Thoughts on Sunday

Sunday I was listening to a talk radio sermon about why The Cross is so central to Christianity. Now, crucification was a common punishment at the time of Christ, so it is not that He died on a cross, as much that He DID die...for you, and for me. God is a just and holy God, and cannot be in the presence of sin. And because we are human, and not perfect, we all have, and do, sin. And the punishment for sin is separation from God, and death. Death while separated from God is, at least in my opinion, Hell. When Christ died on the cross, He took on ALL of our sins, and was therefore temporarily separated from God, His Father. When Christ was praying in The Garden before His crucifixtion, he said, "if it can be done, let this cup pass from me", it was not DEATH that He wanted to avoid, but any time of separation from God. Christ, at the right hand of the Father, was with The Father at the beginning of time, and had been in His presence ever since. Even as a man, He was still in constant communion with The Father. So taking on our sins and being separated from Him was, well, incomprehensible. Yet, He did it. For you, and for me. Christ is the bridge between us, as sinful humans, and a perfect God. Christ is constantly pleading our case to the Father. Without Christ, and his dying and taking on our sins, we would be FOREVER separated from God.
Oh, back to the radio sermon...so what was being said is this...it was not like Adam & Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, and God said, "now what?". No, God is omnipotent & has known since the beginning of time all that would happen in this world...including the temptation and sin of Eve & Adam. And since the beginning of time, God, and Christ, have known that a price would have to be paid for our sin. In the Old Testament, that price was the sacrificing of an unblemished animal. All of that foreshadowed Christ- an unblemished, innocent sacrifice for our sins.
So without accepting the sacrifice, the gift, that Christ made for each one of us, we will have to pay the price for our own sins. Lying, lust, dishonoring, gossip~ all equal to adultery or murder. Sin is sin. So without acknowledging and ACCEPTING the sacrifice that Christ made for each one of us (on the cross), there is no salvation from an eternity without God. Accepting Christ=eternity with God.
OK, so that was kind of heavy in light of my previous postings of silly pix of Isabella and Lisi. But I have not been able to shake that message, and thought it might be worth sharing...