Christ’s Accomplishments on the Cross
It is generally understood among Christians that Christ died for our sins.1 If we look somewhat closer at the New Testament, we see something more. For example, He did not simply die for our sins; He also was made sin for us.2 In addition, He was the seed of the divine life sown into death that He could bear fruit among us.3 And, through death, He destroyed the devil.4 As we search the New Testament, we see His death is rich in accomplishment. One thing, though, is of very great importance. We are told that He tasted death on behalf of everything.5 He tasted death on behalf of all. All what? All men? All creatures? He tasted death on behalf of every thing.
When the Bible says that Christ died on behalf of everything, this literally means every thing. And as Christ bore our sins in His body on the tree,6 so also He bore every thing. What does this include? It includes not only our sins, but also our inward sin. It includes not merely our actions, but also our inward condition, our inward being. Do we have an evil thought? Christ bore that on the cross. Is our heart hard and unforgiving? Christ bore that on the cross. Are we proud and arrogant? Christ bore that on the cross. Are we full of fear and anxiety? Christ also bore that on the cross.
We must understand that Christ bore everything on the cross, whether good or evil. Consider this: In the Garden of Gethsemane, shortly before His crucifixion, as He saw what He was to bear, He—the perfect God-man—became greatly amazed.7 The immensity of what God was putting upon Him was nearly overwhelming. He must have seen all the evils through all the ages He was about to bear. The whole tainted creation was put upon Him. And, the realization that God was about to judge Him for sin8 and that great spiritual darkness was about to come upon Him9 was nearly unbearable.
All these are marvelous spiritual facts. All this has been accomplished by Christ on the cross. These have become an eternal,10 spiritual reality. They can never be undone. It is only a matter of time before everything—whether negative or positive—is terminated, and what is of God comes forth in resurrection.
However, it takes time to work out this spiritual reality in the physical universe. And, most importantly, this has everything to do with our daily Christian life. Let us say, for example, that you wake up anxious in the morning. What do you do? Do you fight the anxiety? Do you distract yourself? Do you weep over your condition? What should a Christian do in such a situation? In prayer we should invite the Lord Jesus, with all that He has done, into our anxiety. We pray, “Lord, swallow my anxiety. Spread yourself into that part of my being, and as you do, apply your wonderful cross to me and my anxiety.”
When we pray this way, it gives the wonderful Jesus the opportunity to spread even more in us, to take even more of our heart into Himself, and in the process, both rid us of negative elements and transform our natural being into His image.
The end of this process is Christ formed in us. So, what do we choose to do? Do we struggle with our inward problems, or give our heart to the exquisite Christ, allowing Him to crucify what we are and impart what He is into us. Whether young or old in Christ, choose the New Testament way. Choose Him, and you will never be disappointed. Choose Him, for He is unimaginably excellent.
