The cross of Jesus is often featured in jewelry, sculpture, posters, logos, and other kinds of art. This symbol has become so common that we hardly ever think of its horror. In ancient times, though, crucifixion, or being hung on a pole, was a terrifying sentence of death for murderers, idol worshipers, sorcerers, and other convicted criminals. The guilty died a slow, agonizing death in public, and they were considered cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Why does the Apostles’ Creed emphasize that Jesus died in this wretched way? Because the Bible teaches that Jesus’ death on the cross means he took on the curse of God for our sake. Jesus shouldered that burden for us.

In Galatians 3 the apostle Paul explains that people who try to live by the law (as given in the Old Testament) and fail to keep it are guilty. And of course no one except Jesus could keep the law perfectly. As Paul notes in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

We are all guilty before God, and we all deserve God’s judgment. But the good news is that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” through his death on a cross.

Next time you see a cross, wherever it may be, pause and think about the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.