The Old Rugged Cross

“If you lie, you’ll cheat. If you cheat, you’ll steal. If you steal, you’ll murder. You need Jesus before it’s too late”, Mrs. Leeds said. She was my 2nd grade teacher at the public school I went to – Washington Elementary in Lynwood, California. She had just caught me cheating on a test. I went home after school that day and told my mom what had happened. We weren’t a church-going family, so my mom promptly called her sister and asked what church we should go to in our area. Her sister was a devout Baptist, so she looked up what Baptist churches were in our area. “First Southern Baptist Church in South Gate”, was her response.

Brother Herb was the pastor of the church and I remember him preaching a “Hell Fire and Brimstone” sermon one Sunday about the consequences of rejecting Jesus as savior. I didn’t want to go to hell! I was scared to death! I went forward to receive Jesus as my savior from my sins, and to save me from hell.

We started going to church every Sunday – my mom, my brother and me. My dad didn’t go to church. I remember begging him to receive Jesus as savior. I cried and told him I didn’t want him to go to hell. My dad would just say he believed that he just needed to live a good life and he would go to heaven.

One Sunday, my dad did attend church with us and we had a time in the service where we could request our favorite hymn to be sung. To my surprise my dad raised his hand and requested “The Old Rugged Cross”. Although my dad loved to sing, I was shocked that my dad knew a church hymn. As we sang the words and my dad sang along too, I wondered why he wouldn’t want to receive this free gift of salvation that Jesus offered us through his death on the cross:

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.

Refrain:
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
has a wondrous attraction for me;
for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary. [Refrain]

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
a wondrous beauty I see,
for ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
to pardon and sanctify me. [Refrain]

To that old rugged cross I will ever be true,
its shame and reproach gladly bear;
then he’ll call me some day to my home far away,
where his glory forever I’ll share. [Refrain]

Fast forward 35 years… In 2004, I invited my dad to come visit and attend a new movie with us called “The Passion of the Christ“. Suddenly the song about “The Old Rugged Cross” was visualized on the big screen for my dad to see the tremendous sacrifice Christ made on his behalf. Sitting in our living room after the movie, my dad turned his life over to Jesus.

Last summer my dad came out to visit us. I asked him again if he was certain of his salvation through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, and he said he was trusting in Christ alone for his salvation.

One of the most famous Bible verses is John 3:16 and it says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life”. God loves us so much he sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

My dad passed away this past Sunday. He was a great father especially in my early years. He took us camping in the mountains and body surfing at the beach on the weekends. We went hiking and rock climbing. And on all of those trips we’d sing songs on the way there. I can sing about 30 “Dad songs” that my dad taught me and my brother at the drop of a hat! We played catch with the football. We played tennis. We played chess. But even though he was a great dad, that couldn’t save him from his sins. We need a perfect savior in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins to bring us into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father.

I am grateful that Jesus saved my dad. I am grateful that I will see him again in heaven. I am grateful that the prayers of a 7-year old boy for his father was answered 35 years later. Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice on that Old Rugged Cross and for saving my dad!

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