The Cross Made Simple

It is finished. Suffered. Died. Risen.

Three words changed the world. On the cross, Jesus bore our sins in His body and declared the work of salvation complete: tetelestai, paid in full. Your debt is paid. Your guilt is answered. Your freedom is finished.

The cross of Jesus Christ is the center of the Christian faith — not one topic among many, but the ground everything stands on. This plain-language, Bible-first guide walks through thirteen Scripture-led chapters on the finished work of Christ. You'll learn why the cross was necessary (Hebrews 9:22), who the Lamb of God is (John 1:29), what "It is finished" actually means (John 19:30), the great exchange of 2 Corinthians 5:21, what it means to be justified by His blood (Romans 5:9), forgiveness once for all (Hebrews 10), the blood of the new covenant (Matthew 26:28), the cross's victory over the devil (Colossians 2:15), how to be dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6), what it means to take up your cross daily (Luke 9:23), and why Paul boasted only in the cross (Galatians 6:14). Each chapter opens with Scripture and ends with one clear action step.

Explicitly Trinitarian: God the Father, who planned salvation before the world began and gave His only Son; Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, Son of God and Son of Man, the spotless Lamb who bore our sins; and the Holy Spirit, who convicts of sin and applies the finished work of Christ to the believer's heart. Prayer to the Father, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit. Change through the Holy Spirit's power, never human willpower alone.

Includes a 7-question appendix with straight answers to the honest questions people actually ask about the cross, a conclusion on the empty cross and the risen Lord, and a closing prayer.

It is finished. And because it is finished, you are free.

More from Kimani Upshur: https://kimaniupshur.com