The Perpetual Power Of The Cross
I have been fortunate to listen to the preaching of Dr Tony Campolo on many occasions. He was one of the first preachers who really engaged me with his combination of humour, scientific theories and biblical truth. I knew that for many years he was an advocate for Compassion and whilst I was doing some consultation with Compassion UK, I proposed what we thought would be a one-off event “An Evening with Kendrick and Campolo” featuring Tony and the father of modern worship, Graham Kendrick. By every measure it was a huge success. Audiences loved it, the event was joyous and challenging and lots of children were sponsored. Unsurprisingly, we decided to take the event on the road and over the next four or five years we traveled the length and breadth of the UK. Every night was brilliant but for our travelling band one of the highlights was the journey between events in our tour bus where Tony would regale us not only with anecdotes but also profound and challenging conversation and teaching.
His most famous talk is Friday but Sunday Is Coming. (this is an short version of that sermon)
However, this Good Friday I was reminded of another story I heard at a number of those shows. For me it was richer because on one of those long journeys he shared that whilst a student, he would often sneak into the lectures of a visiting professor at his university. That guest lecturer was none other than Albert Einstein.
Tony loves Jesus and he would preach on the power of the cross. His gift to the church was to make complex, mysterious concepts real in the lives of ordinary people. In this particular illustration he would explain that according to Einstein’s theory of relativity, at the speed of light, all time stops. This means that things in the past and in the future also exist in the present. He then goes on to speculate that to some degree you could argue that Jesus did not just die for your sin but is now dying for your sin on the cross.
For me this is a profound thought. Maybe it helps us to understand what it means when the bible describes God ;
“who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8
The God who says He is, I am, who Jesus, when being challenged by to Pharisees declared
Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” John 8:58
Let me be clear, the words of Campolo are, I think, an illustration. I do believe that Jesus died on the cross once and forever for the sins of all humans.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18
That if we as sinners, people who have got it so wrong, allow Jesus into our life we can be forgiven because he died for us and we can have a direct relationship with God.
10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:10
Today, because He died, we can live. We can come to the cross for the first time or the 101st time and know we can be forgiven. So truthfully today is indeed Good Friday.