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The Message

In grade 10, my high school basketball team won the city championship and it was a big deal. They had a big reception for us. We all got championship medals. Our picture was in the paper. In fact, our picture still hangs in the gym at Peacock High School in Moose Jaw.

Now, guess how minutes I played in that championship game.

The answer is “none”.

I did not play a second (I was in grade 10 in a school of 800 + kids so I was not anywhere near being the best player), but I still got the medal. I celebrated on the court after the game. I can say that I was on the winning team. My teammates did all the work, but I was part of it.

Believe it or not, that story is a good starting point for understanding the message of the Bible. Read these verses and see if you see the correlation.

“He himself (Jesus) bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

Did you see it? Jesus did what we could never do for ourselves. He paid for our sins on the cross and we ended up getting his righteousness. Our salvation is not based on being good, going to church or a thousand other things that we sometimes talk about. Ultimately, we are saved because Jesus won the victory for us.

That hope was not just “a message” of the early church; it was “the message”. Paul writes, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).

If we ever think that we can “Get beyond the cross” to something more important, we are wrong! There was, and is, no bigger message!

If we are on Christ’s team, one day we will get to celebrate a victory that he alone has won for us.

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