What was nailed to the cross? It's more than you may have realized...

As I read through Colossians 2 this morning, I came across a very amazing word picture. It's in regard to our sins and how God forgave them.

God is infinitely holy and demands moral perfection from us. When we sin, we become ever more indebted to Him. That sin cannot simply be forgotten. His holiness has been violated and someone must 'pay.'

We understand this in our American culture. We often say, "Do the crime? Do the time!"

We understand that when someone violates society's laws, they are indebted to society and must either pay a fine or go to jail.

This is the way it works in our relationship with God. When we sin (and we all sin every single day), we are indebted to a holy God who demands that payment be made.

Well, folks can be shipped off to an eternity in a Christ-less hell to experience the consequences of not paying their debt to a holy God in this life. Yet, we realize that this is not God's heart (2 Peter 3:9).

So, in eternity past, God determined to glorify Himself by paying our debt for us. That word picture is provided in Colossians 2:14 where it says:

"by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross."

So, God cancelled our debt by "nailing it to the cross."

We know from the narrative of the Gospels that Jesus had something nailed to His cross. In John 19:19, it says: "Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.'"

This appears to have been common procedure at crucifixions. The crime that someone had committed was put in writing and nailed to the cross. So, as folks walked by, they could see the offense and see the person who had committed it.

As far as the Romans were concerned, Jesus was accused of insurrection. He was accused of trying to set up a kingdom in opposition to Caesar. That was His offense.

Yet, in Colossians 2:14, we're told that as far as God is concerned, there was something much different nailed to the cross. It was our sins!

Friend, that's how God paid our sin debt. He couldn't simply forget it. Someone had to pay the debt. So, when Jesus hung on the cross, God placed our sin debt on His cross so that as the Jesus-follower walks by, they can see their sin debt being paid for by their infinitely loving Heavenly Master.

We serve an awesome God!!!

Will Jesus be the only 'imperfect' one in Heaven?

By 'imperfect,' I am not speaking of Jesus' moral qualities. I am also not speaking of His Deity. As God the Son, He is morally perfect and perfectly God in every way.
 
I am using the word 'imperfect' in it's loosest sense by speaking of Jesus' appearance. When something is broken or showing signs of wear, someone could easily describe it as 'imperfect.' It evidences qualities that veer from the beholder's ideal standard and so it is called 'imperfect.'
 
So, at present (and possibly for eternity), does Jesus veer from what we would consider 'perfect' in His appearance? Believe it or not, answering 'yes' to that question isn't necessarily a wrong answer. Let me show you why...
 
Three days after Jesus' crucifixion, He rose from the dead. Acts 1:3 tells us that Jesus mingled with His disciples for 40 days before ascending to the Father. During that time, He had a resurrection body but it was body that was very similar to our own physical bodies (Mary Magdalene initially thought He was just a gardener [John 20:15]; the disciples on the road to Emmaus initially saw nothing unusual about Him [Luke 24:13-35]; etc.)
 
In fact, Luke 24:36-43 provides a conversation that Jesus had with His disciples in which He proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that His resurrection body was a physical body similar to the ones they had:
 
"As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, 'Peace to you!' But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, 'Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.' And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?' They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them."
 
Jesus made sure that His disciples recognized that He had a physical body very similar to theirs. This is a very important point for many, many reasons. Yet, I want to focus upon the fact that it was in this physical, immortal, incorruptible body that Jesus was taken into Heaven (Mark 16:19; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:9-11). The body He had post-resurrection was the body that went to Heaven.
 
Well, did the body that Jesus took to Heaven have something that, in appearance, would seem to be 'imperfect?' Apparently, Thomas (one of Jesus' disciples) believed so. As Thomas showed up to a gathering, some of the disciples tried to convince him that Jesus had risen from the dead and that they had seen Him. Thomas made it clear to everyone present that only one thing would enable him to believe that Jesus had truly risen from the dead. Listen to what he said:
 
John 20:25 "So the other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.'"
 
Jesus showed up a week later and didn't disappoint Thomas.
 
John 20:26-28 - "Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.' Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!'"
 
What was it about Jesus' hands and side that would have caused Thomas to recognize beyond any doubt whatsoever that it was Jesus who stood before him? The nail scars and the scar where the spear pierced his side (John 19:34). In His glorified, resurrection body, Jesus still had the scars from His crucifixion.

The question remains, "As He resides in Heaven now, does He still have the scars?"

All we need do to answer that question is go the book of Revelation. In chapter 5, John was permitted to see Heaven's throne as the Tribulation Period was about to begin. A call goes out to have someone who is worthy to open the scroll and release the judgments upon planet earth. No one approaches and John begins to weep. But, one of the elders told John to stop crying. Jesus was about to approach the throne and take the scroll. But listen to how Jesus is described in that Heavenly, future scene ...

Revelation 5:6-10 - "And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.'" [emphasis mine].

 

Jesus is described in this Heavenly scene as a Lamb that looked like it had been slain (the original Greek word could be translated 'slaughtered'). Jesus, in this scene, still wears the scars from His crucifixion.

 

Could it be that Jesus will have those scars for all of eternity? Maybe.

 

Could it be that if He does, they will be a constant reminder of the love that God had for us? Maybe.

 

Could those scars be a constant reminder that we were not worthy of such a high price and so we are moved to unimaginable gratitude and unparalleled worship for eternity? Maybe, just maybe.