Pictures of the Cross
Part 2
Introduction:
1. In Sequoia National Park in California, There is a big tree called the General Sherman.
2. We learned last week, the tree of the cross of Calvary dwarfs the General Sherman
"And, having made peace for us by the blood of his cross, he brought all things again into a right relationship with him whether in heaven or in earth. " (Colossians 1:20, KJV)
Text: "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
(Galatians 6:14, NKJV)
Why, the Cross? And not some other form of death?
A. The cross would give sufficient time for Christ to feel the weight of sin, and the disgrace, and the abandonment, we all have felt
a. Any other form of capitol punishment, beheading, hanging, stoning, would be over way to soon.
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15, ESV)
b. My God, my God, was the cry of a man that felt extremely alone… never before ever, has Christ felt this...
Have you ever felt abandon by God? Felt like he didn’t care? Felt like you were all alone?
Take heart, Jesus felt the same thing.
He didn’t just see you in yours sins, he didn’t just wash you from your sins, he identified with them and in identifying with them, he took them to himself
"Christ was without sin, but for our sake God had him share our sin in order that with him we might share the righteousness of God."
(2 Corinthians 5:21, GNB)
B. Suspended between two worlds, heaven and earth, he alone could reach both.
1. As God, he was from heaven,
as man, he was of the earth
a. He was like the pathfinder movie. Tell of the great warrior that was of Viking and Indian decent. He was neither, yet he was both.
2. He alone could bridge the gap between God and man
a. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is
none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12, KJV)
3. He alone, could meet the both God and man on equal ground
a. The cry of Job’s heart was their was no one as a go-between him and God
"If God were human, I could answer him; we could go to court to decide our quarrel. But there is no one to step between us— no one to judge between God and me." (Job 9:32-33, GNB)
b. "For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and human beings together, the man Christ Jesus," (1 Timothy 2:5, GNB)
C. The outstretched arms on the cross was a symbolic call to whosoever will may come.
1. In be-heading, his hands would have been tied together, on the cross they were spread wide
2. The two thieves on the cross brings this out so vividly
The one excepted, the other rejected
3. The cross is indeed, the great divide between men, one accepts, one rejects
Closing…
So what does the teaching about the cross mean to me this week?
1. He went through the cross to get to me, and what am I doing to get to him?
2. Next week I want to have a cross here that we can nail our sins to, those that just keep tripping us up.
