One of the most important events in all of human history is a truly landmark event. It’s the means through which we have the promise of deliverance from the depth of our despair.
What event is this? It’s the day Christ was crucified–Good Friday. On Good Friday, the church remembers and contemplates the hideous nature of the crucifixion of Christ.
Of course, there are the mockers. Those are the ones who make fun of Jesus’ crucifixion. Then there are the sceptics and other deniers, who still hang on to the silly notion that Jesus is a myth. These are along the same lines as those who deny the holocaust.
Yet, the truth is held hostage by our culture. The phenomenon reminds me of a scene from the film, Left Behind. It accurately captures a reality of our times.
It’s the scene where the antichrist character is gathered in a conference room with some of his staff members, the film hero and the two counselors who have fallen out of favour. The antichrist shoots the two guys and then immediately re-spins the incident as if the two men were angry and shot one another.
Then he says, ‘It’s so sad.’
Almost immediately, the rest of the people in the room, except for the hero played by Kirk Cameron, begin repeating the re-packaged narrative. The only problem is that it’s a lie.
That is what’s happening right now before our very eyes. If you’re clear-headed and can think, you see the world around you and see the trouble. There’s $4-plus for a gallon of gas, rising deficits, increased public debt and the church constantly under assault by our own government. The powers that be re-cast it as something other than what it is and the public swallows it.
The same thing has been done to Jesus’ crucifixion. Supposed experts deny it. Other supposed scholars deny its power. They get a platform on television and the public begins to accept the sceptics’ story as fact.
Yet, fear not. Jesus died on the cross two thousand years ago to bring life and salvation to a lost and hurting world. That’s the truth. Four eyewitness accounts were written; and other historical records were written as well. And they’re the truth.
If we’re to have true revival in the church, the church needs to return to the true Gospel, that Christ was crucified, that He rose again and that He will return.
The church needs to preach the whole message of the cross, a message that seems foolish to those who are perishing. To those who are being saved, the message of the cross is priceless!
