It is through the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection that the human race comes to know God. Even when crucified on the cross, God can only look with compassion at man, show his wonted mercy and bless him-this is what Jesus proved clearly on the cross. The sinner need not be afraid that God is offended with the number of wrong things he has done and that he will not be pleased unless proper reparation is done. The sinner need not run away from God and hide himself. He can allow himself to be attracted by that love and come close to God in faith. This union of minds arises from faith in Jesus Christ. And faith comes from the cross!

Jesus’death is sufficient to reconcile me to God. If only I believe in the message of the cross that, "...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us" (2 Cor. 5:19). God will not consider my sins against me. Without the crucifixion and the Gospel, which is the message of the cross, no one is reconciled with God. Christ died to bring those who live away from God back to him. "I do not nullify the grace of God; for justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing"(Gal. 2:21). "In whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him"(Eph. 3: 12). "...we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation" (Rom. 5: 11). When I come to realise that Jesus Christ died to remove my lack of faith, his death can lead me to a guilt feeling because my sin has been the cause of Christ’s death. If mankind had not sinned, if I had no share in the degradation of man, Jesus would not have had to die. I too, therefore, am responsible for his death. I am now justified when I see Jesus who died for me, rising from the dead. For example, suppose a good man jumped into a deep river in which I was drowning and saved me. I would feel gratitude and love for him in return. But if, in the attempt to save me, he was caught in a whirlpool and lost his life, I would develop a guilt complex that he died because of me. But if I saw him escaping from the whirlpool, I would be released from my guilt feeling. Likewise, it is only when I see my Lord arising after his death on the cross for me after three days, that I can experience the joy of salvation!

When I was quite young a magician once came to our school. He asked for the headmaster’s ring to exhibit a magical feat. It was I who had to go up to the stage and hand over the ring to the magician. I went up the stage and gave it to him. He at once placed it on a bit of wood and hammered it out of shape with another piece of wood and then told me to fling it away into the thick bushes outside. I was so sorry that I was party to the destruction of my headmaster's good ring. My guilt complex intensified. But the magician, through his magic, cut open a plantain with a blade and there was the ring intact! My teacher claimed the ring and as he put it on his finger, my young mind was filled with wonder and joy because the ring, which I had helped to destroy, was now regained. This is what a sinner who repents in the resurrection of Christ experiences. The cause of Christ’s crucifixion is the fact that I too cried out, "Crucify him," for the sake of releasing Barabbas. When Jesus who suffered and died in agony on the cross in order to redeem me from sin rose from the dead, it became justification for me. Though I crucified him he overcame death and resurrected.

The resurrection of Jesus became the firm foundation of my faith. The living Christ is there to depend on. I have Christ who, though he died, has risen and will never more die but will live eternally and save me. He is there to listen when I call out to him. He who once appeared in the flesh, will come as spirit anywhere, dwell in me and is always able to save me.

My faith is not without a foundation. My faith in Jesus is justified. It is a faith that through experience can be fulfilled. It is a faith that through centuries of proclamation and the life of the Church has been proved to be true. There is, therefore, justification in believing in Jesus. A faith in God that does not believe in Jesus, has no justification, no foundation.

The faith in the resurrected Christ makes me Christ’s own. I have seen the vanity of the world in Jesus. If I must live again, I must live not for the temporal world but for Jesus Christ. My life then has an aim. To live for Christ means to become a means of salvation for the salvation of all. There is joy in living for my Lord. Not the joy that the world gives but the joy of living with God, the joy of the kingdom of heaven! That is the justification for giving up the world.