Pictures of the Cross
Part 3
Review:
Last week we learned, three reasons why the cross was the means of death.
1. The cross would give sufficient time for Christ to feel the weight of sin, and the disgrace, and the abandonment, we all have felt
2. Suspended between two worlds, heaven and earth, he alone could reach both.
3. The outstretched arms on the cross was a symbolic call to whosoever will may come.
4. This week we will look at how to unlock the power of the cross
Title: Accessing the Power of the cross
A. When is meant when we speak of the power of the cross?
1. Are we implying the wood has a special power imbedded in it?
Is it like the old Jeanie bottle, you rub it and out comes a Jeanie?
2. Paul says in our text verse, "God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…, “ (Galatians 6:14, NKJV)
Was he saying that he would make his boast in the piece of wood upon which Jesus was slain?
3. When we speak of the cross, we speak of the death that took place and the resurrection of Christ three days later.
B. Accessing the power of the cross
1. The power of cross (Calvary) can only be realized when we come to him in repentance
a. Repentance is a weak word in our day
2. "God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways and repent." (Acts 17:30, GNB)
B. The Spirit of God gives us access to the full power of the cross
1. Who or what raised Christ from the dead?
The Spirit of God - note the point below.
2. "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you." (Romans 8:11, ESV)
a. It was in the dark of the early Sunday morning that the Spirit of God blew into the cave where the body of Jesus lay and death had to leave, because the power of life had arrived.
3. "Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children."
(Romans 8:14, GNB)
Those the Spirit leads, he empowers…
