Two sides to the cross

It is a very significant fact that neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament do we have a deliberate attempt to formulate a doctrine of sin first in an independent or abstract way and then to show over against that background the grace and love of God in redemption. We must be careful therefore to let the gospel of forgiveness and redemption guide us throughout here. As we plant the cross in the midst of our understanding of human sin and estrangement, we remember that the cross has a light side and a dark side. The light side is the glory of the resurrection and its affirmation of man in Christ, and the dark side is the shadow the cross casts on man's inhumanity. It is in that duality of revelation at the cross that we really see into the depths of sin and guilt.—T. F. Torrance, Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ, 245