose is to take people away from God and often utilises man's weaknesses to great effect. From as far back as Genesis 4 through to the end of time there have been, are and will be despotic rulers. Each utterly convinced that their ways are the best while crushing any effective opposition. Within the Bible, people such as Nimrod, the folk at Babel, the Pharaohs, the Syrians, the Assyrians, the Chaldeans, the Romans and many more besides have all wished for world domination to assuage their lusts for power and wealth. In latter times, we have seen Soviet communism, American democracy, Chinese communism, South American socialism, German and Italian fascism and many more. None of these systems attempted to rule in accordance with Psalm 72 simply because God is not the author of these systems – the satan is. In so many ways, where we are today is just a continuation of the biblical stories, for man has not changed and neither has the satan. Daniel chapter 7, though, gives us great hope for it tells of God destroying the world's rulers and replacing them with His own total rule and dominion, His own Kingdom.

Church history is littered with examples of people (believers and unbelievers) who have been profoundly influenced in one way or another by the cross.

A good example concerns a small group of boys in Orleans in France in 1939. Being a bit bored, they wanted a bit of fun, so they came up with a scheme to dare each other to go into a church (a Catholic church), go into the confessional booth and confess to a great number of terrible made-up sins. One of the boys, a Jewish lad named Aaron, indeed went in and confessed to his made up list of awful sins. The priest seemed to have some inkling as to what was going on and came up with a penance for the lad. It was to go to the East end of the church where there was a huge statue of Jesus on the cross, to look that figure in the face and to say three times Jesus, I know you died for me, but I don't give a damn! Following through with this, Aaron found the crucifix and said the penance once, then again a second time, but could not say it a third time. He fell down weeping and left the church forever changed as he abandoned his Jewish faith (causing significant domestic problems) and there and then adopted Christianity. This boy later on became the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris (which caused a few problems because of his Jewish background), a certain Jean-Marie Lustiger, from 1981 to 2005 (he related this story in one of his homilies). It had been at that encounter with the cross that the young man had profoundly discovered the love of God.

Another phenomenon was an exhibition at the National Gallery in London when the director, one Neil MacGregor, a practising Christian, gave the Millennium exhibition the title Seeing salvation featuring predominantly crucifixion scenes envisioned by old masters. The media predictably utterly panned the exhibition from the outset and, due to an excess of political correctness, none of the usual commercial sponsors would go near it. With charitable funding and free admission, the exhibition, from the first day was deluged with visitors, with abnormally long queues forming as people simply wanted to be before the works. It ended up being the most popular exhibition in the UK (by a huge margin) and the fourth most popular in the world. People would simply spend hours gazing at the paintings, with some folk returning many times. In other words, there was something going on here that was a lot more than a lot of people going to look at paintings of an executed person.

Figure 1: Lampedusa cross

Another example is the Lampedusa cross. In 2013, a heavily overladen boat full of migrants fleeing Africa was wrecked not far from the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. The island's Catholic carpenter made a simple cross from the boat's wreckage for each of the one hundred and fifty five survivors as a representation of salvation from the sea and hope for the future. This simple act caught people's imaginations such that the carpenter was then asked to make more. Even as I write this, the British Museum's cross is on a national tour of the UK. To the carpenter and many others, the cross obviously represents so much more than two lengths of wood.

For most of the past two thousand years, the cross has very heavily featured in art. Countless artists have depicted Jesus nailed (or tied) to a cross, rarely realistically (for that is not the purpose of art). Such aspects as Jesus wearing a loin cloth, being elevated up on a very tall cross, being nailed through the palms of His hands, Mary being at the foot of the cross, folk around being dressed in an Italian Renaissance style, the inscription just having the initial letters of the Latin words and many other things should not detract from a solemn contemplation of the crucifixion.

Even today, there are people in the Philippines who will, out of a religious zeal, be crucified, sometimes year after year, though not until they die. It has been recorded that some fanatical muslims have, in recent years, actually crucified Christians to death. Within church tradition, St Peter supposedly declined a normal crucifixion and instead insisted on being crucified upside-down as he felt unworthy to die the same way the Christ did. Whether there is any truth in this tradition, I do not know.

The cross has obviously featured in a number of well known hymns, one of which is Onward Christian soldiers (Sabine Baring-Gould, © Public Domain), that great song that emphasises the spiritual battle we are in whether we like it or not. The refrain of that song goes:

Onward, Christian soldiers,

marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus

going on before!

The writer of this hymn, which I believe is biblical, draws out a very significant aspect of the work of the cross that I suspect may have got lost in many modern churches – that there was a fantastic victory won, not for us, but for the Kingdom of God, in the battle between God and the satan, that the cross is more than a mere symbol of that victory, that the cross, in going before us will undoubtedly prevail and result in the triumph. We can get great comfort from knowing that whatever the battle is that is before us, that the cross has gone before us. There is, therefore, a strange power in the cross that is beyond our comprehension, but that does not mean we should not put our faith in the cross. As we go though this book, I hope that we will gain some extra comprehension of the cross and its power. In the words of that other well known hymn There is power in the blood (Lewis Jones, © Public Domain):

There is power power

Wonder working power

In the blood of the Lamb

It should be obvious that the writer got a significant revelation of the power contained in just one aspect of the cross – the blood shed by Jesus. Other aspects of the cross are Jesus' broken body, the advancement of God's Kingdom, the resurrection, the ascension and the sending of God's Holy Spirit, all of which are represented in other Hymns.

To complete this section, the hymn When I survey (Isaac Watts, © Public Domain) superbly sums up so much of what the cross is about and our relationship to it:

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of glory died

My richest gain I count but loss

And pour contempt on all my pride

Forbid it Lord that I should boast

Save in the death