The “cross” symbol is something we see in many places. We see it on accessories. It is often regarded as a beautiful thing. Sometimes we see another cross, one with a man on it; that man is Jesus Christ. Both the cross alone and the cross with Christ are known to be Christian symbols. We expect to see them in a church, but why is the cross so important to Christians? It started long before the event of the cross. It started with Adam and Eve, with the sin of humans, and with a promise from God.
God’s Promise
The sinful nature of humans became a barrier between us and God. God, who is holy, cannot dwell with corrupt and sinful human beings, even though He wants to have a good relationship with us. Even so, God never gives up on His love for us. When God said goodbye to Adam and Eve, He made a promise: that one of their descendants would be a Savior and would restore the relationship between God and His people.
Prophecy about the Savior
As humans grew and spread out around the world, God would remind individuals about His promise. These individuals, who were not merely psychics guessing but true “prophets” with insight given by God, were “entrusted” to deliver His message of a coming “Savior”. With each prophet, more information was given about whom to expect. More than 350 promises about the “Savior” were recorded the in the Old Testament.
Here are some examples of the major prophecies in the Bible:
| Prophecy | Prophecy Before | Fulfilled by Christ |
| Be God’s Son | Zecharaiah 12:10, Psalm 2:7 | Matthew 3:16-17, Hebrews 1:2-3 |
| Be born to a virgin | Isaiah 7:14 | Luke 1:26-31 |
| In the city of Bethlehem | Micah 5:2 | Matthew 2:4-6 |
| Provide offering for forgiveness of sin | Isaiah 52:15-53:5-12, Psalm 40:6–8, Malachi. 3:3 | Hebrews 9:12 |
| Be hung on a tree and die | Deuteronomy 21:22-23 | 1 Peter. 2:24, Galatians 3:13-14 |
| Not stay dead, but would rise from the grave | Psalm 16 | Acts 13:33–35 |
These prophecies and many more were written hundreds and thousands of years before the birth of the Savior. The prophesies were specific about the place and the time and the family line to which the Savior would be born, and in all of human history, only one person has matched them all: Jesus Christ.
The Meaning of Jesus’ Crucifixion
So why did Jesus Christ have to die on the cross? The answer is found in the prophecy that says, “The Savior will be an offering for the forgiveness of sins.” Man has tried many things to make himself pure, such as offering, washing, Zazen (Translation Note: Japanese Buddhist practice of sitting meditation) and Nembutsu (Translation Note: Buddhist chant for seeking salvation), and more. There is nothing that fallen humans could do to become truly clean and shameless again. All of our offerings have fallen short, and our best deeds, though they may seem good before other humans, are still not a good offering before the perfect God. What we need is One without sin and shame, One who is like God, to make a perfect offering that is accepted by God on our behalf. God knew that no person could ever be like that. That is why He sent His only Son from Heaven to Earth. That Son is Jesus Christ. He was to be born as a human, live a holy life, and then give His life as an offering for forgiveness of humanity’s sin.
“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
(1 John 2:2)
and not only for ours but for the sins of the whole world.”
Because of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, the problem of sin and shame is gone. The things that caused separation between humans and God was resolved by God himself. So, we see that God really does want a relationship with us. In order for us to be reunited with Him both now and forever, God showed His love for us without holding back anything, even giving His own Son to death on a cross.
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
(Romans 8:32)
It is hard to accept such a precious offering on our behalf. Why would Jesus Christ need to die? Couldn’t there be another way? As Japanese, we see something like this every day. Before we eat a meal, we say “itadakimasu” to our food (Translation note: This phrase is commonly said before eating, and it means “I am receiving”). Our food comes at the cost of the lives of plants and animals. If our food did not die, then we would die of hunger. We tell our food, “itadakimasu” because we know we are receiving the life of our food to be our own. There is a mystery in this common practice because it points to the need for Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. If Jesus did not die, then we could not receive new life. It is sad that our food must die, but there is joy in a beautiful and delicious meal that gives us energy to live and thrive. In the same way, Jesus’ offering on the cross is sad, but there is immeasurable joy, beauty and life that comes from it.
“For as in Adam all die,
(1 Corinthians 15:22)
so in Christ all will be made alive.”
The cross, once an instrument of execution, has become a thing of beauty. It used to represent death, the result of sin, but now it represents life, the result of the work of Jesus Christ. This “life” replaced the “death” in our relationship with God that Adam and Eve brought to this world.
So, how can we receive this “life”? We will learn in the next section, “What is Salvation?”.
For more details on this topic, go to Appendix 4. What is the Cross of Jesus?
Appendix 4. What is the Cross of Jesus?
When we study the cross of Jesus in depth in the Bible, we see that it is an event that is not found in any other religion in the world, where God’s only Son died sacrificially for the sins of humanity. The cross of Jesus is said to be the place where God’s righteous anger against our sin and His deep love for us collided. If the cross is a manifestation of God’s love for us, we need to understand better what kind of love that is.
Meanings of love
In the Bible there are 4 different words used for “love”:
- Eros – romantic love, marital love
- Storge – love within a family
- Philia – love among friends
- Agape – unconditional love, God’s love for us
In Japan, upon receiving a gift/favor, it is a cultural etiquette to return the favor. There are times when we offer something with the expectation that we will be thanked back, and conversely, there are times when we refrain from offering something so as not to burden the receiver with the obligation. This concern for reciprocated favors therefore makes us hesitant to accept something so great that we cannot return even a fraction of the value given.
However, when we look at agape, we see a different kind of giving. “Unconditional” means that it is given without any expectation of return. It is possible for God to love in such a way because “God is love.” (1 John 4:16). In the original language, “love” in this statement is “agape love”. God, being self-sustaining, does not need anything, and being the Creator of all things, He is able to give without loss. After experiencing God’s agape love, we are able to draw from it and thus be able to reflect it to others. Through God’s unconditional love we are able to love others without condition as well, with a true love.
Prophecy/prophets
The word “prophecy” in the Bible is written in Japanese as “yogen” (Translation note: 預言 in Kanji characters) means that direct word from God is entrusted to someone. In the Bible, people called “the prophets” were the ones who delivered God’s direct message to the world. The other “yogen” (Translation note:予言 in different Kanji characters)in general means “to tell beforehand,” and refers to foretelling and predicting future events in advance, including fortune-telling, different meaning from the intentional prophecy of God in the Bible.
Prophecy about Jesus
The primary figure in the Bible is Jesus Christ. Jesus’ arrival on Earth had been prophesied repeatedly for many thousands of years. God sent messages to prophets that He specifically called out, so that humans would know that Jesus is who He revealed Himself to be. The Old Testament (the first 39 books of the Bible) was all written over a period of more than 15 centuries before Jesus arrived on Earth. Each prophesy revealed more and more about what to expect and of the hope that He would bring.
There are more than 350 prophecies specifically about Jesus Christ. Examples include when He was to be born, His birthplace, what He would do while on Earth, that He would be killed like a criminal as a sacrifice, and that He would be raised from the dead. We know these prophesies were written before Christ’s arrival and that they were not edited after because of the Dead Sea Scrolls. These artifacts were buried at a specific time in history, centuries before the birth of Jesus, and were not recovered until the 20th century: a time-capsule that verifies the accuracy of the scriptures in the Old Testament and the identity of Jesus Christ.
Some key prophecies about the Savior that would come to their fulfillment in Jesus Christ are:
| Prophecy | Before Christ | Fulfilled |
| The Savior would descend from Abraham the patriarch of Israel | Genesis 22:18 | Romans 9:5 |
| The Savior will be of the Jewish tribe “Judah” | Genesis 49:10 | Hebrews 7:14 |
| The Savior will be a King, of the lineage of David | Isaiah 9:7 | Luke 1:32 |
| The Savior would be born in the town of Bethlehem (Bethlehem means “House of Bread”, and Jesus called Himself the “Bread of Life”) | Micah 5:2 | Luke 2:4-6 |
| The Savior would be born to a virgin | Isaiah 7:14 | Luke 1:26-31 |
| The Savior would be born Jewish but would be the Savior for all nations | Gen. 28:14, Isa. 11:10 | Mat. 12:15–21 |
| The Savior would shine light in the darkness, revealing God’s plan of salvation to the lost | Isaiah 9:1-2 | Matt 4:13-16 |
| The Savior would show His power over life and death through miracles | Isa. 35:5-6, 42:7-18, 53:5 | Mat. 11:2-6 |
| The Savior would be charged as a criminal though He is innocent, and would silently take the punishment of death without resistance | Isaiah 53:7 | Mark 15:4-5 |
| The Savior would be put to death | Isaiah 53:11-13 | Mark 15:27-28 |
| The Savior’s death would be an offering made to cover all sins | Isaiah 53: 5-6 | Romans 5:6-8 |
The Resurrection of Jesus
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
The prophecy also includes the resurrection of the Savior, which was also fulfilled by Jesus Christ. He became the offering for our sins on the cross to appease God’s wrath against sin. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death,” indicating that all human beings born with a sinful nature will die. But Jesus, who was sinless, bore our sins and died to pay the penalty for them. In doing so, God’s anger against our sin subsided, and all that remained was His love for us. God did not keep Jesus in the grave, but by raising Him three days later He broke the power of death. God nullified death itself that came into the world due to Adam and Eve’s sin and prepared a new life for us on this earth and in eternity with Him.