The Design of the Cross

It’s seen everywhere, especially at this time of year. It’s printed on bookmarks and t-shirts, worn as jewelry and has been painted by famous artisans throughout history. It’s a world-recognized symbol. It’s a cross.

I’m a designer…that means I like to study and observe the visual world around me. It also means that I enjoy learning about the messages behind the visual stimuli I intake. It’s important too, because we live in a society where contextual information is vital to our livelihood.

For example, think about a stop light. Probably ever since you can remember, you knew that the red light means “stop,” the yellow light means “slow” and the green light means “go.” However, if you hadn’t seen a traffic signal before, it wouldn’t make sense.

In essence, that’s why we as Christians want to educate others about the cross. Without background information, the cross would be just a nice-looking design or something that looks similar to the letter “t.” It wouldn’t be that much different or more special than the other symbols.

However, because I know about the sacrifice that occurred on the Cross (namely the sacrifice of Jesus), I can understand and truly “see” the design of the cross as beautiful. It’s truly beautiful. And it means so much to me.

“On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain. ”

Sources:
The Old Rugged Cross, George Bennard
http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/The_Old_Rugged_Cross/