10 of those

Accessible and profound

This is a very accessible book that packs a punch (if a punch can be seen as a very, very positive thing!). To many people looking in at the Christian faith, it may seem absurd that we put our trust in a man who was publicly executed in the most humiliating way. The cross should be a symbol of shame and death, and yet, for Christians it is anything but. It is, remarkably and wonderfully, a symbol of forgiveness and peace. Mark Meynell shows us, through various scripture readings, how the cross of Christ is absolutely central to what Christians believe. Without the cross, we do not have a saviour. Without the cross, there is no forgiveness of sins. Without the cross, we are denied access to God. But - and this is the glorious truth this book opens up for us - Jesus' death on the cross means that now we do have a saviour, who was willing to take the punishment for our sins so we can be forgiven and be welcomed in with open arms, as sons and daughters, into God's presence. When Jesus cried, "It is finished", He was declaring He had done the work to make us right with God. This is fundamental to the Christian faith but it never, never gets tired. I can never hear it enough. "The message of the cross is simply that we can never earn it; not do we need to...we are to worship our God, not to earn God's love but to revel in His love; not to persuade God to love us but to delight in His love." (Chapter 14).

ROSALIND