THE CROSS OF CHRIST — THE PLACE OF DECISION THAT DETERMINES DESTINY

“The cross of Christ has measured out the moral distance between God and man and has left them as far asunder as the throne of heaven and the gates of hell” (Sir Robert Anderson, The Gospel and Its Ministry, p. 25). Scripture bears ample testimony to the solemn truthfulness of these words.

But praise God, it is equally true that the cross of Christ has measured out the length and breadth and height and depth of the love of God in the gift of a Redeemer who closed the gates of hell and opened the gates of Heaven for all who will believe.

As sin through Adam had been universal, salvation through Christ must be made potential to all. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound and opened a way back to God for every sinner. The bridge of salvation provided a way out of the old sphere into the new for all who will acknowledge themselves as sinners needing a Savior.

Titus 2:11

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.”

1 Timothy 2:5-6

⁵ “One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,⁶ who gave Himself a ransom for all.”

Isaiah 53:6

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Hebrews 2:9

 ^“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

God broods over every sinner in tenderest compassion and bleeds for his sin. His great yearning heart of love reaches to the uttermost corner of His universe and seeks to draw each heart unto Himself through His Son.

1 Timothy 2:3-4

³ “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

1 Timothy 4:10

“For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.”

2 Peter 3:9

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

That all men might have an adequate opportunity to know God’s way of salvation, He commanded the disciples to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth, preaching it to every creature.

Acts 1:8

“But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Mark 16:15

“And He said unto them, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.””

God commands every sinner who hears the Gospel to repent and turn to Him.

Acts 17:30

“The times of this ignorance God overlooked, but now He commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” 

God invites all sinners to come to Him and promises eternal life to all who truly believe and receive His Son.

John 6:37

“All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Countless sinners throughout the ages have refused the grace of God manifested in His salvation and have rejected Christ, the Savior. Still, the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary opened a way back to God for all men everywhere. “No man is lost for want of an atonement or because there is any other barrier in the way of his salvation than his own most free and wicked will.”

Dear reader, on which side of the cross of Christ are you living? Your relationship to the crucified Christ will determine your destiny. 

 Source: “Life on the Highest Plane” by Ruth Paxson

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for making a way so mankind does not have to perish!