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What is the symbol of our faith? Many were suggested:
Dove? Holy Spirit?
Rainbow? Sign of the Covenant?
Loaves and Fishes?
The one that was accepted was the ___Cross____.
Nobody is shocked today – they’re almost inoculated to the idea of a cross, because it’s become such a symbol of hope and victory in our culture…
But in the first century, it’s difficult to imagine how this happened!
What would you think if people gathered around a picture of an executed man, whose head was shaved for the electric chair, who had burn marks from the huge current that his body took… and said, “How beautiful!”
What???!
POWERPOINT> Put an electric chair on the platform of your church, and see how difficult it is to get your church going.
How did THIS become the symbol of Christianity?!
How did we get to a point where Paul, a highly educated man, and a forceful personality, said this:
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
1 Corinthians 2:1-2
How could he get to that place?
Historical background:
Cicero said that decent Roman citizens should not even speak of the Cross.
Why? Let me explain:
DESCRIPTION OF CRUCIFIXION.
Literally, death by suffocation. Nails fastened through the wrists (considered part of the hand in the ancient culture) would stretch out a person’s rib cage and make them unable to breathe deeply.
Nails fastened through the feet would make you able to push up and breathe for a few gasping breaths until the pain and blood loss and exhaustion foced you to collapse again into the shoulders.
The agony of not being able to breathe was only matched by the agony of the nails and the out of joint shoulders.
Romans would not even crucify their own citizens. Only those who were foreigners or treasonous.
“Excruciating” literally means “from the cross.”
6,000 people in one day – Spartacus’ followers – 120 miles of crucifixion. Imagine driving from here to past Tulsa… and hearing the screams, seeing the people baking in the sun.
It was done in public… imagine if our government did it in the parking lot of WalMart, or at Quail Springs Mall.
Don’t pass quickly by the Cross. “Jesus died on the cross for all your sins.” True. But you don’t have any idea what this means.
Madonna laid on a cross on her “Confessions” tour.
50 Cent wears a cross while performing.
They have no clue. There was nothing fashionable about the cross.
This was not originally something to wear in gold or silver.
I’m here today to bring back the “offense of the Cross.”
1. The Cross was the greatest __disgrace possible____.
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Scourging was so painful and damaging to the body, that some men would die with just that… never make it to their cross.
Explain the cat of 9 tails.
You can understand why he fell while carrying the cross.
Why did Jesus die?
Two possible options:
Because he was a ____fool______.
If he’s not God, then he’s not a decent man and a good moral teacher, he’s a jackass that fools worship.
That’s the world’s answer.
There’s another option. It’s found in the Bible.
He was dying ________FOR your sin__________.
“The wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23
He was delivered over to death for our sins…. Romans 4:25
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures… 1 Corinthians 15:3
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3:18
He is the [propitiation] atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2
There is no Gospel without Jesus dying FOR you.
Lived the life we could not live.
Died the death we should have died.
Paid the price we could not pay.
2. The Cross was the greatest ___mercy possible_____.
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
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.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Why was the Cross such an act of mercy?
• It bought our _______Justification__________.
How would you feel if the judge had heard all the evidence against Timothy McVeigh, and then said, “I find you not guilty.” What kind of outrage?
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Justification means to “declare ____not guilty____.”
There are two ways to try to justify yourself:
____Religion______.
If you do the right things, God will love you and pronounce your righteous when you stand before him.
Religion leads to either pride or despair on earth.
Pride – I did enough.
Despair – I didn’t do enough.
And religion leads to hell in eternity.
Vague ____spirituality_________.
I don’t do a long list of things, but I think what I’m doing now is not that bad.
This leads to apathy, a “don’t-care” attitude toward the things of God, and leads to spiritual pride… I’m as good as anyone else. Yes, and they are going to hell. You’re just as good as them, and they’re not good.
It leads to hell.
The problem with both of these:
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. Isaiah 64:6
Literally, filthy rags…
The word means “used menstrual cloths.” The most literal translation today (this is not polite, ok?) -- Bloody tampons…
If you’re shocked that I said that, then NOW you feel what they felt in reading this verse!
This is what God thinks of the best you’ve ever done… your religious duties, your vague spirituality, he doesn’t accept it as payment for sin.
He only accepts a perfect sacrifice… the sacrifice of His Son.
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• It bought our ______propitiation____________.
This means the ____satisfaction_ of God’s righteous and holy ___anger___.
Take all the ways that God speaks of God’s love and compile them…
Take all the ways God speaks of his anger…
I have to tell you this, I am your pastor, and the Bible says I will give you an account.
The active wrath of God: God zaps you, throws you into hell.
The passive wrath of God: God turns you over temporarily to do whatever you want, and waits to judge you because He is also a God of love.
I have to share this truth, because most people today DO NOT SEE GOD as a God of real, genuine anger toward sin. So, to help you understand that, we we need to read this next passage from Romans 2:
Romans 2:4 “…do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 God "will give to each person according to what he has done."
7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
Those who are unrepentant of sin are “storing up for themselves judgment.”
Here in Oklahoma, where tornadoes are huge and common, we have warning systems, and we have storm shelters.
Jesus is your storm shelter.
Only in Jesus is there shelter from this coming storm of judgment!
If you think this sounds like one of the old & cruel gods of ancient, superstition religions, there is a key difference.
The difference between God’s anger and the gods of the other religions of the world, and other ancient religions.
Other gods demand a sacrifice.
God the Father sends a sacrifice.
Other gods demand bloodshed.
God the Son comes and sheds his own blood.
Other gods demand from us.
The Father does something FOR us.
What a great mercy!
The Cross was the greatest ____victory____ possible.
He who practices what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:8-9
Jesus death on the cross destroyed Satan’s claim on your life.
Satan had a claim, a sin-debt that you owe him, and he will come to claim it at the last judgment, and take all those with him who have been rebels, just as he rebelled.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the Devil.
The drunk covered with his own vomit…
The porn addict with his guilty conscience and defiled mind…
The prideful person with their
The liar with their dishonest nature…
The adulterer who has been sinful with their body…
The adulterer who has
The murderer who has hated their brother…
The unkind person who has cut and slashed with their words…
The abusive person who has intimidated others and manipulated them…
The disrespectful, nagging wife…
The unloving, harsh husband…
The thief who steals things large or small…
The one who would never actually do these things, but would rejoice in others who do them on screen…
Jesus DIED SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THAT ANY MORE!
When you were dead in your transgressions … He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Colossians 2:13-15
But Jesus said, on the cross:
“IT IS FINISHED.”
Everything necessary for your salvation is accomplished, except for your repentance and faith.
The question is whether you will repent and trust Jesus.
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Handout
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What is the symbol of our faith? Many were suggested: The one that was accepted was the _________________________.
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
1 Corinthians 2:1-2
How did this become our most powerful symbol?!
1. The Cross was the greatest _____________________.
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Why did Jesus die? Two possible options:
Because he was a __________________.
He was dying _______________________________________.
“The wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23
He was delivered over to death for our sins…. Romans 4:25
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures… 1 Corinthians 15:3
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3:18
He is the [propitiation] atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2
2. The Cross was the greatest _____________________.
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
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.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Why was the Cross such an act of mercy?
• It bought our ______________________________.
Justification means to “declare ______________________________.”
• It bought our ________________________________.
This means the _________________________ of God’s righteous and holy ______________________.
Romans 2:4 “…do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 God "will give to each person according to what he has done."
7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
3. The Cross was the greatest _____________ possible.
He who practices what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 1 John 3:8-9
When you were dead in your transgressions … He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Colossians 2:13-15
Jesus said, on the cross: “IT IS FINISHED.”
Everything necessary for your salvation is _________________________, except for your _____________________ and _________________.
