Historians knew it as a tool of torture and death; in the 50s, no self-respecting Teddy Boy would be found without his piece of chewing gum and gold cross around his neck; during the 60s and 70s, along with a dove, it became the emblem of peace and, in recent years, an exclusive piece of jewellery for pop stars.

Now the cross is at the centre of a religious freedom of expression debate. Good news for the Christian Church. Nevertheless, it is the Christ of the cross who we worship and who we follow.

The cross and Christ reveal the most violent and mysterious outpouring of the wrath of God that we find anywhere in scripture. Yet, whether we wear it around our necks, keep it in our pockets, or have it upon our hearts, the cross is still a symbol of God's heartbreak over a world that has gone astray.

It is God's plus sign to a needy world.

You see what brought Jesus to the cross was ultimately not the authorities of the Jews and Romans, but God's love and purpose.

Therefore, at the cross, mercy and judgement have met together. God's judgement and punishment for sin and God's mercy and forgiveness freely offered to the sinner through faith in Christ have met.

The Apostle Paul wrote: "God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him (faith in Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God."

This verse gives us the doctrinal foundation for our reconciliation with God. How can God receive guilty sinners like you and I when we come to Him in repentance and faith?

The answer is that on the cross, Jesus has effectively dealt with the whole problem of sin, so now we can be reconciled to God.

We must be careful though not to think that Jesus in any way on that cross of Calvary became sinful in Himself. Such an idea is false. Our sins were placed on Him, but they were not in Him. What happened is that God made Him a sin offering on our behalf, a living sacrifice. That itself is evidence of how much God loves us.

Therefore, believing that message, and trusting in Him we are reckoned right with God. God's holy law which condemns us because none of us could ever perfectly keep that law, the Ten Commandments, have been kept by Jesus Christ on our behalf, on the behalf of those who believe and go on to follow Jesus in worship, faith and obedience.

An old preacher was once heard preaching on a village green in Scotland. He had lived on the American prairies, and his illustrations had a powerful fascination for his hearers.

He told of a prairie fire and he described the way the Indians saved their wigwams from the blaze by setting fire to the dry grass immediately adjoining the settlement. "The fire cannot come," he cried, "where the fire had already been. That is why I call you to the cross. Judgement has already fallen there and can never come again.

"He who takes his stand at the cross is safe evermore. He can never come into condemnation; he is passed from death unto life. He is at perfect peace in God's safety zone".

God took the worst thing that a man could do to His Son and turned it into the best thing He could do for man.

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