Merriam-Webster has three primary definitions for the word “gravity”:
- Importance, significance or seriousness
- Weight
- Gravitational attraction
I love this word “gravity’, as it applies to the cross bore by Jesus. The cross has applications in all three of the above definitions.
Importance, significance or seriousness: This one event has changed the entire course of human history, even for those who don’t believe. For those who do follow Jesus, there is no more significant event than the sacrifice Jesus endured willingly so that he could pay the price for our mistakes – as we are unable. We were destined for an eternity separated from God until Jesus stepped in. And in his human body, he suffered the most humiliating and painful death as one could imagine.
Weight: I feel the weight of the cross as I consider what Jesus did for me, as undeserving as I am. I know myself, my thoughts, my motives and my actions – and I have no way to measure up on my own. Jesus took on the weight of the world, all of our sin, and took the punishment deserved by us. A perfect sacrifice was needed. We see how in the Old Testament the sacrifices made didn’t provide the final and complete cleansing required. Jesus did because he lived a sinless life so he had no debt to pay, so he took on ours.
Gravitational attraction: The pull of the cross is remarkable. There are so many people, myself included, that when their lives are examined, you’d see no way they’d be ones to submit to anything – nevertheless a God that we can’t see or hear and is a fairy tale to some. Yet, we are drawn closer to the cross through our struggles and hurts experienced in life. God reveals himself in the situations, and we submit and move towards him due to the pull of his love for us.
The gravity of the cross. I have felt this in my life; sometimes the pull is very strong yet other times not. When the gravity of the cross isn’t felt, we might ask ourselves what has changed in our lives such that the pull is no longer felt? For me, I must move back into the orbit of God’s love for me – let him speak to me through his word, his people, his church community and his presence in my time in prayer and meditation. Then, when he decides, the pull returns and I’m back in his love.
What do you do to return to the orbit of God’s love? Do you ever lose the feeling of his “pull” on you in your life?
Richard Bahr 