The Power Of The Cross - Number 1 Series

The Power of the Cross - Number 1

Ephesians 2:11-19

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Series: The Book of Ephesians

Grayson Baptist Church - May 27, 2012

(Revised March 21, 2024)

Note: This sermon was prepared for Memorial Day in the United States. Lord willing, I also will submit a very similar sermon for any time of the year.

MESSAGE:

*One of the most famous pictures of World War II is of five brave Marines raising the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima. More than five thousand Marines gave their lives to capture that eight-square-mile island from the Japanese. And today there is a large statue to honor the men who fought and died in that terrible battle. The statue is based on the Iwo Jima picture, and it is just across the Potomac River from Washington D.C.

*The man in the center of the Iwo Jima photo was John Bradley. After the war, Bradley moved back to Antigo, Wisconsin, married his high school sweetheart, and raised a family.

*John Bradley won the Navy Cross for saving a fellow Marine's life, but he preferred not to talk about the war. And he absolutely refused to accept the hero worship that others tried to force on him. When his young son James said something to Dad about being a hero, John Bradley replied, "The heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who didn't come back." Our veterans would say the same thing. (1)

*Tomorrow is Memorial Day in our nation, and it should be much more than a day-off for us. We should remember the over one million men who sacrificed their lives to help make our nation free, and keep us free.

*The freedom we have cost much more than money. Many people gave their all, so that we might be free today. And their sacrifice helps point us to the greatest sacrifice of all: The death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins.

*There is no way that we can exaggerate the importance of the cross to our world. There is no way that we can exaggerate the importance of the cross to us. And as the Apostle Paul speaks to Christians in these verses, God shows us what the cross can do in our lives.

1. FIRST: THE CROSS CAN PUT REAL HOPE IN OUR HEARTS.

*Paul reminds us of this truth in vs. 12-13, where he describes our lives before we trusted in Jesus:

12. . . at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.

*Believers: Without Jesus, we had no hope. And I care enough about you to tell you that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are without hope right now. But Jesus Christ can give you real hope. And Jesus will give you real hope, if you will trust in Him. But what is real hope?

*Pastor James Chandler helps us understand with a story from his early childhood. One Thanksgiving James was asked to say the family prayer at the big meal. And in that prayer he said, "Dear God, I sure hope the Oakland Raiders make it to the Super Bowl!" James remembers that prayer, because he found out real fast that it "wasn’t really appropriate." And James said, "As I grew, I also learned that real hope is not the kind of hope I mentioned in my prayer. Real hope is not a wish, but confidence in a certainty." (2)

*I like that definition: "Real hope is confidence in a certainty." Real hope, godly hope, biblical hope, is joyful confidence in something that is certain. That is the kind of hope Paul is talking about in vs. 12. It's confidence in the certainty of everything we gain when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior: The forgiveness of our sins, a place in the family of God, future perfection, a perfect home forever in Heaven, and much more.

*Jesus will give you this joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. But it came at the highest price for Him, and that is "the blood of Christ" in vs. 13, the blood that Jesus poured out when He died on the cross for our sins. But three days later, Jesus rose again from the dead! And when we receive the Risen Lord as our Savior, we have hope.

2. THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST CAN PUT REAL HOPE IN OUR HEARTS. IT CAN ALSO BREAK DOWN BARRIERS BETWEEN US.

*Paul highlighted this truth in vs. 11-15 where he was talking about Jesus and said: