We’ve all seen the cross and know what it means, but have we truly understood how the cross applies to our lives today? Have we missed the point of the cross? 

I want to take us back to the story of Judas, whom we all know betrayed Jesus and delivered him to be arrested and later crucified for money. Judas has been the number one person looked down upon for his betrayal.

While what Judas did was wrong, we must remember that his wrong actions never stopped God from loving him.  In fact, Judas at the end felt guilty for what he did and didn’t end up keeping the money that was given to him for betraying Jesus.

Judas says in Matthew 27:4-5, “I have sinned…for I have betrayed innocent blood..So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.” Judas was already on the right track towards repentance and having a right relationship with God; he acknowledged his sin and decided to turn away from it by refusing to keep the money, but the only thing that stopped Judas from receiving God’s salvation was him not having faith in Jesus’s forgiveness over his own life and him deciding to end his life.

Judas missed the point of the cross. He missed the point of why Jesus came, which was to save us from our sins and give us another chance to be with God no matter what we’ve done.

Just like Judas, we too have betrayed Jesus through our sins and mistakes. We have all fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that is why Jesus had to die on the cross to redeem us with his holy blood. Jesus gave up his life so that we could have life. Jesus was the only perfect sacrifice to redeem all of humanity.

Judas overlooked God’s unconditional love for him and missed the point of the cross. Have you also overlooked God’s unconditional love for you? Have you told yourself that your sins are too great for God to even love you?

If Judas would have just asked God for forgiveness and had the faith to believe that God forgave him, he would have been saved, but instead, Judas took his own life away which stopped him from being able to have everlasting life with God. Right relationship with God simply comes by our faith in him (Romans 4:13). It’s not Judas’s sin that stopped him from entering heaven, but his own remorse that blinded him from seeing God’s unconditional love.

God’s unconditional love was pinned on the cross for us. Jesus gave up his life on the cross so that his holy blood would redeem us from all our sins. We not longer are subjects to death but have been made alive through Christ. The cross brought us life and made God’s unconditional love real.

No greater love exists than the love we find on the cross. 

I don’t know what you’ve done or where you’ve been, but what I do know is that Jesus loves you no matter what. He died on the cross so that you could have a fresh new start with no stains. Jesus chose to give his life for you because he saw your life was worth it. He saw the purpose and potential God has placed you with and said you were worth the sacrifice.

The point of the cross was to save you. We all need saving, and Jesus came just for that. The cross points to the grace we so undeservingly received. John 20:31 says, “...Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Through Jesus, we all have the opportunity to experience life to the fullest. So remember the point of the cross.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you that I don’t have to be stuck in the shame of my past, but that you love me enough to free me into a new life.