The Old Rugged Cross

I grew up singing "The Old Rugged Cross,"  "Nothing but the Blood," and numerous other songs which pointed toward the cross upon which Christ died.  Sermons preached back then were direct as we were told that forgiveness for sin came to us because of the cross.  Of course, that was a day when preachers preached about sin and those who heard those sermons were invited to kneel at an altar to seek forgiveness.  Unfortunately, we live in a culture where the meaning of sin has been watered down and the cross has largely disappeared as a focus for our spiritual life.   

When John the Baptist saw Jesus he immediately told those who were his disciples, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."  (John 1:29)  The image of the lamb being a sacrificial animal in Hebrew culture was not lost or ignored by those who walked the road with him.  It was clear to this ancient man of God that Jesus was that Lamb and that His sacrifice would have the power to handle the sin problem of humankind.  The cross has always been a stumbling block for some, but for others it is the power of God at work in the human heart. (I Corinthians 1:18-25)   

In my mind are memories of many moments of kneeling at altars and experiencing a sense of kneeling before the cross.  The cross upon which Jesus died was not a sanitized piece of jewelry, but a place where Rome executed rebels and criminals.  It was a place of enduring pain and inevitable death.  Jesus allowed Himself to be taken to the cross so that His sacrifice would serve as an act of atonement for all of us and our sins.  The cross is God's response to the loneliness of the heart which is created by our choosing separation from God instead of oneness with Him.