The Power of the Cross

When Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live,” He was speaking about more than resurrection morning. He was pointing to the power of the cross - the moment when death met life and sin met grace. The cross is where the story of our new life begins. It’s where heaven’s justice and mercy collided, where Jesus took our brokenness, our rebellion, and our shame, and replaced them with forgiveness and freedom. The cross is not only a symbol of suffering; it’s the place where God made a way for humanity to be made whole again.

The Exchange at the Cross

The cross is where the great exchange took place. Jesus didn’t come to improve our lives; He came to make them new. We bring to Him our guilt, our striving, our mistakes - and He takes them upon Himself. In return, He gives us His righteousness, His peace, His standing before the Father. The cross is not an add-on to the old life - it’s the end of it. “If anyone is in Christ, the old has gone, the new has come.” We don’t layer grace over failure; we lay failure down at the foot of the cross and receive the life He purchased with His blood.

Living From the Cross

To live from the cross is to live in freedom. It’s to know that grace is not permission to keep living as we were - it’s the power to live as we were meant to. We don’t earn this freedom; we receive it. The cross is our starting point, not our safety net. When we stumble, we don’t run from God; we run back to the cross, where mercy never runs out. Jesus’ final breath declared, “It is finished,” meaning there is nothing left to add, nothing left to prove, and nothing left to earn.

The cross is not a past event - it’s a present reality. It reminds us that surrender isn’t weakness, it’s victory. Because of the cross, we are not bound by what was; we are defined by what He has done. Through His death, we have life—life that is full, forgiven, and forever new.