The Cross

Without the cross, we could never have imagined the depth and seriousness of what it means to say that God is love. 'This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us' (1 John 3:16). On the cross we see the great holiness of God's love, thta the light of his pure love will destroy the darkness of sin and evil. On the cross we see the intensity and strength of his love, that it is not an insipid thing at all, but majestically strong as it faces death, battles evil and gives life. For Christ was not bound against his will and dragged to a crucifixion he did not choose. Nobody could take his life from him, he said. 'I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority toi lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father' (John 10:18). Jesus' self-giving love is entirely inconstrained and free. It comes, not form any necessity, but entirely out of who he is, the glory of his Father. Through the cross we see a God who delights to give himself.

M Reeves
The Good God
Paternoster
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