Ancient Words: Faces of the Cross, Face of 2 Stone Tablets
And God spake all these words, saying, “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s (Exo 20:1-17).”
The ultimate penalty for violation of God’s inscribed code of ethics was death. Jesus, so it was told, violated at least two of these commands and therefore the penalty would be death on a cross in keeping with Roman standards of the day.
Actually though, Jesus died for all 10 of the commands. The commands are holy and of course the finger that wrote in the sand on one occasion was more than likely the same finger that carved instructions onto both sides of the granite tablets. Yet, only a perfect, pure, sinless lamb could make atonement. Only the blood from a spotless offering could be a true propitiation. What was fault in the old law was the fault of man never achieving a faultless life—-he/she would always be found guilty and the blood of bulls and goats just would not provide a permanent removal. The blood stain of man’s sin glowed permanent red and needed something more than an animal’s blood for cleansing. The blood flowed free from the center Cross on Calvary; and that blood, that crimson red blood, removed forever the awful stain of sin left by the footprints of humanity!
Today’s moral decline continues to spiral downhill and out-of-control as this code of ethics, this Face of the Cross, is compromised and ignored by the world’s superior knowledge. Just as the serpent whispered to Eve, he whispers and even shouts today the same message—-“God doesn’t mean that, your not going to die, with eyes opened you will be like God—-so go ahead and take a bite!”
(Scott and Jane Johnson minister with East Faulkner Church of Christ and BRG Bible. Bible questions can be sent to [email protected].)