The Empty Cross

The celebration associated with Easter is about the celebration of the empty cross. The empty cross, the reminder of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, lies at the core of the Christian faith. The apostle Paul said "if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (1 Cor.15:17). The empty cross meant that Father God was fully satisfied with the redemptive work accomplished by "the lamb of God" who both carried the sin of the world (past, present and future) and satisfied a Holy God that the penalty of sin had been fully paid for all time. In fact the sacrifice of His Son at Calvary more than satisfied the judgement of God. Love and justice met at the cross. The love of God for sinners was demonstrated and the justice of God was fully met as the Son became the ransom for our sins.


The empty cross is the source of our hope. The hope that comes from the work of Christ never disappoints. Worldly hope depends upon unknown things happening, things that are often beyond our control. This hope is circumstantial and is more than not illusory. But the hope of God never disappoints "because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Rom.5:5) Godly hope doesn't depend upon what we need to do; it depends solely upon what He has done. If what He had done was in anyway incomplete, we would have no hope.


Hope rests upon the fact that "there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ" (Rom.8:1) The empty cross not only dealt with all judgement from God toward humanity but it also freed humanity to live freely without shame and guilt. Hope works when a person is no longer condemned by guilt and shame, The cross deals with the nature of the sinner as much as the blood of Jesus deals with sin. When Jesus became shame for us, we were able to take on His righteousness. The believer in His death and resurrection now takes on His righteousness - not earned or merited but imputed. The redeemed sinner is freed from the shadow of condemnation. This is the substance of hope!


The empty cross opens up a new way to do life. The believer is urged to "enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil, that is His flesh" (Heb.10:19) This "new and living way" is the way without condemnation. It is the way of faith not the way of the law. The way of faith always looks to what Jesus has done whereas the way of the law will always measure what we haven't done. The empty cross ushers in the new way. It provides the way of reconciliation because in Him every dividing wall has been torn down. Every division has been destroyed in Him. "For He Himself is our peace who has made the two one and has broken down the middle wall of separation...so as to create in Him one new man from the two, thus making peace." (Eph.2:13-16) The empty cross invites every person to receive reconciliation with Father God through Jesus Christ as well as to be reconciled between ourselves and other people.


Let the Holy Spirit show us this new and living way that comes by way of the empty cross.






This blog is based on a sermon topic entitled "The Empty Cross" delivered by Ross Smith on 5th April 2015 at The Vine church, Logan City, Queensland, Australia.