Three Crosses – Part Three

There were three crosses, but the one in the middle holds destiny for all.

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John 19:17-18 – And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:  Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

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Three crosses; on the right and left, criminals; malefactors; men who knew themselves worthy of punishment; one seeking reprieve through arrogance; another seeking mercy through humility.  But the cross in the middle holds a man who did no wrong, who violated no crime, who perfectly kept the law of the Old Covenant, He Who was the seed of Abraham, and therefore appointed to be heir of that covenant; a covenant established BEFORE the law, a covenant of cutting until blood had flowed, a covenant of circumcision.  And for a moment, think on that last statement: “a covenant (of circumcision) established BEFORE the law.”

For Abraham and his seed, which is Christ, circumcision signified entry into a covenant that one was to live out by faith.  The covenant that followed, the covenant of the Law of Moses, circumcision was but one of the more than 600 laws a man was to keep in order to live in all the benefits of that covenant.  Both covenants had circumcision as a part, but for one it was the entry, and for the other in was only one of many elements to keep it current.

With that in mind, think where you and I stand today because of the work of the man on the middle cross.  Through His work, His sacrifice, His offering, His love, and His blood, you and I are not a part of a covenant of which circumcision is but a part, but through which the circumcision of our heart is the point of entry.  When you were born again, you were circumcised in the heart, making you a full recipient of covenant and the seed of Abraham.  For the day you made Jesus, the man on the middle cross, your Lord and Savior, you became the possession of the King of kings and Lord of lords, and as such you became a full partaker of the Abrahamic covenant and “the seed of Abraham,” for “if you be (belong to) Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  From the outer crosses, men who were worthy of death sought reprieve, while the man on the middle cross sought for their redemption.  And on those outer crosses, you and I could have been hanging, but we were not.  For Jesus, on the middle cross, hung there in our stead, receiving full judgment for the sins of the world, bearing the sickness and disease of all, carrying the chastisement of the peace of all.  Now all any man/woman must do is receive Him as Savior and Lord, be born again, and become full recipients of all He purchased from His position on the third (middle) cross. 

Manna for Today – John 19:16-27; Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27-28; Luke 23:32-43; John 1:1-14; Galatians 3:13

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