Deuteronomy 21:23:
His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Up until the death of the Lord Jesus upon the cross, it was merely the execution of a death sentence – much as the electric chair or a lethal injection. Being sentenced to the cross was an activity reserved for criminals – bandits and hooligans, thieves and murderers, libertines – yet our Liberator, the one who liberated us from death and sin, hung upon the cross, bearing the curse for us.
For the government it was an instrument through which justice, in human terms, was measured out, but when Christ was nailed to it, it became the instrument through which we were justified, our sins washed away by the fount of joy and love – the redemption of our wayward souls.
Through the cross, or rather, Jesus’ great redemptive work on the cross, the death warrant is torn and we are set free. Through His atoning work also, He reconciled man to God, replacing wrath with peace.
The cross, in the hands of man was a sign of rejection, but to Christ it is a sign of acceptance, of freedom, of healing, of righteousness – because sin was defeated on Golgotha – death was defeated on the cross, as Jesus took our curse upon His shoulders, and cast it into the depths of the deep.
The most precious metal known to God is not silver or gold, for we weren’t bought by corruptible things – the most precious metal known to man is those wretched nails, so symbolic of Christ’s ever enduring love for us – those nails which fastened Him to the cross, but in reality had no power to hold Him there.
In the cross we see Christ’s love, His mercy and His grace – without Christ the cross is rejection, pain, suffering, and death.
When we look at the cross we have to realize that upon that old, rugged cross there hung a young, rugged man – a carpenter, a teacher, a healer – our savior.
Without Christ the cross means nothing.