Q: Why do churches have crosses?
A: Today, many Christians see the cross as a symbol of Christ (Gal 3:13). The Apostles had a different perspective. They regarded the cross as an object of shame and a cursed tree.
Later, the cross was introduced in churches as Christianity became paganized. The Church in Rome played a major role in this. They spread the idea that people can remember Christ’s sacrifice by looking at the cross. This was also under the pretext of evangelizing pagans.
From a biblical perspective, God warned against creating any image to serve as an object of worship.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me”
Nowhere in the Bible was the cross an exception. It is an idol — an inanimate object made by human beings.
“The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”
The Cross & Prophecy
The history recorded in the Old Testament teaches that it’s idolatry to worship the cross. One example is the bronze snake incident in the time of Moses (Nu 21:4–9).
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.”
The Israelites had mistakenly thought the bronze snake saved them. As a result, they worshiped it for 800 years, until the time of King Hezekiah. King Hezekiah, a Reformer of the Old Testament times, removed the bronze snake and all idols and God commended him for this (2 Ki 18:3–4). The bronze snake was a shadow of things to happen in the New Testament times.
“‘Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.’”
Jesus being lifted on the cross was compared to Moses lifting the bronze snake. Today, many Christians revere the cross. But just like the Israelites in the desert, we forget who really saved us when we worship the cross. The blood that Christ shed on the cross is more important than the cross itself.
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ.”
