Conclusion The Pervasive Influence of the Cross
Conclusion
The Pervasive Influence of the Cross
In the first chapter I sought to establish the centrality of the cross in the mind of Christ, in Scripture and in history; in the last we shall consider how from that centre the influence of the cross spreads outwards until it pervades the whole of Christian faith and life.
But before developing this theme, it may be helpful to survey the territory we have crossed.
In answer to the question ‘Why did Christ die?’ we reflected that, although Judas delivered him to the priests, the priests to Pilate, and Pilate to the soldiers, the New Testament indicates both that the Father ‘gave him up’ and that Jesus ‘gave himself up’ for us. That led us to look below the surface of what was happening, and to investigate the implications of Jesus’ words in the upper room, the Garden of Gethsemane and the cry of dereliction.
It had already become evident that his death was related to our sins, and so in Part Two we came to the very heart of the cross. We began by broaching the problem of forgiveness as constituted by the conflict between the majesty of God and the gravity of sin. And although we rejected other ‘satisfaction’ theories, we concluded in chapter 5 that God must ‘satisfy himself’. That is, he cannot contradict himself, but must act in a way that expresses his perfect character of holy love. But how could he do this? Our answer (chapter 6) was that in order to satisfy himself he substituted himself in Christ for us. We dared to affirm ‘self-satisfaction by self-substitution’ as the essence of the cross.
In Part Three we looked beyond the cross itself to its consequences, indeed its achievement in three spheres: the salvation of sinners, the revelation of God and the conquest of evil. As for salvation, we studied the four words ‘propitiation’, ‘redemption’, ‘justification’ and ‘reconciliation’. These are New Testament ‘images’, metaphors of what God has done in and through Christ’s death. ‘Substitution’, however, is not another image; it is the reality which lies behind them all. We then saw (chapter 8) that God has fully and finally revealed his love and justice by exercising them in the cross. When substitution is denied, God’s self-disclosure is obscured, but when it is affirmed, his glory shines forth brightly. Having thus far concentrated on the cross as both objective achievement (salvation from sin) and subjective influence (through the revelation of holy love), we agreed that Christus Victor is a third biblical theme, which depicts Christ’s victory over the devil, the law, the flesh, the world and death, and our victory through him (chapter 9).
Part Four I have entitled ‘Living under the cross’, because the Christian community is essentially a community of the cross. Indeed, the cross has radically altered all our relationships. We now worship God in continuous celebration (chapter 10), understand ourselves and give ourselves in the service of others (chapter 11), love our enemies, seeking to overcome evil with good (chapter 12), and face the perplexing problem of suffering in the light of the cross (chapter 13).