At the Foot of the Cross, the Ground is Level

“And it's man against man, it's black and it's white

It's man against man, it's wrong and never right

It's man against man, it's Gentile and Jew

And when it's man against man

Lord God, it's man against You”

-Buddy Greene

In one of my recent philosophy classes, we’ve been discussing the nature of healthcare and healthcare inequalities. As we’ve all been made aware by the recent election cycle’s emphasis on healthcare reform, a very large portion of the American population is without adequate healthcare. Around 40,000,000 of us don’t have insurance at all, and around 80,000,000 of us are underinsured. It seems obvious then that inequalities in health abound: some will be more healthy than others while others will languish in sickness and disease. Such is the nature of a broken world.

All over societies, even in our great American society, inequalities exist. Some don’t receive justice, fairness, and respect. You could cite racism, income inequality, the gap between the rich and the poor, etc. The list goes on forever. My point here is that sin has caused inequalities, unfairness, and unequal treatment and conditions on this globe. I’m not saying that the people who sin the most get treated unfairly as a result of their sin. Rather, I’m saying that sin in general has corrupted humans to the extent that justice is nearly impossible on this planet.

But the more I think about the cross, the more I see how God’s divine intervention not only wisely plans to save us from our sins, but also plans to redeem our broken societies by redeeming us individual souls. Why does injustice and inequality exist? Because we are sinful people who have created a sinful world with broken systems and societies. Injustice and inequality should be no surprise to those of us who know our Redeemer. At the foot of the cross, however, the ground is level.

Sin and salvation are the two great equalizers of the human race. Some of us might be in better positions than others. Some of us might be more talented. Others might have worse health and less money than others. Still others of us might experience the injustice of racism, bigotry, and hatred. But the one thing that makes us all equal is the fact that we stand in full condemnation in front of a Holy God because of our sin and hatred for Him. And the other thing that makes us all the same is the fact that we stand in full need of a feat of salvation that only He can bring about. When we start looking at each other in light of these two things that all humans have in common, I think we begin to look past race and creed and look at each other like Christ sees us. The other things start to fall away, and the big picture of salvation and the Lordship of Christ falls into place. That’s why Paul can say in Galatians that “in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28, ESV). We would do well to remember that.

“But on a cross of crucifixion 2000 years ago

Blood was shed for the sins of every man and now I know

At the foot of that cross the ground is level and there's no man against man”

-Buddy Greene