For centuries upon centuries people and groups of all sorts have attempted to banish God and Jesus Christ from their minds. They use the false argument of the separation of church and state to banish any type display that would remind them of God. But though all their efforts are ongoing, they are all to no avail. The scriptures declare in verse after verse that Jesus is at the right hand of God after completing is work on earth in our behalf. 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.  (Hebrews 10: 12-13)

The ACLU and atheists (ignore the repetition) are engaging in legal warfare to rid the nation of crosses they say are a violation of the Constitution. It is more accurate to say that those who make such attempts are unbelievers whose consciences are so troubled they want to eliminate from their sight any vestige of God to relieve their ever present guilt of sin. Strong words to be sure, but it happened before. Jesus was crucified on the Cross of Calvary and buried by the Jews in the futile attempt to remove him from their presence and silence him.  

When people see a cross, it is a reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made for us and the fact that sin and death rules our lives, and can’t be eliminated by any human act of any kind except obedience to the gospel of Christ. The cross is that ever present reminder that man is not the exalted creatures that the unbelievers want to be. Peter wrote: 7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. (I Peter 2: 7-8) The stone is Christ and those who refused to believe in him and his salvation, stumbled due to their disobedience and people today continue to stumble rather than obey the risen Lord.

The Jews rejected Jesus because he didn’t measure up to what they thought a Messiah should be; and the people of today reject Jesus for any number of reasons, but the main one is simple and deadly unbelief. The verse says  these types are appointed to disobedience, meaning not that God has at some point arbitrarily consigned persons to that category, but rather that certain types, haughty individuals who try to make themselves something they aren’t, will refuse to obey the gospel. Simply put, there are two kinds of people in the world: those that when they hear the gospel will obey and those who will turn away without obeying. Many of the latter are the ones who make every effort to remove God from public mention and view.

Again, sin is the problem with those who attempt to remove the cross. With the cross, and thus a reminder of Christ, out of the way, their consciences won’t bother them, or so they think. Paul thought the same thing when he consented to persecuting followers of Christ. He encountered Christ on the road to Damascus: he became convicted of sin, and obeyed the gospel. He said of the cross, I Corinthians 1:18-21: 18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

An ever present cross and the preaching of it disturb the ACLU and their fellow atheists since they know they have no power to save themselves, but due to their human spirit they won’t humble themselves to obey. Paul said, 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16) God’s power is shown by the cross, in that it lead to the doing away with the power of sin, and the risen Christ is the proof of it.

Whether the disobedient like it or not, they too will one day acknowledge the risen Lord. 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Confer with Romans 14:11 and Isa. 45:23) The verse means that even those opposed to God will be subdued by the power of the gospel and they too shall bow to Christ. And then they will know the futility of trying to eliminate the cross of Christ.

© 02-17-2007 DEC

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