What is the Purpose of the Cross?

ONE,Christ deliberately got the Jews to crucify Him,       
So that the Curses of Deuteronomy 28.15-67)        
Would come down upon them.        
For He was "the Prophet like me"        
That Moses predicted would come(Deut.18.15-19),        
Warning that God would personally punish        
Those that rejected him.        
       
Those "curses" included defeat in war,        
And going into exile far from Israel(Deut.28.25,64).      
When you consider the enormity        
of the offense of rejecting the Messiah,      
The resulting exile should be a LONG one.        
(And that's just what happened:    
The exile lasted from 70 AD      
(or you could say 135 AD)       
Over to a generation before 1948.    
THAT was truly a long exile.    
     
TWO, Why did God want the Jews        
To be carried off into a long exile?        
So that when they returned,        
The new inhabitants(the Moslems)        
Would be sure to say,        
"You have been away much too long!        
You have forfeited the right to this land.        
It is no longer yours!"        
       
So there would be a solid basis for war        
between the returning Jews and the Arabs.        
       
THREE,But why did God,    
  - the Playwright in the heavens -        
Want an Arab-Israeli war of annihilation?        
There are 200 million Arabs versus 15 million Jews.        
This puts Israel in the position      
of being the supreme UNDERDOG.    
So Israel's defeat and destruction        
Would seem certain,inexorable, inevitable.        
       
FOUR, Why Did God want to bring Israel        
to the brink of Destruction?        
For the dramatic effect.    
When the Messiah appears at the last minute,      
In order to rescue his baby, Israel,        
The tension will be electrifying,dramatic,thrilling.        
God wants to show the whole world        
that ISRAEL is STILL (once again) the CHOSEN People!        
       
FIVE, But an Arab-Israeli war isn't lopsided enuff!        
So God arranged for the Arabs        
To hook up with the Russians.        
But an Arab/Russian invasion of Israel      
Still isn't imbalanced enuff, hopeless enuff!        
     
SIX, So God has arranged that Russia    
will overrun Western Europe(Daniel 7.8; 11.40),        
And by implication bomb America preemptorily.    
For the USA is the leader of NATO.    
(It would be stupid of Russia to conquer Western Europe    
without first eliminating the Defender of Europe.)    
Only then does Russia attack Israel.        
   
SEVEN, My point is that when the Moslems      
Unite with the Russians to finally attack Israel,      
It will actually be THE WHOLE WORLD      
against Israel(Zechariah 14.1-4).        
("I [the LORD] will gather        
ALL THE NATIONS against Jerusalem..."(Zech. 14.2).    
(Doesn't that sound like the whole world?!)     
     
It is only then that the Messiah will Appear      
Above the Mt of Olives in Jerusalem(Zech 14.4).      
It will be a repeat of Christ Appearing      
to Saul on the road to Damascus(Acts 9.3),      
But on a much larger scale.      
   
Saul saw Christ as a Being of Light.      
Likewise,"at night there will be LIGHT"(Zech 14.7).      
How much light, and for how long?      
   
It will be like "the day that the LORD fought      
[for Israel] on the Day of Battle"(Zech 14.3).      
What day, what battle?      
     
After the Exodus in which Moses      
led the Israelis out of Egypt,      
The Gibeonites allied themselves to Israel.      
So "The 5 kings of the Amorites..      
made war against Gibeon"(Joshua 10.5).      
     
"So Joshua came upon them suddenly,      
having marched all night from Gilgal"(Joshua 10.9).      
There was a great slaughter,      
Joshua chased them as they fled.      
Then "Joshua spoke to the LORD,      
and he said in the sight of Israel,      
'Sun stand still at Gibeon...      
And the sun stood still..      
Until the nation took vengeance      
on their enemies"(Josh. 10.12-13).      
"There has been no day like it before or since,      
When the LORD heeded a human voice;      
FOR THE LORD FOUGHT FOR ISRAEL"(10.14).      
     
Yes, light remained in the sky all night long.      
It was God's light in place of the sun.      
It will be just like that on the day      
of the Second Coming of Christ.      
     
"The more things change,      
The more they stay the same."      
(Jesus is the Greek form      
of the Hebrew name,Joshua.)  
   
PS:As an author, a novelist or playwright  
God has a real preference for the theme  
Of the Underdog who wins despite the odds.  
For example, David versus Goliath.  
Samson versus the Philistines.  
And of course,Jesus versus the Roman empire.  
   
God is the last person to play the underdog,  
You would think.  
For He is the Almighty.  
How can the Almighty be an underdog?  
He can't.  
So it took real audacity for God to  
Give up His power, to "empty Himself"(Philippians 2.7),  
Just so He could become the Ultimate Underdog:  
Christ on the Cross,  
Forsaken by the Father.  
 
Dying a sinner's death,  
"Becoming sin for us,"(2 Corinthians 5.21)  
 - Becoming the Ultimate Sinner -  
He was supposed to go to (and STAY IN) Hell!!!  
   
But instead He then gains a totally illogical Victory  
By rising from the dead,  
Victor over death, but not only death!  
 - Victor over an eternity in Hell! -  
God has done it!  
He has played the hopeless underdog  
and won out despite everything!  
 
It's the mark of a truly great writer to  
Take something totally farfetched  
And make it plausible!  
That's what God has done in Christ.