TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18
TITLE: “THE MEANING OF THE CROSS”
OPEN: A. A university student was seen wearing a T-shirt with a large “K” printed on it. Someone asked
him what the “K” stood for and he replied, “Confused.”
The person who asked the question said, “You don’t spell ‘confused’ with a ‘K’.” The college
student said, “You just don’t understand how confused I really am!”
1. Some of us should be walking around with a big “K” on our chests
--We sometimes get confused about some of the teachings of the Bible
2. The apostle Peter wrote that Paul’s writings were sometimes confusing to him
--2 Pet. 3:16 – “His letters contain some things that are hard to understand...”
3. If the apostle Peter had trouble understanding some things in the Bible, where does that leave all
of us?
--Understand that you’re not alone if there’s something in the Bible you don’t understand
B. However, there is on teaching of the Bible that I think all of us should be clear about
--that teaching is “the meaning of the cross”
1. Oswald Chambers - “All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it,
while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning. “
2. If we’re going to place our trust in Jesus Christ, we cannot be confused about the meaning of the
cross
3. As we grow in grace and maturity in our faith, we should be able to understand and articulate the
spiritual implications of what took place on Golgotha’s hill 2,000 years ago
4. 1 Cor. 1:18 – “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God.”
a. Notice that there are two types of people in the world:
1). Those who are spiritually lost
2). Those who are being saved
b. The difference between the two types of people?
--all boils down to their understanding the meaning of the cross
a. Those who are perishing see it as foolishness
b. Those who are being saved see it as the power of God
5. On the cross, Jesus was accomplishing the work of salvation
--He was earning salvation for us
a. The cross is the centerpiece of our faith
b. It explains why our sins are forgiven and why we have hope in this life and the life to come
c. The more we grow in our faith, the more we should see the cross as an anchor for our faith
C. The format of this message is very simple
1. We’re going to look at four simple words straight from the pages of the Bible that describe
what Jesus’ death on the cross means
2. These four words paint picture that are crucial to our understanding on how Jesus’ death made
salvation possible to those who would submit to Him as Savior and Lord
I. The first word that explains the meaning of the cross: SUBSTITUTION
A. A substitute is someone who takes the place of another
1. When a football player is injured, the coach must replace him with a suitable substitute
2. Often, the substitute is much better than the injured player because he has fresh legs and can do things
the injured player cannot do in his weakened condition
B. In a similar manner, God saw us injured by sin
1. We couldn’t perform in our weakened, sinful state so God sent Jesus into the world to take our place
and free us from our sinful condition
2. Rom. 8:3 – “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God
did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.”
C. God sent His Son as a substitute for us
1. We weren’t making the grade spiritually and we were sentenced to die for our sins, but Jesus came to
die in our place
2. Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities tells the story of Charles Darnay, a young Frenchman
condemned to die in the guillotine. But when Sidney Carton, his friend, heard about Darnay’s
sentence, he was determined to find a way to save him.
Carton gained admission to the dungeon the night before Darnay was to be executed. He swapped
clothes with Darnay and the next day Carton was led out to be executed as Charles Darnay. Darnay
escaped the dungeon dressed as Sidney Carton. One man escaped; the other was executed.
--one man exchanged his life for the other
3. Jesus came into the dungeon of this world and put on our fleshly garments
a. He went out to be executed for us
b. We were sentenced to die, but Jesus said, “I’ll change places with you.”
c. Rom. 5:6-8 – “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the
ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might
possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.”
D. I think it’s important for us to understand two conditions that Jesus had to meet before He could become
our substitute
1. The first condition: He had to be fully human
a. He had to be like us to die for us
--Only someone who is human could die in the place of another human
b. It was the reason, the whole point, of Jesus coming to earth as a man
--Heb. 2:14-15 – “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that
by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free
those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
2. The second condition: He also had to be perfect
--He had to live a sinless life
a. The Old Testament demanded that the lambs used for sacrifice be without blemish
b. Jesus was without sin – spotless
--Heb. 4:15b – “...we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without
sin.”
c. When He died for our sins, His sinless life was substituted for our sinful one
1). 2 Cor. 5:21 – “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.”
2). Jesus’ purity was transferred to us
--When we give our lives to Him, we become perfect through His sinless life and atoning death
II. The second word that explains the meaning of the cross: PROPITIATION
A. Propitiation is a ten-dollar word that means “an appeasement that turns away wrath or anger”
1. In many ancient pagan religions, it was a popular thing to offer propitiation
2. You’ve probably seen something like this in a movie
a. For instance, if the local volcano was about to erupt, the tribal priest or chieftain would simply take
a young woman to the top of the volcano and toss her in as an appeasement to what they thought
was the volcano god
b. What they were saying to this perceived god of the volcano is: “Take your anger out on this
woman instead of taking it out on the whole village.”
c. The attempt was to divert the so-called volcano god’s anger and keep the volcano from erupting
--of course, there is no such thing as “a volcano god”
B. Most men in our society know how to use propitiation
1. Guys, when you do something stupid and your wife gets mad at you, you immediately go shopping to
search for propitiation
2. If she’s not too mad, flowers will serve as an appropriate propitiation
3. But if you’re really in the doghouse, the propitiation is going to be expensive perfume or jewelry
a. You offer those gifts up to her as a way of appeasing her anger
b. You’re hoping that she will accept your offering and not exercise her right to be angry
C. God has a right to be angry with us because of our sin
1. He is a just and holy God and that requires that His wrath be poured out upon sin
--His nature demands it
2. Rom. 1:18 – “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and
wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”
D. Here is what Jesus did
--He offered up His life as propitiation to keep God’s wrath away from us
1. He literally said to the Father, “Please don’t pour out your wrath and anger on them. Let me take their
punishment.”
2. Someone had to receive the punishment
--so Jesus took the brunt of God’s punishment for sin
a. Is. 53:5 – “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
b. 1 Jn. 2:2 – “He [Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice [literally “propitiation”] for our sins, and not only for
ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
III. The third word that explains the meaning of the cross: REDEMPTION
A. “Redeem” means to buy something back that you once possessed
1. In biblical times it was used to describe a slave who was freed from slavery
a. The slave would have a certain debt called a “ransom” that they owed their master
b. If a friend or family member could pay the debt that the slave owed, he would be set free
1). He’d be redeemed
2). His ransom would be paid
3). He could walk as a free man
B. Redemption is was what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross
1. God set death as the debt or ransom to release us from the bondage of sin
--Rom. 6:23 – “...the wages of sin is death...”
2. None of us could afford to pay that ransom
--as we discussed earlier, we weren’t spiritually wealthy enough to make the payment
3. So Jesus came and paid the debt we owed to God to redeem us from death
--His sinless life provided the perfect sacrifice without spot or blemish
4. His death on the cross paid the ransom to buy us back from sin and death
a. 1 Tim. 2:5-6a – “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men...”
b. One man’s son died fighting the Taliban in Eastern Afghanistan. When asked how he felt about
his son’s death, the man said with tears in his eyes, “If we are going to enjoy our liberty in this
country, I guess I have to be willing to let go of my son so that all of us can be free.”
1). That’s what God did
--He was willing to let go of His own Son to secure our freedom
2). Jesus paid the debt to set us free
C. When Jesus was on the cross, we know that some of His last words were “it is finished”
1. In the original language, the phrase “it is finished” is just one word: tetelestai
a. Tetelestai was a word used by business owners in the first century that literally meant: “the debt
is paid in full”
b. When Jesus was on the cross, He was saying to the Father, “I have paid the debt for sin in full”
2. The hymn says it this way: “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain, He
washed it white as snow.”
3. 1 Pet. 1:18-19 – “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you
were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
IV. The fourth word that explains the meaning of the cross: GRACE
A. Grace is the undeserved favor of God
1. We don’t deserve to have Jesus, the perfect son of God die in our place
--What we do deserve for our sin is eternal punishment
2. Instead because of God’s grace, we receive mercy
a. Mercy is getting what we do not deserve
b. Rom.6:23 –“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”
3. Bless His holy name, Jesus was not about to let us take the punishment for our sin
--He loved us so much that He came into this world to offer us grace and through grace mercy
B. The cross demonstrates to us what kind of God we have
1. He’s a grace-filled God who wanted to see no one suffer eternal punishment
--so, He sent His Son into the world to die
2. He said, “Let my only Son take what’s coming to you”
3. More than that, He said, “Because Jesus has paid the price, you no longer have to face eternal
punishment in hell but can share in eternal life in heaven.”
--that’s better than having a million dollar life insurance policy where the premiums are paid by the
agent
a. Peter Drucker: “Once I understood it, I knew I was never going to get a better deal than grace.”
b. I remember counseling a young man some years back that had lived a wild life without God.
But he came to church one day and God had been getting his attention. After the service, the young
man talked to me for quite awhile.
After I explained the Gospel to him more fully, he said, “But preacher, I’m not good enough. I
don’t deserve forgiveness for some of the things I’ve done.” I replied, “That’s right, you’re not
good enough. You don’t deserve it. But then again, neither do I or anyone else but that’s grace.”
I wish I could say that he came to the Lord and was baptized on the spot but he walked away
from that conversation and I never saw him again. I’ve always wondered what happened to him.
C. Every sermon needs to answer the question: “So what?”
--Everyone wants to know what the means for their life so here’s the answer to the “so what?” question:
1. Some people believe that they can just be good parents and good citizens and give money to charities
and that makes them acceptable in God’s sight
2. Some people believe that if they’re parents or even grandparents were Christians that makes them
acceptable in God’s sight
3. Some people believe that going to church and putting money in the offering plate and maybe even
serving in some capacity around the church makes them acceptable in God’s sight
4. But the reality of the matter is that none of those things make us acceptable in God’s sight
a. Eph. 2:8-9 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
b. A little later in Eph. 2:13 – “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been
brought near through the blood of Christ.”
c. Our only hope is our acceptance of God’s grace made possible by Christ’s death on the cross
--That acceptance is only made by faith (believes and acts)
CLOSE: A. Col. 1:19-20 – “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to
reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.”
B. John Fischer, On a Hill Too Far Away: tells about a church in Old Greenwich, CT which has a
ten-foot cross located not on a wall or suspended from the ceiling or even on the steeple of the
building. This cross is bolted firmly in front of the platform not three feet from where the
preacher preaches.
Fischer also talks about this cross in an on-line devotional: “When you stand up behind the
podium to speak, the horizontal crossbar is three feet in front of your nose. When I closed my eyes
to sleep on the night I spoke there, the cross was somehow stamped on my eyelids, much like you
feel a hat on your head, long after you have removed it.”
1. You can’t do anything in that church that doesn’t involve that cross in some way
2. You can’t look at anything else in that church without seeing the cross
3. I would imagine that you would have a hard time concentrating on anything except the cross
C. I think one of the great problems in the church is that we have focused on things other than the
cross
1. Musical styles, the color of paint and carpet, struggles over political interests, and many other
sinful and distractive arguments are fought over like holy wars
2. Yet, Christ says, “I gave my life for you. I expect you to lay down your life for me.”
3. If we had more Christians who were cross-eyed instead of boss-eyed (where the eyes look
down the nose), we’d get back on mission and reach a lost and dying world
D. In a similar way to that church in Old Greenwich, CT, the cross stands at the middle of everything
--God has intentionally placed it there
1. You can try to ignore it
2. You can try to go around it
3. You can even try to think about other things
4. But the one thing God wants you to understand is that the cross is crucial to living and
abundant life here on earth and living eternally in heaven
a. Do you understand the message of the cross?
b. What are you going to do about it?
