0406 神與罪的碰撞
他被掛在木頭上，親身擔當了我們的罪孽。《彼得前書 2:24》
基督的十字架是神對罪的審判所揭示的真理，永遠不要將殉難的概念與基督的十字架連接。那是至高無上的勝利，它震撼了地獄的根基。在時間或永恆中，沒有什麼比耶穌基督在十字架上所成就的更絕對地確定和無可辯駁的事——祂使整個人類有可能重新被帶回到與神有正確位份的關係。祂使救贖成為人類生命的基礎；也就是說，祂為每個人開闢了一條與神相交的道路。
十字架並不是發生在耶穌身上的事——祂來是為了受死；十字架是祂來的目的。祂是「從創世以來…被殺之羔羊。」（啟示錄13:8）。基督的道成肉身若無十字架，就毫無意義。要小心，不可將「神在肉身顯現」從「神使那無罪的，替我們成為罪」分開了（提摩太前書 3:16；哥林多後書 5:21）。道成肉身的目的是為了救贖，神以肉身來到世間是要除去罪，而非為自己成就什麼。十字架是時間裡和永恆里的中心事件，也是兩者所有問題的答案。
十字架不是人的十字架，而是神的十字架，它永遠無法通過人類的經驗來完全理解。十字架是神展示祂的本質，它是任何人和每個人都可以進入與神合一之門；但它不是我們直接穿過的門，而是我們必須通過的門，是我們在其中找到生命和居住的地方。
救恩的核心是基督的十字架，救恩之所以如此容易獲得，是因為神付出了如此巨大的代價。十字架是神與罪人巨大碰撞而融合之處，也是生命之路被打開之處；但所有碰撞的代價和痛苦都被神的心所吸收了。
來自章伯斯的智慧
新約根本不容許那些聲稱他是靠着恩典得救卻未生出恩典的好果子的人。耶穌基督以祂的救贖可以使我們的實際生活與我們的宗教信仰相符合。《登山寶訓研究》
0406 The Collision of God and Sin
…who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree… —1 Peter 2:24
The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God’s judgment on sin. Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell. There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross— He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God.
The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus— He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming. He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of separating “God was manifested in the flesh…” from “…He made Him…to be sin for us…” (1 Timothy 3:16 ; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.
The Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God, and it can never be fully comprehended through human experience. The Cross is God exhibiting His nature. It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God. But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there.
The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession. —Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R