The Primacy Of The Cross Of Christ
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
In the middle ages one of the legends that grew around Saint Martin, the Bishop of Tours was that of Satan appearing to him in the guise of the Savior Himself. St. Martin was ready to fall to his feet and worship this magnificent being, when he gazed into the palms of his hands and noticed something missing. He immediately asked, "Where are the nail prints?" Upon which the apparition vanished. It may be simply a legend but the veracity of all of Christianity revolves around the nail prints.
Have you ever wondered that the Lord who could touch the leper and the leprosy disappeared, put clay in eyes of a blind man to make him see, put his fingers in the ears of the deaf to restore hearing, take a sliced ear and restore it without any surgery, could not wipe out the scars of nail prints from the hands of a victorious, glorified risen body?
Of course, He could! But the nail prints are not just physical marks, they are the very brand. Of course He could. But the nail prints are not just physical marks of an execution, they are the very essence of our salvation! The Cross is the touchstone of the Christian faith. All of Christian experience and theology can be tested by the nail prints.
Paul, writing to the Corinthians says, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins”. Paul is essentially declaring the primacy of the cross of Christ. If we exclude the cross, no matter how eloquent the style, and how deep the theology – it is nothing. Christianity is not essentially a system of morality, or even just the hope of immortality, it is essentially a religion of salvation – first of all … Christ died for our sins.
This is exceptionally important for it grounds the faith, not simply in an experience, or in some acceptance of a creed, but most importantly in that day in history when Jesus was nailed to the cross as a vicarious sacrifice for our sins, and subsequently the day in history when He rose again. I am convinced that unless we understand the atonement, we will never be able to seriously answer any questions that are leveled against the Christian faith.
Let me illustrate. In a recent article, “Selfless Consciousness Without Faith” by Sam Harris, the avowed atheist and author of, “A Letter to a Christian Nation,” writing of his experience of “a blissful stillness” and a “feeling of peace” on the shore of Galilee, argues, “ If I were a Christian I would undoubtedly interpret this experience in Christian terms. I might believe that I had glimpsed the oneness of God, or the descent of the Holy Spirit, but I am not a Christian.” He goes on to explain how he would interpret this experience as if he were a Hindu or a Buddhist, but then writes of how he as an atheist interprets this experience. In his own words, “As someone who is simply making his best effort to be a rational human being, I am very slow to draw metaphysical conclusions from experiences of this sort. The truth is, I experience what I would call the “selflessness of consciousness” rather often, wherever I happen to meditate—be it in a Buddhist monastery, a Hindu temple, or while having my teeth cleaned. Consequently, the fact that I also had this experience at a Christian holy site does not lend an ounce of credibility to the doctrine of Christianity.”
Apart from the very obvious problem that on the same grounds Mr. Harris rejects the interpretation of the Christian or a Hindu or a Buddhist (namely, that they are biased in their interpretations), he essentially destroys his own argument. For his atheism is also a bias that he brings to the experience he calls “selfless consciousness without faith”. He is right in saying that his experience does not lend an ounce of credulity to the Christian faith. But neither does it lend any credulity to atheism! And it only disproves faith if faith were based on this sort of experience. But Christian faith is not an accumulation of experience of “feelings of peace” or “blissful stillness”. Experience does occur, but the Gospel call is that “first of all Christ died for our sins”.
I pray that as we approach this season of Easter, let this thought cheer our hearts and provide an anchor for our faith – that first of all Christ died for our sins!
Danesh Manik
In the middle ages one of the legends that grew around Saint Martin, the Bishop of Tours was that of Satan appearing to him in the guise of the Savior Himself. St. Martin was ready to fall to his feet and worship this magnificent being, when he gazed into the palms of his hands and noticed something missing. He immediately asked, "Where are the nail prints?" Upon which the apparition vanished. It may be simply a legend but the veracity of all of Christianity revolves around the nail prints.
Have you ever wondered that the Lord who could touch the leper and the leprosy disappeared, put clay in eyes of a blind man to make him see, put his fingers in the ears of the deaf to restore hearing, take a sliced ear and restore it without any surgery, could not wipe out the scars of nail prints from the hands of a victorious, glorified risen body?
Of course, He could! But the nail prints are not just physical marks, they are the very brand. Of course He could. But the nail prints are not just physical marks of an execution, they are the very essence of our salvation! The Cross is the touchstone of the Christian faith. All of Christian experience and theology can be tested by the nail prints.
Paul, writing to the Corinthians says, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins”. Paul is essentially declaring the primacy of the cross of Christ. If we exclude the cross, no matter how eloquent the style, and how deep the theology – it is nothing. Christianity is not essentially a system of morality, or even just the hope of immortality, it is essentially a religion of salvation – first of all … Christ died for our sins.
This is exceptionally important for it grounds the faith, not simply in an experience, or in some acceptance of a creed, but most importantly in that day in history when Jesus was nailed to the cross as a vicarious sacrifice for our sins, and subsequently the day in history when He rose again. I am convinced that unless we understand the atonement, we will never be able to seriously answer any questions that are leveled against the Christian faith.
Let me illustrate. In a recent article, “Selfless Consciousness Without Faith” by Sam Harris, the avowed atheist and author of, “A Letter to a Christian Nation,” writing of his experience of “a blissful stillness” and a “feeling of peace” on the shore of Galilee, argues, “ If I were a Christian I would undoubtedly interpret this experience in Christian terms. I might believe that I had glimpsed the oneness of God, or the descent of the Holy Spirit, but I am not a Christian.” He goes on to explain how he would interpret this experience as if he were a Hindu or a Buddhist, but then writes of how he as an atheist interprets this experience. In his own words, “As someone who is simply making his best effort to be a rational human being, I am very slow to draw metaphysical conclusions from experiences of this sort. The truth is, I experience what I would call the “selflessness of consciousness” rather often, wherever I happen to meditate—be it in a Buddhist monastery, a Hindu temple, or while having my teeth cleaned. Consequently, the fact that I also had this experience at a Christian holy site does not lend an ounce of credibility to the doctrine of Christianity.”
Apart from the very obvious problem that on the same grounds Mr. Harris rejects the interpretation of the Christian or a Hindu or a Buddhist (namely, that they are biased in their interpretations), he essentially destroys his own argument. For his atheism is also a bias that he brings to the experience he calls “selfless consciousness without faith”. He is right in saying that his experience does not lend an ounce of credulity to the Christian faith. But neither does it lend any credulity to atheism! And it only disproves faith if faith were based on this sort of experience. But Christian faith is not an accumulation of experience of “feelings of peace” or “blissful stillness”. Experience does occur, but the Gospel call is that “first of all Christ died for our sins”.
I pray that as we approach this season of Easter, let this thought cheer our hearts and provide an anchor for our faith – that first of all Christ died for our sins!
Danesh Manik
posted by Danesh Manik | 1:22 PM
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