We have who is jesus. We have them on our church steeples, on our altars in the churches, on our walls, hanging from our rear view mirrors and our necks.
This is one of the explanations I have heard to justify the presence of crosses. A crucifix on the wall of the church reminds Christians of God’s act of love and atonement in Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. The sacred crucifix also reminds Christians of Jesus’ victory over sin and death, since it is believed that through His death and resurrection He conquered death itself.
As I researched this subject, I discovered the cross was not a Christian symbol before Yeshua the Messiah was born! The cross was not a Christian symbol for hundreds of years after Yeshua. A crucifix is a cross with the Lord still nailed to it. Do you think He is honored if you have one of these hanging from your neck? With all the fancy talk about what the crucifix means on the walls of our churches; there is a total avoidance of the FACT that it is still a pagan idol! This elongated, elaborated statement must be Roman in origin.
If the cross is a Christian symbol, then why does the occult use it so much? If the cross is a Christian symbol, then why is it traceable way back to Babylon and Egypt, as far back as 2,000 B.C.? Many ancient cultures used crosses or the mystic Tau. Babylon seems to be the originator from ancient Chaldea, but you can find crosses in Egypt, India, China, Africa, Mexico, Greece, Italy, and South American histories. all before Yeshua was ever born! If pagans had never used crosses as idols, then developed them into instruments of torture and death; you never would have thought to wear a cross with diamonds on a necklace!
The cross is a most sacred idol to the big church in Rome. This point in itself should raise suspicion. The cross was incorporated into Roman worship after 430 A.D., but it was another 150 years until the cross made it all the way up to the steeples. In the 6th century, the Church of Rome sanctioned the cross. Believe it or not, at the council of Ephesus, it was decreed that a cross was a “requirement” in every home!
Of course it is not considered an idol anymore, because some pope says it is holy. What do you think God’s feelings are on this? Does God say, “Well, if it is okay with the pope, then it’s okay with me”? Remember, you do not have to worship or bow down before something for it to be an idol. But, some argue “a Christian cross is different from all those other crosses”. Is that like saying you have pot bellied pig, but he’s different from all those “other” pigs? What you “think” a cross means today does not change the reality of it being an idol either.
Do you think any of the disciples would have been inclined to enter a building with a big cross on its’ steeple, a week after Yeshua had ascended? Wouldn’t they have thought it was a house of crucifixion; rather than a house of God? What if the disciples were transported to here and now today? Would they want to enter a church with a big cross on it? The cross was a very horrible torture instrument of the day. Nobody at that time would have ever glorified it, or made a little wooden one to hang on their neck.
If the Lord was shot by an assault rifle when He atoned for our sin, I truly believe people would have a little “M-16” hanging from their necklace. There would also be an “M-60” on every steeple, and the “longer” the belt of bullets; the “holier” the people would feel. That would turn the “Rambo” series into sacred holy religious movies!