Shadow of the Cross, Light of Christ

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6 NKJV).

The day of Christ’s crucifixion was a dark day when the sinless Lamb of God was stripped, beaten, crucified, and killed. It was the fulfillment of God’s plan for the Sinless Son to die for the sinners of the world. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21 NKJV).

The shadow of the cross brings conviction of sin to the wayward and the light of Christ shines forth with the redemption to the repentant.

The shadow of the cross dampens the glitter of the world so we can see the glory of Christ beckoning us from the shadows of sin and death to the light of abundant and eternal life.

Shadows are generated from light on the backside of an object. Jesus stepped into the shadow of death the moment He came in human flesh. He walked as light among the darkness. His light displaced the darkness. He cast out the darkness in the form of demons. The power of His healing opened blinded eyes that were shut out from the light. Those bound in the darkness of infirmity were made whole by His Word. He raised the dead who others thought were confined to eternal darkness. He walked as light in the darkness rebuking its affect on men.

Jesus had to submit to the darkness of death to deliver us from darkness to light. Though He was the eternal, sinless Son of God, He came as the Son of Man to bear sin on the cross. He was entombed in the darkness of death, yet He burst forth as a bolt of eternal light.

Those who died before Christ died in the shadow of the cross. Now we die in the light of the cross. The resurrection brought light to the cross. No longer is hope a longing for something prophesied, but it is transfigured into an assurance of all that is fulfilled. The resurrection is a declaration of life and light beyond the shadows of sin and death.

“I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness” (John 12:46 NKJV).

Yours on the Journey,

Harry L. Whitt