Magnify The Cross Of Jesus Christ! Series

*Jesus went through all of this insult and injury for us, but worst of all was the immeasurable guilt He took for the sins of the whole world. The Lord's suffering and death on the cross is the greatest proof of God's love for us.

*Stop and think about what Jesus really did for us on the cross. Over the years I have counseled many couples before they got married. One of my favorite memories comes from a meeting with an older couple. We were just talking about odds and ends, when out of the blue I asked him, "Do you love her?" Without missing a beat, he answered, "I love her so much that I would take a bullet for her." And I know that's an unusual way to put it, but what a great expression of love!

*If someone shot at you and I jumped in the way, and took a bullet for you, that would be a wonderful thing. But Jesus Christ did so much more for us! He didn't just take our physical death. We faced everlasting torment and destruction in hell! It was coming straight for us, and there was nothing we could do to get out of the way.

*But Jesus stepped in front. He took all of the suffering that belonged to us, so that we wouldn't have to. Jesus took our death, so that we could have God's gift of eternal life, by placing our trust in Him. That's why Paul said these wonderful words to believers in Romans 5:6-10.

6. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

8. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

10. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

4. MAGNIFY THE CROSS TODAY, BECAUSE IT IS THE GREATEST PROOF OF GOD'S LOVE, AND BECAUSE IT IS THE SOURCE OF OUR GREATEST PEACE.

*Here in Matthew 20:18-19 Jesus said, "The Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.''

*Mark 10:32 tells us that as the disciples followed Jesus up that road to Jerusalem, they were amazed and afraid." Why? Because at that point, they simply could not understand the purpose of the cross and the power of the Lord's resurrection. But all of that began to change after the first Easter.

*So, Maxie Dunnam said, "The proof of the resurrection is not (just) the empty tomb. It is the incredible transformation in the lives of the disciples. They remained ordinary men after the resurrection, but they began to live extraordinary lives. Something had happened to them. . ." Now they were living on the resurrection side of the cross! (6)

*Mark Trotter explained, "There was a line right down the middle of their lives: Before and after. Before the Resurrection they despaired about this life. They were sure that death and not life was in control of things. But after the Resurrection, no matter what happened to them, they were convinced that love is the strongest power in this world. They were convinced that death is not the victor." (7)