The cross is perhaps the most widely known and most widely used symbol in the world and especially in America. Many people wear cross necklaces, and earrings, get cross tattoos and even make the symbolic cross-hand gesture. Many people today wear the cross as a fashion statement, but what is the true significance of the cross? The cross recounts the brutal humiliation, torture, and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Christian faith is unique in that its leader’s (Jesus) most influential and notable moment was his death. Jesus is marked at this moment by sheer humiliation. Every year Christians celebrate Good Friday when we remember the cross. We remember the nails that pinned Him to the cross. The crown of thorns was placed on his head. The two thieves by his side, and His remarkable last words.

For Christians, the cross is not just another horrible execution. Jesus Christ dying on the cross was a great transaction. At that moment Jesus took our place and paid fully the price of sin. The Bible makes it clear that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. The Israelites for centuries made sacrifices to God that would atone for sin. They would have to repeatedly offer payment for their sins to be in right standing with God. Jesus did not abolish this law, but he completes it. He is the perfect sacrifice. He is the lamb of God slain before the foundations of this world. He was bruised for our transgressions and pierced for our iniquities.

The cross for the Christian is not just a popular symbol. It is the image of the price paid for sin and death. The Bible says “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Our sin separates us from God and leads to a life of eternal separation from Him but in Jesus' death on the cross, we have the opportunity to live in right standing with God. Through the cross “God made Him who had no sin (Jesus) to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. As Christians, we stand in victory, hope, and righteousness because of the cross.