SUNDAY CHOICE – THE CROSS HAS THE FINAL WORD – By Charles Schokman
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I had been thinking about where our hope and light is in the midst of all the struggles and darkness around us. I believed that God is in control, but I wasn’t necessarily seeing it. I was hanging onto the fact that God is in control, and He has the final word. I wrote the song based on Colossians 2:13-15. It has become one of my favorite Scripture passages.
This song is really this victorious anthem remembering that anything the Enemy could ever throw at us or use against us has been disarmed at the Cross. It was just this song that came out of me and a celebration that I don’t have to fear anymore.
I wrote most of the song that night on Good Friday. It’s been fun to watch how that same revelation and same encounter with God in that moment has impacted people every night when we lead the song. I’m excited about leading the song at Winter Jam.
Colossians 2:13-15(NIV): “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
1 Peter 2:24(NIV): “He himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; By His wounds you have been healed.”
John 15:13(NKJV): “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
Philippians 2:10-11(NIV): “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
John 6:53-54(NKJV): Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 14:6(NIV): Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Ephesians 2:1(NKJV): “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”
Ephesians 2:6(NIV): “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:37(NLT): “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
John 15:20(NIV): Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his Master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also.
John 16:33(NIV): “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
What is the takeaway message?
Fear is one of the weapons of the Enemy, a lie that he uses. He is a poser and our opposer. Both of our albums were written out of a time when we were dealing with fear with stuff going on in our family, having a new child, and Kari’s sister losing a child, there was all this uncertainty, and also the state of the world with terrorist groups targeting Christians and being afraid and living in a state of fear. Our albums are declaring the truth of God and hope of God and Jesus, and really hanging onto our anchor, Jesus.
Worship is powerful when we let the Word of God come out of our mouths, and when we sing it and declare it over the situations we are in and the mountains we are facing. It is a living active Word, and it does shift and move things. That’s why we are worship leaders, and love it so much. We see the real effect that the presence of God has on our lives and people’s lives.
The core of our faith as Christians is found in John 14:6: Jesus is the only way. All roads don’t lead to heaven, despite what a secular culture tries to tell us. This is an extremely important and uplifting song. We all need to be bold as followers of Jesus and express that Truth, celebrating His death on the Cross and victory over sin.
This empowering song really reflects the joy we receive when we don’t rely on our own understanding, but instead fully trust in the ability of Jesus to lift us up no matter our circumstances. Jesus calls us to rely on Him and the power of His resurrection, to remember that He has overcome death and fear. Some truths that we can rally behind together as followers of Christ are that God is our Father, He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins and He rose again and defeated death. We can all say hallelujah and celebrate those truths together while singing along with this song. God’s Word tells us that “for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18, NKJV).
This song is a salvation message and moves me to reflect on just how much Jesus endured for His bride to purchase us from the grave. You can make the decision to admit you are a sinner, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and came to die as a sinless Saviour on our behalf, and choose to make Him the Lord of your life. It’s about submitting all of ourselves to Him and His goodness and allowing His blood to cover us and run through our veins. Have courage and sing along: “There’s nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing greater than the Name of Jesus. All the honor, all the power, all the glory to the Name of Jesus.”
This is a wonderful song to sing in order to prepare your heart for Easter. 700 years before Jesus made the way to Heaven by coming to earth, it was prophesied in Isaiah. Christ fulfilled it on the Cross, and He promises in His Word that one day He will make “all things new.” The message of this song challenges listeners to think about our own doubts and how Jesus calls us to rely on Him and the power of His resurrection, remembering that He has overcome death and fear. No matter where you are in your walk with Jesus, this song is a salvation message that helps us remember that Jesus truly came to die and rose to set us free. As we get ready to reflect on the ultimate act of love and redemption that Jesus made on our behalf, “The Cross Has the Final Word” is an emotive and poetic description of what Jesus did for us. You’ll want to join fellow believers in singing these words: “The cross has the final word, He traded death for eternal life. The cross has the final word.” Amen to that!
