At The Cross

At the Cross

1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:1-4 (KJV)

Could we do something unusually this morning? Let us bow our heads and I want us to place our hands on over our hearts this morning, simply lay hands on yourself and let us pray this prayer together…

Heavenly Father, Reveal yourself to us this morning, reveal your will in our lives, and change in us those things that need changed for our good and your Glory, open your word to us today…Amen.

You may be seated, but don’t get comfortable because I think God is just about to break this thing open this morning. Amen?

Today we are going to talk about the most basic of topics…the Cross of Christ. I want you to understand this morning that when I say the Cross, I am not talking about the physical expression of wood beams and nails, for many thousands of people have been crucified as a way of death since the beginning of time.

As a matter of fact, the actual cross of Christ was probably used to execute people long before Christ ever hung on it and it probably was used as a means of end for more people after Christ was crucified on it. We do not worship the physical cross, we worship the One , God’s Son, who died upon it to give us freedom from our sins. Are we on this same page this morning?

Sometimes I think I am guilty, as well as multitudes of other preachers like me, of getting to far away from the Cross in my sermons. I think sometimes we try to go so deep, be so intellectual in our study of the Word that we can forget, or become callous to the basic thought that Jesus died upon the Cross to give me eternal life, to save me from everlasting Hell, and to give me victory in all of my battles.

The more I study, the deeper I look, the obvious fact of the matter becomes even more apparent…This book, this church, my life, your life, it all starts from and leads back to what Jesus accomplished on the Cross.

I am in a position that comes with a title. I have been called Mr. I have been called Rev. I have been called Pastor, and even made it through the process to be called a bishop, but I want you to understand this one thing…If you cannot call me saved, my God help me this morning, if you cannot call me a disciple of Christ, washed in the blood, filled with the Spirit, then I am nothing. Hallelujah! If I don’t realize and take part in what happened at the Cross, I am nothing.

What did I gain at the Cross of Christ…

Forgiveness

Regeneration

Sanctification

Holiness

Spirit Baptism

Anointing

Peace

Healing

Reconcilliation

Victory

Provision

Prosperity or Favor

Power…

I have gained new life, I have gained a new family, I have a new way of living, I have a new life divine.

For centuries men have tried to reason out and figure out and talk it out, who is this man we call Jesus is. There are currently in the national database of published works over 60,000 books, aside from the Bible, that have been written about Jesus Christ.

Peter says that when we figure out who He is; we will receive grace and peace. You know how he knew that: experience. Peter knew Jesus the man, Peter loved Jesus the man, Peter walked with him and talked with him and saw him do the miraculous, but it wasn’t until Peter meet Jesus the Resurrected Savior, that he truly knew who Jesus was.

Peter is saying to us in our opening text this morning…

I knew who He was…but I didn’t really know what he could do. The peace, the forgiveness, the restoration, that He could bring…until I was in a position that demanded forgiveness.

Before Peter denied Christ he knew Jesus the man, after his restoration, Peter knew Jesus the righteous king.

Every believer as some time in their spiritual experience needs to have that moment in which they realize that Jesus is more than just a velvet painting in grandma’s living room that He is more than just a person they talk about in church. Every believer must come to the realize that Jesus was more than just mere flesh and blood but that He was a King, a righteous King, The King of Glory.