Can a sinful man appreciate God’s greatness? Scriptures are very clear, for they say:
“because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” Romans 1:19-20
Paul mentions, that, God’s invisible attributes like His eternal power are very evident in the creation. The word ‘eternal’ suggests that He is uncreated, uncaused and divine. Anyone who looks at the creation should be able to acknowledge the greatness of its creator; He fills the vast oceans with water, He hung the sun, the moon, and the planets in the space and the way the earth functions, its seasons, vegetation, rains, etc. All creation declares the glory of the Lord.
Paul goes on to say that:
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” Romans 1:21-23.
Though man can perceive the greatness and the uniqueness of God, it is very plain from the above passage that man by nature cannot honor God.
How can we overcome our inability to honor God? Only at the cross of Christ Jesus, we begin to appreciate the greatness of God. The cross is very crucial and central for a man’s relationship with God. Because only there we begin to see our unworthiness and our filth within and God begins to unveil His magnificent attributes.
We also understand from the scriptures that the work of Christ on the cross was pleasing to God.
“The Lord was pleased to crush Him” Isaiah 53:10.
The offering of the Lord Jesus on the cross was a fragrance to God.
“…Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” Ephesians 5:2
How can a ruthless, and a bloody death be pleasing to God? God was pleased with Christ’s offering because crucifixion was the stage upon which God would display his glory, his attributes.
Love
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” John 3:16.
How could we appreciate God’s great love?
A sinner can experience the love of God only at the cross of Christ Jesus. Humans, by nature, are irreconcilably alienated from God. All the efforts of man would never even bring him an inch closer to God. With our finite minds, we could never comprehend the immensity of God, and we could have never known God.
God prepared a substitutionary atonement in the person of Christ Jesus for the sake of man, which demonstrates His great love for man. And the cross is the place where we behold this love. Apart from the cross of Christ Jesus, we can never understand the magnitude of God’s love.
Righteousness and Justice
According to God’s perfect righteousness, disobedience to His Laws incurs His punishment. Thus, His justice demands the punishment of all sinners. Therefore, sparing a sinner would make God unjust.
How could a Just God spare sinners? Don’t we deserve His just punishment?
Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross, and God deemed it right to punish Him on our behalf. Thus, His justice was satisfied.
Thus, God’s righteousness triumphed on the cross.
Holiness and Wrath
God decreed to punish sin because He is infinitely Holy, and He is set apart from all that is evil and sinful. On the cross of Jesus Christ, as our sins were laid on Him, His wrath was let loose upon His Son, God demonstrated His absolute hatred towards sin, and God crushed Jesus under His holy wrath.
Therefore, on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, God magnifies His Holiness and His Holy Wrath.
Wisdom
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Romans 11:33.
How could sinful people ever be reconciled to a holy God? How can God spare those who rebel against Him? How can a just God forgive the sins of unworthy and sinful people?
Because of God’s wisdom, there is the hope of salvation for man. The Cross of Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. If God did not devise a plan of salvation through His Son, there wouldn’t have been any scope for man. The Cross is the only place where the love of God kissed the justice of God. That is God’s wisdom. Reconciliation with a holy God and a right standing before God is only possible because the all-wise God made it possible.
Mercy
At the cross of Jesus Christ, we not only see God punishing Jesus on our behalf, and we also witness divine mercy.
God’s mercy is withholding something that we deserve. We are sinners, lived a sinful course of life, and we rightly deserve to be crushed under God’s severe wrath. Yet, God saved us by sending His Son to suffer under His wrath that we deserve. God withheld His wrath from us because our Lord Jesus interposed. The wrath that we deserve fell on Jesus and was crushed under it. That is His mercy.
Grace
We deserve nothing but God’s displeasure and His wrath. Grace is receiving what we do not deserve. At the cross of Jesus Christ, God offered us this gift of redemption. We are unworthy of such a great gift. Because of what Christ Jesus accomplished on the cross through His sin atoning sacrifice, God freely pardoned us, and He adopted us as His Children. Marvelous grace!
Conclusion
In Christ’s atoning sacrifice and His finished work on the cross, we witness the glory of God and our salvation. Apart from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glories of God wouldn’t make much sense to us.
Have you come to the cross of Christ Jesus? Have you witnessed there the glories of God? Were you awestruck at the cross?
The cross is central in a Christian’s walk. Without the cross of Jesus Christ, there is no Christian life. We ought to live cross centered lives. The cross reminds us of who we are; sinners saved by grace and the cross reminds and supplies what we need; the grace to persevere in this Christian life.
May God bless you
SIMPLE THEOLOGY 