the two shadows of the cross

it is interesting that the apostle paul states in romans 3:25 that God sacrificed His Son to die on the cross, "to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished".

this is a remarkable statement. every one of the countless sins that had been committed from the beginning of creation until the time of Jesus's death on the cross, had been, in the words of paul, "left unpunished".

of course, these people endured the natural consequences of their sinful actions, and had succumbed to natural death, but their sins had never been atoned for in a way that appeased God's terrible justice and righteous anger. they had been left "unpunished".

God could not possibly be just or righteous if He left these sins unpunished, much like an earthly judge would be unrighteous if he let a murderer go free without having him pay for his crime.

in this way, if Jesus had never died on the cross, God could be accused of being "unjust", in just "letting" sins go without punishment.

but when Jesus Christ suffered the punishment for these sins, He satisfied through His death the perfect and terrible justice that these sins demanded.

thus the cross is not only a demonstration of God's perfect love. the cross is equally a demonstration of God's perfect justice.

this glorious truth proves 3 very important points:

1) only when God's perfect justice was satisfied by punishing His own Son for the sins of the world was God in any position to forgive sinners. He could not have forgiven us if our sins had not been atoned for.

2) just like we, 21 centuries removed from the crucifixion, look back at Jesus's death on the cross with faith, believing that He died for our sins, those who lived before the time of Christ looked forward to Christ in faith for their redemption. they died in faith, trusting that God would enact their salvation through some future action. they could not have imagined that their salvation would be achieved through God sending His own Son to die.

3) it shows us that Jesus's motivation to finish the work on the cross was not only His great love for sinners, though it was that. it was also to satisfy the terrible justice of God, lest any accuse God of being unjust for leaving past sins unpunished. His great concern was for the honor of His Father in heaven.

"whoever is wise, let him heed these things

and consider the great love of the Lord" (psalm 107:43).