The room I’m sitting in has a large, heavy wooden door set with thick glass windows. Despite its size and weight, it swings effortlessly on its hinge at the slight push of my hand. Beautiful craftsmanship.
It has been said that the cross is the hinge on which the door of history swings[1]. This is a beautiful image. What can bear the size and weight of the world and move us from creative beginning to everlasting end? On what axis does existence turn? On what hinge does your personal history, church history, and human history swing? On the cross of Christ. The cross of Calvary is the hinge on which the door of history swings. It is not pushed by your hand or mine, but by the sovereign hand of God.
Look back to the early, creative beginning of history. See how Moses describes the door swinging open with these words: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished (Genesis 2:1). Now jump ahead to the end of Scripture. Watch the late culmination of history swinging closed in the vision of John with these words: out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is finished” (Revelation 16:17). From Genesis to Revelation, on what hinge does this redemptive history swing? The hinge of the cross of Christ; the cross where Jesus cried: It is finished (John 19:30). History’s first it is finished swings to form it’s last it is finished on the hinge of Christ’s “it is finished.” The Alpha and Omega spreads his arms on the cross and moves the door of history from beginning to end. Beautiful craftsmanship
And what a real comfort too. The big door in this room I’m sitting in may very well outlive me. One day, I, like you, will approach death. And like you, I will be tempted to wonder, as I face the end of my life, if I said enough, did enough, was enough. I will be tempted to ask What have I finished? What have I accomplished, what have I done? And if we are honest, we will all admit that we have not finished much, not accomplished much, not done much, not been much. The truth is, we will all leave this world with things undone, stuff untried. We will leave our regrets, and perhaps pine for a chance to do it all again.
O, but praise the Lord that, by his grace, my life does not swing on the hinge of my works. Praise the Lord that history does not swing on the hinge of my life. Praise the Lord that, by his grace, we can approach life and death with Christ-centred humility, not personal biography. By grace, we have no need to say: I finished this or I finished that. We can just repeat after Jesus: it is finished.
This Easter, put your faith, once again, in your faithful Saviour. Trust that, from beginning to end, our lives swing with the door of history on the hinge of the cross of Christ.
[1] Erwin W. Lutzer, In: The Cross in the Shadow of the Crescent: An Informed Response to Islam’s Conflict with Christianity, p. 110-111
