The Cross of Christનમૂનો

Eight Things We Have Because of the Cross

Life brings loss, diagnoses, suffering - and sometimes just inconveniences—that can shake faith. In those moments, we circle back to the cross and say with Peter, “Where else would I go?” Outside the cross, there’s no hope for a breakthrough, eternal life, or any real answer to the weight of sin. When the cross drifts from the centre, faith shrinks to moral advice - like a “coffee” without coffee: a cup of disappointment. Keep the cross in the middle, and everything else finds its place.

1) Forgiveness and Justification

At the cross, God sees us“just as if we’d never sinned.” Through the blood of Christ, God looks at us through a lens of perfection not our own. The charges against us are cancelled and nailed to the cross. Stand in that grace and let praise outrun feelings.

2) Salvation by Grace, Not Works

Without the cross, we’d be left performing to earn miracles, favour, or heaven. But salvation is a gift, not a reward. The symbol of our faith is the cross, not the scales. Our message isn’t “do this,” but“it is done.”We now live, worship, pray, parent, spend, and speak as a response to grace, not a bid to deserve it.

3) Adoption into God’s Family

We aren’t pardoned criminals left at the door—we’re sons and daughters with full rights and inheritance. Adoption means belonging: not a guest, but family; not permission to open the fridge, but home. In Christ we cry, “Abba, Father.”We are loved as much as the Father loves the Son.

4) The Indwelling Holy Spirit

Because of the cross and resurrection, believers are made into temples of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost shows the Spirit filling the prepared - those washed by Christ. The same Spirit who raised Jesus lives in us to guide, transform, and empower. The Spirit-filled life is not a deluxe edition; it’s God’s plan for every believer. Don’t underuse what Jesus purchased.

5) Victory over Death and the Gift of Eternal Life

If Jesus stayed dead, faith would be useless. But He rose, disarming the sting of death. Eternity is now in session—we experience it now in part and fully, to come. Anxiety about mortality yields to hope: death becomes a doorway, not a period.

6) The Cross as the Pattern of Discipleship

The cross is not only our badge; it’s our shape. Jesus says, “Take up your cross daily.” We lay down agenda, habits, words, mindsets - pinning them to the cross. This isn’t self-improvement with Jesus on the side; it’s more of Him, less of me.

7) Defeat of Satan and Evil

What looked like defeat became a public spectacle of Christ’s victory. The war is won; what we face are aftershocks - feeble attempts to steal confidence. Fix your eyes on Jesus, stand firm, and keep the enemy underfoot. He didn’t say, “most of it is done.” He said, “It is finished.”

8) The Gospel Itself

Remove the cross and you gut Christianity - no forgiveness, no power, no victory - just self-improvement. With the cross, we have good news: real grace, redemption, and hope. We’re not playing religious games; we’re living in the finished work of Jesus.