The Wondrous Cross

Home   About   Prayer Request   Contact

Dear in Christ,

I greet you all in the mighty name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I remember the famous song:  “The Wondrous Cross”

“See from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down !

Did ever such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?”

I have read somewhere that the great Bible teacher Williams Evans once said:

“Cut the Bible anywhere and it bleeds”

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that maketh an atonement for  : the soul.” ( Levictus 17:11)

The supreme sacrifice of  Jesus Christ on the Cross for our redemption is the central theme running throughout the Bible. We can see this in the innumerable incidences and life stories of the Bible characters. Joshua in Hebrew means “Yaweh saves (delivers). Joshua in Hebrew is same as Jesus in Greek. We know that the blood speaks and the sacred blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’s blood speaks today also. The garments of high priest and curtains of Tabernacle included scarlet threads (Exodus 26:1; Exodus 28:6).

I wanted to impress upon one such scarlet thread thrown by an ordinary sinful woman who is referred to as “Rahab the harlot” throughout the Bible. But God chooses the foolish to shame the wise ! She is quoted in the Women of fame along with Sarah in Hebrews Chapter 11. She is quoted in the Book of James as a woman of faith, who put faith into action! The Lord honoured this righteous lady (as He did Tamar and Ruth) by including her name in the genealogy of Jesus… A great honour indeed for a gentile woman!

Even before she met the jewish spies, she had heard and believed about the great LORD and believed that through HIM the mighty Jericho will fall as a pack of cards. This is reflected in the alacrity with which she received the two spies and protected them and made a testimony of faith that the LORD is the conqueror forever. She submitted herself totally to this “alien God” unknown to her and took the extreme step of protecting the spies and making their escape which is treason against her country. During the Old Testament days it is said that the punishment for treason will be: First they will pluck the eyes, chop off the tongue and hands and drag the half dead person through the streets to be stoned to death finally. Rahab was aware of this risk as the King had already specific intelligence inputs of her having interacted with the Jewish spies.

Malachi 3 :16 says that “Then they that feared the LORD spoke often unto another, and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before HIM for them that feared the LORD and that thought upon His name.”

For the sake of one righteous woman, the whole family was redeemed as Rahab requested:  “…and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death” (Joshua 2:13). She fearlessly proclaimed “for the LORD your God, HE is God in heaven above and in earth beneath”. And the whole family was saved and redeemed on account of her faith and submission.

How fast she unfurled the scarlet rope as a symbol of redemption from her house window? Joshua 2: 21 says “…and they departed; and she bound the scarlet line in the window.” Who can predict the terrible day of the LORD? For sure the scarlet thread hanging from her window would have attracted the attention of the King and the general public. She knew very well that the spies as per her advice would hide for three days in the mountain and then only start for their camp. But her faith was upon the LORD and not on these men.

So she did. And the LORD remembered her.

The hanging scarlet thread as the raised rod of Moses was a fore runner for the supreme sacrifice our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ hanging on the cross later. The scarlet cord was a symbol of redemption.

As you read this message, I pray to God and command in the mighty name of Jesus that you are made whole and redemption of soul happens, the flesh is dead,  you are born again and it is only HE (Christ) that lives in you.

For ever and ever. Amen.