A Journey to Calvary; His Passion our Deliverance
Lessons learned from the Cross
Am Service April 5th 2009
Luke 23:26-49
Introduction
What is the most common religious symbol in the world? In our part of the world, the most common religious symbol is the cross. You see the cross on churches. You see the cross in jewelry. What does the cross mean to you?
It wasn’t always such a popular symbol. During the days of Jesus, the cross was a symbol of shame and embarrassment, a symbol of warning and terror. The Roman Empire used the cross as a means of execution. A pole would be sunk into the ground, and if you were sentenced to crucifixion, you would be fastened to a crossbar and hung onto that pole. The cross was only reserved for slaves and robbers and assassins and rebels. As a general rule, Roman citizens wouldn’t be executed on a cross, because it was too shameful of a way to die.
To the Jews if you were crucified you were considered cursed by God. Many people get confused by the cross, they don’t understand how if Jesus is who He claimed to be, meaning God in the flesh, how could he allow the shame of the cross to take place, well that is what we will learn today, we will take a fresh look at the crucifixion of Jesus, and see what we can learn from the Cross.
One thing I want to make clear as we get into this message, is that many people wear the cross, we have a cross right here in the church, many people go too far with the cross, you see if you take the cross and worship this symbol then it has become an abomination, it is an idol, I thank God for the cross, but I praise God for the person on the cross. It is not the cross that makes Jesus special – it is Jesus that makes the cross special. If you wear a cross then that is you preference, but when we look at the cross in our church, it should serve as a reminder to us of what Jesus did for us, and again today we will learn five lessons from the cross.
Read Scriptures: Luke 23:26-49
I. The Cross teaches us that, it was a necessary Death
Vs. 34 “Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God”
Hebrews 9:22 “In fact, the law of God requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
Hebrews 9:28a “So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people…”
We get emotional when we think about the cross and the punishment that Jesus endured, and as well we should, but we must understand that without the cross we would all be destined to hell.
It was very much a necessary death, because you and I are sinners from birth, we are all unrighteous, and we need grace and mercy from almighty God because of our sin, and by Jesus’ death on the cross, because of His perfection and righteousness God in His grace has granted us the righteousness of Christ.
It doesn’t come automatic, it must be a conscious decision to follow Christ, there must be a time in your life when you realized you sinful state, and the depravity of your soul, and you knelt before Jesus as Lord and received the forgiveness of you sins, and the salvation of your soul.
It was a necessary death because I could never do enough good on my own to earn the favor of God. Romans 3:10-11 “there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.”
The cross was necessary because it was the only way you and I could ever be right with God. We tend to think that when the crowd was yelling “Crucify Him, Crucify Him”, that we would have defended Jesus, but realizing what the cross provided for us, we should join in the crowd and yell “Crucify Him, Crucify Him”, because it was for our benefit that Jesus was crucified, it was a necessary death.
II. The Cross teaches us that, some will refuse Jesus
Vs. 35-39 “The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
The sign that was hanging over Jesus that read “This is the King of the Jews”, was not meant to bring honor to Jesus, it place there to mock Him, it placed there as a Joke, and to them Jesus was the butt of the Joke.
For the Romans it was a warning to others who would claim any type of ruler ship in Rome that you will receive the same treatment. It reminds us that not everyone will look at the cross and come away with same conclusion.
1 Corinthians 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.”
Some of you here this morning are thinking the very same thing, I don’t need that I am a good person, I’ve never hurt anyone, while that may be true you still need the cross because without it you will perish, because you may have never broken man’s law, as Romans 3:23 tells we have all broken God’s law.
If you have every told a lie before, even as a child then according to God’s law you are a liar, if you have ever taken something that wasn’t yours and you didn’t have permission to take it then according to God’s law you are a thief, if you have ever looked at someone lustfully then according to God’s law you are an adulterer, if you have wished to have something that someone else had and you are willing to go out and get it just for the mere prestige of it, then according to God’s law you are a coveter, if you have ever been so angry at someone that you have had thoughts of killing them, then according to God’s law you are murderer. That is just six of God’s commands there is still four to go.
The point is this many people think they are good enough on there own, and they think that they don’t need the salvation that Jesus gave us on the cross, when in reality they are sinners, and sin will be punished, you either receive the salvation that Jesus provided by paying our sin debt on the cross, or God will punish sin in hell. The choice is yours. The cross teaches us however that even with that knowledge some will refuse Jesus.
III. The Cross teaches us that, all are redeemable
Vs. 40-43 “But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don’t you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."”
One of the most beautiful scenes of the crucifixion account is the scene of the lost thief receiving salvation from Jesus on the cross.
To the Jews this man was unredeemable, to them he had done to much to deserve to live, to them he deserved to die for his crimes, but to Jesus he was a perfect candidate for salvation, because he had come to the end of himself, he realized his sinful condition, and that only Jesus could help him. Notice he didn’t ask Jesus to save him from the pain and agony of the cross, he realized with all that he did in his life he was getting what his crimes deserved according to mans law, but he asked to be able to go into Jesus’ kingdom when his life was over.
Notice he didn’t pray the sinner’s prayer, he didn’t walk and isle, he didn’t get baptized, but what he did get was true genuine salvation because Jesus saw the intentions of his heart.
Listen, it doesn’t matter how far you have gone, it doesn’t matter how long you have been doing it, there is not one person who still alive that Jesus can’t save. Once you die it is too late to come to Christ, you won’t get a second chance, but if you come to Jesus for forgiveness before you die, there is nothing Jesus can’t forgive. The cross teaches us that all are redeemable.
IV. The Cross teaches us that, we have full and open access to God
Vs. 44-45 “It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.”
Before Jesus’ death on the cross, the only person who access to the most holy place in the temple, which was what was behind the curtain, was the priest, and he could only go in once a year and present a burnt offering for sins of the people.
The significance of the veil of the temple tearing in two, signifies to us who come to faith in Jesus is that now because of the righteousness of Christ, because our sins are atoned for we can now enter into the most holy place for ourselves, no longer do we need a human mediator to go to God on our behalf, we have full and open access to God. The cross teaches us that we have full and open access to God.
V. The Cross teaches us that, there is still room for more
Vs. 46-49 “Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”
Imagine this scene, one of the Roman soldiers that more than likely helped to nail Jesus to the cross, standing at the foot of the cross, seeing all of the things unfold, realizes that Jesus is who He claimed to be.
When you read the original Greek writing a proper translation is “Surely this is the righteous one”, Matthew and Mark record his words as being, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
He was making a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ at the foot of the cross. In this crucifixion scene we see two individuals give there life to Jesus Christ, and reminds us that even today there is still room for more.
Conclusion
I love that hymn that we sing “There’s room at the Cross for You”, “Thou many have come there is still room for one, yes there’s room at the cross for you.”
Today we have learned some very important lessons from the cross, we learned that Jesus’ death was necessary because without it we would all be destined for hell, we learned that while it was necessary because we are all sinners, there will still be some who will refuse Christ, I hope that is not you today, we learned that there is no one who is outside the reach of Jesus Christ for salvation, no matter what you’ve done or how long you have been doing it the message is the same, “repent and believe the gospel”, we learned that because of the cross we have now as children of God through Jesus we have full access to God, no longer do we need another human being going to God on our behalf, and finally we learned that at the cross of Christ there is still room for more, so there is no excuse as to why you can’t come.
If the Holy spirit is convicting you to come and repent and believe the gospel, I am asking you to come forward and not be ashamed to receive the Lord Jesus Chirst.
(Thanks sermoncentral contributor, Preacher’s outline and sermon bible)
