Developing Horizons Magazine (2).pdf April 2014 | Page 14

The
Cross

The
Answer
by Jeff Falkowski

A casual consumer of news can easily recognize that we
are facing an epidemic of problems related to substance
addiction. Many solutions have been offered including
massive amounts of resources being appropriated for
the purpose of dealing with the symptoms that prevail
in the wake of brokenness that addiction brings.

the most part different from our modern conception of
slavery (which is beyond the scope of this article), was
common place in the Roman, Greek and Ancient Near
Eastern world. A slave could be freed or redeemed for
a hefty price by a benefactor. In most circumstances it
was nearly impossible for a slave to free himself.

While it is necessary to treat the harm caused by the
abuser to self and others, until the addict begins the
journey towards wholeness, the resources applied will
often need to be reapplied due to the repeated unmitigated damaging lifestyle which, in turn, continues the
cycle of destruction and resource consumption.

The picture of redemption in the Scripture is that
humanity has been enslaved to sin and destruction
through their rebellion against their Creator. The payment for sin is death. Thus, the price for freedom is
beyond what the slave could pay. Yet, though slaves
rightfully find themselves in chains, God chooses in His
mercy to redeem or pay for their sins to free them from
slavery. Jesus, the son of God, died on the Cross, to pay
the “death” price of redemption for those in slavery to
sin (sin is unredeemed humanities’ addiction), which
certainly applies to the substance abuser. In this sense,
the slave now finds peace with God because the debt
owed has now been paid in full. The slave is truly free
and no longer a slave. Thus, the addict exchanges the
curse of slavery for the blessings of spiritual freedom
through the Cross of Christ. The Bible testifies that
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—”...for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’”— so that in Christ Jesus
the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so
that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith
(Galatians 3:13-14 ESV).

What is the solution? The solution is ancient, yet remains the only truly potent remedy to transform the
sufferers of addiction. Simply put, the solution is the
Cross of Christ. Why? First, the Cross is what redeems
the addict. Secondly, the Cross is what gives the addict
critically important new identity and, finally, the Cross
places the addict in transformative community.
At the base of Christian theology is the right view of
humanity which finds itself enslaved to sin, self and
spiritual opposition. Thus, life’s journey is one of slavery whereby the bonds only tighten as one seeks to
become free through various life pursuits. As the old
Bob Dylan song says, “(everybody’s) Gotta Serve Somebody.” People will either serve the Lord, which brings
true freedom or they will serve something else in life
which breeds slavery. The irony for substance abusers
is that while they use drugs for the purpose of freeing
themselves from their slavish circumstances endemic
to daily life, the sad reality is their pursuit of freedom
through drugs only tightens the bonds of oppression to
the point of paralysis.
We learn from Scripture that God is a redeemer. The
concept of redemption is often lost on us in the modern world. Redemption was well understood by the
contemporary society of the Bible. Slavery, though for

Sharmon Weeks

The Cross has