Don’t Tell Me The Gospel Did Not Change The World

In the ancient Roman world, the cross was not a symbol of hope. It was not worn as jewellery or placed atop buildings as a sign of reverence. It was an instrument of terror, a public display of Rome’s brutal power. In most provincial cities, crosses lined the roads, the marketplaces, even the entrances to shops. Crucified bodies were part of the everyday landscape—a grim reminder of what happened to those who defied the empire. It was meant to humiliate, to intimidate, and to crush the spirit of the oppressed.

Imagine going to the mall and seeing that there is a crowd at the front entrance because someone has been crucified over the entrance. And in the food market there are people crucified on both sides. And outside the shoe shop, where you wanted to get new shoes, you saw someone is crucified as well. This is what it was like in ancient Rome. This visible and horrific reminder of Rome’s dominance and power was everywhere for people to see. It was a bit different in Jerusalem because they had special dispensation to crucify people outside the city in accordance with their laws, but still you would have seen this as a common site even there, just outside town. 

Yet, in the fullness of time, God entered that world. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, took the cross upon Himself. He was crucified outside Jerusalem, in accordance with Jewish law, but in harmony with the Father’s eternal plan. And in that act, He did more than suffer—He transformed the very symbol of His suffering. When you understand what the cross once was, it is incredible that today we look at it as a symbol of true salvation and hope.

What was once a sign of cruelty and domination has become, for us, a sign of love, redemption, and victory. The cross today is a reminder not of Rome’s power, but of Christ’s sacrifice and his ability to over this world not by might but by the power of the Holy Spirit. The cross now speaks not of humiliation, but of exaltation. Don’t ever tell me the gospel has not changed this world. It changed the way we see the cross. It changed history itself. It changed how we even see the condemned, those who we know are guilty. Because an innocent man, who was also God, took the place of all who would believe in him.

But the story does not end at the cross. It rises from the empty tomb and ascends to the throne. And for this, we turn to the Scripture most quoted in the New Testament: Psalm 110.

“The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
(Psalm 110:1, NKJV)

Stop and think about what David writes here for a second. He says, “The Lord said to my Lord…” Who was King David’s Lord, as no man stood higher than him in all Israel? His Lord was The Lord, God. So who was his Lord’s lord? This can only be a reference to the Father and the Son. For David was no idolator. Here, David is prophesying that God would rule this world through his Son.  

The apostles returned to this Psalm again and again because in it they saw the blueprint of Christ’s victory, that he would rule the world. Jesus is not merely a martyr; He is the Messiah, seated at the right hand of the Father, reigning until every enemy is put under His feet. Every dominion, every power, every system of oppression—spiritual, political, or social—will be defeated by Him. He is the King who fights for His people.

“2 The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!”
(Psalm 110:2, NKJV)

He rules not from a distance, but in the midst of the battle. He entered our world of crosses and cruelty, and He reigns from right there—from the place of suffering, from the heart of human brokenness. And He shall vindicate His people. He shall judge on their behalf. He shall set things right. And we see his impact in this world clearly, already. Because the idea of setting up a cross is now unconscionable. At least in the vast majority of the world. In some dark places it still occurs, but the Lord’s conquest through his word, by the power of his Spirit continues.

But Psalm 110 tells us something even more profound about Jesus:

“4 The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
(Psalm 110:4, NKJV)

Jesus is both King and Priest. He does not only defeat our enemies; He represents us before God. He stands in our place, offering not the blood of animals, but His own blood, once for all. He is our Mediator, our Advocate, our Eternal High Priest. He represents us to God, and he represents God to us.

This is why we trust in him. This is why we take communion, because we know he is victorious and he is advocating on our behalf. We proclaim His death until He comes. We remember the cross, but we also celebrate the throne. We eat the bread and drink the cup in the confidence that the One who was crucified is now crowned—and He is reigning for us.

When Jesus went to the cross, He took the worst the world could do, the humiliation, the violence, the oppression, and He turned it into the instrument of our salvation. The very tool of Rome’s terror became the means of our peace. The cross, once a symbol of death, is now our tree of life.

He is not dead. He is risen. He is seated. He is reigning.

And because He reigns, everything changes. The world that once crucified its Creator now wears His sign as a symbol of hope. The systems that once ruled by fear are destined to fall under His feet. The people who once walked in shame now walk in His victory.

This is the power of the gospel.
This is the rule of our Priest-King.
This is the hope we celebrate.

“5 The Lord is at your right hand;
    he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations,
    filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs
    over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook by the way;
    therefore he will lift up his head.” 

(Psalm 110:5-7, NKJV)

We have recently seen more of the crimes of Epstein and his network be revealed. We know in many ways how much evil and cruelty dominate in this world. The people of Judea in Jesus’ day were waiting for their Alexander the Great, their Julius Caesar. But their conqueror a different came a different way. Jesus came and defeated sin, death and the devil in a way most of them did not expect. But you better believe he is working on the destruction of evil in this world. He is transforming it, and subjugating all powers to himself, and he will judge the evil of this world. 

The only question is will you be judged by his final decree on judgement day? Or will you be judged and accounted in him by virtue of his work on the cross?