The Word for today:
Matthew 27:51-66
mark this: Matthew 27:50-51 --
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
In order to understand the cross, we have to understand sin. Sin and the cross define one another--like the night defines the day, and has no real meaning apart from it.
Sin is not a concept. If sin were a concept, then a concept could save us.
Sin is not in the philosophical realm. If it were, philosophy could rescue us.
Sin is not a theological construct. If it were, then theology could undo it.
Sin is real. That's why it took real blood to undo it.
We know sin is real by its effects: the teardrop, the casket, the writ of divorce.
Broken hearts are real, broken health is real, broken homes are real, broken dreams are real, broken promises are real, broken fellowship is real.
The law requires payment: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, life for life (Deuteronomy 19:21). Thus real sin with its real consequences must be paid for in real terms. On the cross, Jesus paid the wages of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23).
The curtain in the temple pictures our separation from God. The torn curtain is but a picture of his body, broken for you. Broken fellowship with God is restored through the broken body of Jesus:
Therefore, brothers, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body (1 Corinthians 11:24; Hebrews 10:19-20).
Sin is not bad because it’s forbidden. Sin is forbidden because it’s bad,
real bad.
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