Kriston
Couchey
Before the founding of creation the Ever Living One had
the full knowledge of the fall of man and the depths of bondage and depravity
to which he would sink. Yet, this was not an obstacle to Him. At no time had He
rejected or turned away from mankind. It was not God that hid from Adam in the
Garden, it was Adam who hid from the light of God’s presence. Scripture
declares it was we who were “…formerly alienated and hostile in mind,
engaged in evil deeds…”
It is we who became enemies in our minds toward Him as we became bound
by sin and the carnal nature. We alienated ourselves from his boundless love
and light as man turned to darkness to hide. The shadows of sin, sickness and
death were cast upon creation as mankind opened the door for spirits of wickedness
to reign over the creation that God created for His pleasure. Yet God never turned
away from or rejected mankind. Before the foundation of the world He made
provision through the slain lamb for man’s redemption from sin and
reconciliation to Himself.
Because of man’s sin, the boundless Love and Light of God had become a
source of fear to men rather than a refuge. Like the Israelites at the fiery mountain
where God descended to meet with them, mankind ran in fear because their hearts
and minds were darkened. Men no longer understood and perceived the true heart
of God toward them. Man began to create gods from his own imagination in his
own image. These gods demanded blood to appease offense and
required offerings to accept and bless men. Religion had begun. Yet God never
had ANY desire for sacrifice or offerings from men to appease for wrongdoing or
to gain acceptance.
King David writes in Psalm 40 5-6 You had no desire for offerings of beasts or fruits of the earth; ears you made for me: for burned offerings and sin offerings you made no request.
Sacrifices and offerings God never needed or wanted,
nor does He require them. David saw past the ritual and regulation that could
never substitute for a heart of humility before God.
He writes in Psalm 51: 16-17 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not
take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
If God
did not want or need sacrifice to forgive sin or accept men, then what was the
purpose of the cross?
THE
TRUE PURPOSE OF THE CROSS
And although you
were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now
reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you
before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-
The purpose of God in sending Christ to the cross was
not to change His heart toward men from one of unforgiveness and offense to
acceptance though blood sacrifice. God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself, not counting or holding our sins against us.
The cross was for the sake of revealing the heart of
love God always had toward us. His body was broken for YOU to bring you healing
and deliverance from death. His blood was shed for YOU to cleanse and set you
apart for Him. The cross was the place where God in Christ defeated and
overcame sin, sickness, death, the devil, and all his works. He redeemed us with
the precious blood of Jesus from the empty way of life we once lived.
For you know that
it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed
from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ,
a lamb without blemish or defect.
Through the cross we have died with Him, and by His resurrection life
we now we are alive in Him by His Spirit. The old has passed and the new has
come. You no longer live, but Christ now lives in you. The
death of Christ was not a demand for blood that God had to appease Himself, it was
the demonstration of His Love, Mercy, and Goodness that men may be released
from the power of darkness into His Glorious light.
In Him
Kriston Couchey
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