God–ward, the death of Christ was for atonement, and the propitiation for sin – that is the payment for the guilt of sin; but man—ward it is dealing with the sinner. In the person of Christ fallen man was taken to the place of execution and God’s justice was satisfied. Think about how great God’s love was for us in the propitiation of our sins. We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He (the Father) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The Father did not spew out his hatred for man on Jesus; instead, the Father poured out his wrath on sin, because he hated sin, and how soon was destroying humanity, but Jesus became us, who were terminally diseased by the spiritual virus called sin, and by His stripes we were healed. At the cross the spiritually diseased person was taken to the place of execution in Jesus and in his crucifixion, we were crucified, and the sin diseased fallen personality was forever buried. In Christ, at the cross, sin was paid for through his atoning death, and in Christ at the cross the sin diseased sinner died, and in the resurrection of Jesus, we experienced our own resurrection and are now enjoying union with Him, and daily we get to abide in the spiritually healthy resurrection life of Jesus, as our very life. This is the wonder that we celebrate during holy week, and this is why the Cross stands at the apex of all human history. At the Cross man’s sin was paid for, and the believer was delivered from the power of sin to ever control their life again, not by conquering sin through our own determined, and sincere effort, but by dying to it. Truly, the Cross was both the Savior’s cross and the sinners cross. Truly, the resurrection was both the Savior’s resurrection and the Saints resurrection, for we died on the Cross as sinners, and we were raised on Easter morning as saints in Christ. Hallelujah Christ is risen, as are we in Him.
