The Voice of the Cross
Have you ever told your significant other to do something in order to avoid a huge mess? Everyday stuff, right? I remember one time when my darling, perfect husband neglected to take some of my sound advice and as I was about to go in on him for never listening to me, I heard this sweet-sounding voice. It sounded like our daughter, but it couldn’t be…could it? No, it wasn't her, it was my husband, “I'm sorry, Tahren,” he said. So, it was my husband, but it sounded like our daughter. Something was awry. For some reason our daughters sweet, angelic voice was coming through my ear canals instead of the bass that usually flooded them when my husband spoke. I was confused. I thought that maybe my ears were clogged but he repeated himself and once again, all I could hear was our baby girls sweet, innocent voice. Crap, now I couldn't even fuss at him.
Has anyone ever spoken to you and instead of hearing their voice, you heard someone else's? Believe it or not, that is what happens when we talk to God. God is a relational God. He created man to be in relationship with Him but when given the choice, man chose sin. God cannot live amongst sin; He cannot live amongst evil; it is against His nature. Obviously, this has created a division between God and man, something the Israelites knew a lot about. Fortunately for them, and us, God is a good God. Despite their consistent failures and contribution to evil, God still wanted to salvage their relationship. He graciously came up with a system that removed the sins of the Israelites through animal sacrifice. Once a year, during the Day of Atonement, the high priest would enter the presence of God in the Holy of Holies on behalf of all the people. There, he would present a sacrifice to the LORD to atone for his sins and the sins of the people (Ex. 30:10, Lev. 4:3-21, Heb. 9:7).
What is the deal with animal sacrifice? If it is difficult to understand, imagine how difficult it would be for someone from the 1st Century to peek into your bedroom at night and see you and Fido cuddled up in bed sharing an ice cream cone. There are things contemporary Americans do that other cultures do not understand. Simply put, animal sacrifice was a common practice in ancient days. It was something the Israelites could appreciate, making it a clear way for them to know their sins were forgiven. The Israelites contributed to a lot of evil, as do all men, they deserved to die but God allowed the animals to take their place.
God always had big plans for the salvation of mankind. The sacrifice of animals was just a symbol for what was to come. Jesus Christ would be the sacrifice that would truly rid the world of evil and break the power of sin and death. Jesus’ sacrifice of atonement for us covered the debt that we owe God for all of the evil we contribute to the world.
The earthly high priest was once the only human who could stand before God behind the veil in the Holy of Holies. Now we have a High Priest, a Mediator, greater than any other (1 Tm. 2:5). When we pray, God hears Jesus’ voice speaking on our behalf. When God hears from those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, He hears the voice of His flawless Son, who never had to ask forgiveness for His own sin, because He had none. He never stood behind a veil, instead, Jesus sits at the right hand of God, giving us access to Him, not just once a year, but forever and ever (Heb. 9:12).
There is one Creator God and only one way to get to Him, through His Son Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:6). Jesus is not a baby, a prophet, a teacher, or a nice guy down the street, He is the only begotten Son of God whose death, burial and resurrection took away the sins of the world!
We should never lose focus of the miracles of God especially the greatest miracle of all, Jesus’ finished work at the Cross. Our daughter’s favorite band, Go Fish, has a song called It’s About the Cross, it goes: “It's about the cross, it's about my sin, it's about how Jesus came to be born once so that we could be born again. It’s about the stone, that was rolled away so that you and I could have real life someday. It’s about God's love, nailed to a tree, it’s about every drop of blood that flowed from Him when it should've been me, it’s about the cross.”
There is a sweet, innocent voice that God the Father hears every time we go before Him but it does not belong to us, it belongs to His Only Begotten Son, Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.
