BOAST IN THE CROSS
Gal. 6:14
Dorn Ridge May 4, 2008
Notes revised for Sermon Central May 23, 2013
INTRODUCTION:
1.) What are you most proud of? Is it your children, your sports ability, your mind?
2.) Paul turns our attention to what we should glory in above all else,
The Cross of Jesus Christ.
3.) If we were to define Christianity by a symbol we would have to choose the Cross of Christ.
I. AN HISTORICAL FACT IS ANNOUNCED: THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
1.) The truth is that God so loved the world that He gave his One and only Son to die for our sins.
A.) The very basis of Christianity and of the hope we have is that Jesus went to the cross and that he died for you and me.
B.) This is the message of the ages, and the answer to the questions of life.
2.) The reality and acceptance of the cross of Christ is the central truth upon which God has provided salvation through Christ.
A.) From the very beginning many have had trouble accepting the cross.
B.) I Cor. 1:18,23-25
C.) Realizing the importance of the cross, the Apostle Paul said: "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ca.) To the Jews it was "a stumbling block". It was a symbol of weakness, humiliation and defeat.
caa.) The Jews could not accept a Christ who would suffer and die on a cross.
cab.) The other side of the picture of the Christ was very acceptable. The view that the Messiah or Christ could be a king was desirable.
cac.) But for Jesus as the Christ to suffer and die on a cross, was something the Jewish people could not accept.
cad.) Jesus did not fit the image they had of the Messiah. So instead of their Messiah, He became a stumbling stone, and a rock of offence to the Jews.
cb.) The Greeks also had a problem with the Cross. It offended their sense of reason.
cba.) In their minds no sane person would believe that kind of a tale.
cbb.)The Greeks were the Philosophers, and the minds that were considered the intellectually brilliant.
cbc.) Yet these the intellectual, wise minds of the day rejected God’s Messiah.
cbc-1.) They considered it foolishness that a man could die, and be raised to life again.
cbc-2.)Because of this frame of mind, the Greeks like the Jews for the most part rejected Jesus as the Christ.
D.) Yet the apostle Paul affirmed that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man.
da.) Though Jesus was (and still is) rejected by the majority, to those who accepted his message and believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.
db.) There is no greater source of pride we can have than in the Cross, and more than the cross, in the Christ who died on that cross.
3.) The death of Jesus upon the Cross was not an accident.
A.) It wasn’t the greatest tragedy of all time, nor was it something to be imitated. It is the means of our salvation.
B.) It’s the only way by which you and I can be saved from God’s righteous judgement.
ba.) The cross was in the mind and plan of God before the foundation of the world or man was even in place.
bb.) Before sin had ever entered into this world, God had already determined he would himself pay the penalty of our sin through the blood of His son, Jesus Christ.
bc.) Long before the Garden of Eden, and the sin that occurred there, God had determined he would pay the price of our sins, so that we could have eternal fellowship with Him.
4.) Paul made the Cross and what Christ did on that cross both the focus and power of his preaching.
A.) I Cor. 2:1-5
II. A SPRITUAL EXPERIENCE IS AFFIRMED: THE WORLD HAS BEEN CRUCIFIED TO US, AND WE TO THE WORLD.
-- Gal. 2:20
1.) What really counts and matters in this world and in the world to come is the new life we have through the Grace of God.
A.) The new life we have in Jesus Christ we did not receive through our works, or goodness, but through the grace of God so generously given to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
2.) The cross may look like defeat, but it is victory!
A.) Victory over sin, victory over the law, victory over the grave.
III. A PERSONAL ATTITUDE IS ASSUMED: GOD FORBID THAT WE SHOULD BOAST IN ANYTHING BUT THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
1.) Boasting in anything or anyone else leads us into error.
A.) Before coming to Christ, Paul had been full of himself.
B.) Paul would have boasted of his heritage, his family tree, of being a Pharisee, and of studying under Gamaliel.
ba.) There were many things Paul could boast about spiritually -- until he met Christ.
bb.) Once he had that one on one encounter with Jesus Christ, he realized the best he could offer was still gravely inadequate for the debt of sin he had built up.
2.) Paul is contrasting the boasting of the Judaizers in their own work – the work of the flesh, with his only boast – the Cross of Christ.
A.) Paul doesn’t boast in his own heritage or accomplishments.
aa.) He doesn’t boast in his success as an evangelist. He doesn’t boast in his status as an apostle in the church. No, he boasts only in the cross of Jesus Christ.
3.) For the Apostle Paul, and for each of us, the cross should not be something to be ashamed of but to glory in, as the Cross of Jesus Christ is the means God has used to bring his grace to this world.
A.) Rom. 1:16
4.) To glory in the cross and boast in it is not popular.
A.) The cross humbles man.
B.) The cross says that we are not good enough, and that we cannot earn our salvation
C.) The cross says that man is under the curse of God because of sin . It says we must humble ourselves to allow God to forgive us of our sins in a manner that points out our sin, and our need of His grace.
ca.) You see, all through the Bible, the cure for sin and its penalty is with God and not with man.
cb.) To receive the Grace of God and his forgiveness, we must be made fully aware of how wicked and far we are from God; we also need to see how exceedingly great is his mercy, love, and grace.
cc.) God could have easily chosen something else for our salvation, but he chose the cross because it does not hide, nor excuse sin, but points it out fully as Jesus claims our sin in his own body, and is nailed to the cross.
cc-1.) When King David committed the dreadful act of adultery, God did not excuse it, but made it known.
cc-2.) When Abraham lied about his wife and took the risk of another man violating her sexually, God did not excuse his actions. cc-3.) When the Apostle Peter gave in to the Judaiazers and shunned the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul publicly rebuked him for his sin.
cc-4.) When the trumpet of the Lord will sound and you and I stand before the throne of God., the Bible tells us that all the world will know of the sinful actions and thoughts, and secrets of the hearts of each and every one of us.
cc-4i.) These are words that are not comfortable with any of us.
cc4ii.) To be honest, everyone of us would prefer that the hidden things of our lives remain permanently hidden and buried from all. If it was possible we would prefer to even have it hidden from the eyes of God, though we know that is impossible.
D.) The reality is that God wants each one of us, as well as every one else to see how incredibly wicked we all are.
da.) It is imperative for us to understand and know the full extent of our wickedness so that we can appreciate the greatness and the Amazing Grace and forgiving love of God Almighty.
db.) It is when we can see and fully realize how sinful we are, and how Great God’s love and grace are, that we can truly appreciate the greatness of forgiveness that God has given to us.
dc.)Nothing but the cross could ever bridge the gap between the holiness of God, and the sinfulness of man. The cross is where God’s love, and His justice and holiness are brought together in one single dedicated act of love and surrender.
dd.) It is this knowledge that brings us in the highest of praise for God throughout all of eternity.
CONCLUSION:
There is really only one thing that really matters in this life. One event which divided the History of the world. One payment which covers the cost of sin: It is the cross of Jesus Christ:
There is nothing more powerful, nor greater that we can boast in. For nothing but the cross, and Jesus Christ brought about our forgiveness of sin.
May we leave here today boasting not in ourselves but in Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice paid on that cross.
