The “BEAUTY OF THE CROSS”

Is found in the Resurrection

Jonny Diaz

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1 Peter 1:3b-4 (The Message)

Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven. . .

There is a song on my new record called, “The Beauty of the Cross.” This title may not sound very strange or contradictory to you.  After all, we’ve been singing songs such as “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” and “How Beautiful the Cross” for decades.  However, if you step back and check this out from a non-churched perspective, you have to admit that it seems a little, well . . . weird! 

That’s because to this day the cross is known as one of the most torturous killing devices ever conceived.  No one would ever sing a song called “The Beauty of the Electric chair,” or “The Wondrous Lethal Injection.”  Songs like these would not only get puzzled looks, but they would enrage many listeners.  And yet, we sing songs proclaiming the wondrous beauty of the cross, and no one bats an eye.  How do we explain this?

Well, it was on that ugly, barbaric cross that God’s amazing love for us was demonstrated.  It was on that cross that Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for us was made.  It was on that cross where the forces of evil and the grace of God battled for supremacy. 

At first glance, it would appear that evil was victorious . . . but three days later, when Jesus’ tomb was found empty, everything changed!  You see, it was the resurrection that brought beauty to that blood-stained cross.  It was the resurrection that turned tragedy into triumph and sacrifice into salvation.  It was the resurrection that transformed condemnation into redemption. 

Without the resurrection the cross would remain just a horrific symbol of suffering and shame.  Instead it is a symbol of love and life and beauty.  And, when we believe that Jesus died on that cross for our sins and that he rose from the grave on the third day, our lives become beautiful too.

-Jonny Diaz

Visit: http://www.jonnydiaz.com

Beauty in the Cross