DOMINION MANDATE DAILY DEVOTIONAL

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020

THE CROSS

BIBLE READING: MATTHEW 27:32-44

“And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The crucifixion of Jesus at Calvary is significant in so many ways. We have explored a few of them, today, we shall look at the significance of the cross itself.

Crucifixion happens to be the most gruesome form or corporal punishment in the ancient world. It was a punishment that was reserved for the worst kind of criminals in society. It was so gruesome and degrading, that in the Roman Empire, citizens no matter their crimes, were never put to death in this manner. It was reserved for slaves and the worst kind of criminals. “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

If this was the case, why was Jesus subjected to this kind of awful death? He wasn’t a criminal, neither was he a slave; yet He chose to die the death on the cross. The question is why? When Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt, God gave Moses quite a number of laws to govern and guide them in daily conduct and in their walk with Him. He spelt out laws and showed them the consequences of breaking them. Some of those consequences translated into curses that would follow them for generations. “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭21:22-23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus could have been killed in any number of ways. He could have been beheaded or even flogged to death. But as a result of the significance of being hung on the cross, He had to die that way. The scripture above says that anyone who is hanged on a tree is cursed.

The fall of Adam brought all of mankind under a curse. Jesus has to nullify that curse by bearing it in our place. That is the reason why he had to die on the cross by crucifixion. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),”‭‭_ Galatians‬ ‭3:13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬.

By virtue of His death on the cross, not only is the curse of sin broken over our lives, but every curse that we ever carried, in our foundation, in our lineage, or placed on us by anybody; has been broken and nullified by His death on the cross. Now we are free from every curse and power of sin and of curses is broken over our lives in Jesus name.

PRAYER:
Jesus, thank You for the cross. Thank You for what You suffered and bore on my behalf to set me free from every curse working against me, and from the curse of sin.