THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS CHRIST
*******************************
OUTLINE
1.SALVATION
2.SUBMISSION
3.SOVEREIGNITY
4.SACRIFICE
5.SUFFERING
6.SILENCE
7.STEPPING STONE
THE MESSAGE
THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS CHRIST
*******************************
1.SALVATION
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ shows clearly the will of God concerning mankind. God wants to save us not destroy us. God does not want anyone to perish but have everlasting life.It is man’s disobedience and unbelief that causes him to perish in eternal damnation.Also if God was willing to sacrifice his Son for us how much more He would rescue us from all situations that we get entangled in. The disciples once were caught in a storm while travelling in a boat with jesus.They feared they were going to perish. But Jesus saved them by calming the storm and rebuked the disciples for their unbelief. The cross of Jesus Christ makes it very clear that God does not want us to perish.Salvation is God’s will for us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
John 3:16-17
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Mark 4:35-41
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?"
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
2.SUBMISSION
The cross of Jesus Christ is an example of submission to the will of God. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed ’ not my will but thy will be done’. He submitted to the will of God even if it caused so much pain to Him. It is opposite to the spirit of rebellion that caused Lucifer to desire to be equal to God and not be submitted in the position that God had given him. The cross challenges us to submit to the will of God and not entertain unholy ambitions for ourselves like lucifer. Whenever we choose to do the will of God instead of doing our own will , we are carrying our cross and following the footsteps of Christ.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
Luke 22:42
"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
Luke 14:27
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Jude 1:6
And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
3.SOVEREIGNITY
The cross of Jesus christ shows the soveriegnity of God in our lives. Jesus told Pilate ’you have no power over me except what is given from above’ .He knew that nothing would happen in his life unless God allows it because His life was totally submitted to God.Jesus did not consider his destiny to be in the hands of men. He was aware of all the evil intentions of the chief priests , sadducees, pharisees and others .But He knew that God was in control. No man can decide his destiny against the will of God.Even in the life of Joseph he told his brothers ’you thought evil against me but God turned it to good’ , ’it was not you who sent me to Egypt but God’.The cross of Jesus Christ shows that God is in control of our lives when we are surrendered to His will. Therefore we need not fear man or the devil when we have given our lives into the hands of God.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
John 19:10-11 ,
"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."
Acts 4:24-28
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: " ’Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Genesis 50:20
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
4.SACRIFICE
The cross of Jesus Christ shows the sacrificial and selfless attitude of Jesus Christ. All his sufferings were for the benefit of others and not for his own selfish interests. People can suffer and sacrifice when it is going to benefit them. But Jesus sacrificed his life for the salvation of mankind. Jesus did not seek sympathy even during his time of suffering . Instead He was concerned about others. He asked the women not to weep for Him , but to weep for themselves and their children because of the suffering they were going to face. The cross challenges us to give up our selfishness and be willing to sacrifice our welfare for the benefit of others.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
Matthew 20:28 ,
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Luke 23:28
Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
5.SUFFERING
The cross of Jesus Christ involved suffering. He suffered spiritually , emotionally and physically. He suffered spiritually when He became sin for us. If a clean man is made dirty by pouring all filth and garbage over him , surely he would suffer. Jesus became spiritually filthy when all the sins of mankind was placed upon him. Jesus suffered emotionally .His agony in the garden of gethsemane made Him sweat tears of blood. He suffered physically when whipped and crucified with nails with a crown of thorns pressed into his skull.No one has suffered as much as the Lord Jesus Christ.The cross challenges us not to magnify our own sufferings but to remember the sufferings of Jesus. And because we have a high priest who has gone through a pathway of deep suffering , He has great compassion on us . Therefore we can come boldly before the throne of Grace and receive the grace and mercy we need.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Luke 22:44
And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
Mark 15:15-25
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers.
They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!"
Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him.
And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.
They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).
Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.
And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
It was the third hour when they crucified him.
Hebrews 4:15-16
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
6.SILENCE
The cross of Jesus Christ is an example of silence in suffering. Jesus bore his suffering silently. He did not revile and threaten those who made Him to suffer. Instead He commited all things to God who judges righteously. Even before Pilate He was silent. The cross challenges us to be silent in suffering. How often we shout and rage and speak bitter words against God and people when we suffer. But Jesus has set an example for us to follow.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
Matthew 27:14
But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
I Peter 2:22-23
"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
7.STEPPING STONE
The cross was a stepping stone to great glory in the life of Jesus Christ. Because He humbled himself even to death on the cross God exalted Him above everything else in Heaven and in the earth.The cross was not a destruction for Jesus but a pathway to triumph and honour.Even in our lives God allows us to go through suffering and humiliation.But it is not our destruction but a stepping stone to glory.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
********************
Philippians 2:5-11
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
*****************************************************************************
