The answer to this question can be discovered within the letters of the word .... "Cross".
You can know God loves you because of the cross.
The word CROSS will help you discover how you can have eternal life.
The C in CROSS is for Christ.
Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross. The Bible says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
"Why did Jesus die on the cross?"
That question is answered in the next letter.
The R in CROSS is for Reason.
The reason Christ died is for sin. The Bible says, "For Christ died for sins, once for all, the righteous [that was Jesus] for the unrighteous [that was us], to bring you to God. For all have sinned and have fallen short of God's glory" (1 Peter 3:18a; Romans 3:23). The Bible, our conscience, and the law of God (Ten Commandments) testify we have fallen short of God's standard. All are guilty before God.
The O in CROSS is for Outcome
The outcome of sin is death. The Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a).
The outcome or wages of sin is death. This death is both physical and eternal. I think you would agree this is bad news. Yet the next letter, S in CROSS has some good news.
The S in CROSS is for Substitute.
Jesus was our substitute on the cross. Jesus' sacrifice displays God's loving mercy and his righteous justice as no other action could. " God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus paid the sin-debt that we could not pay. God then raised him from the dead to demonstrate that the debt was paid and that Jesus is exalted as Lord over all.
This gift, like any gift, must be received. That brings us to the last S in CROSS.
The last S in CROSS is Salvation.
Because Jesus is our substitute, he is the only one who can offer salvation. Salvation includes forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life.
But how is this possible? To have forgiveness and eternal life you must believe and receive.
• To believe, the Bible says, " That if you confess with your mouth, that "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
• To receive Christ by faith is simply trusting Christ alone for salvation. The Bible says, "...To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).
"Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of faith, who for the joy set
before Him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and has sat down at the right
hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2
Bible (15th-16th century), (First known
English translation from the Latin)
