CSI: Easter 5 of 5 in Series
The Message of the Cross
INTRODUCTION
A teacher’s aide in Pennsylvania was suspended for wearing a necklace with a small, one inch cross. Prior to the suspension, Brenda had been warned by her supervisor either to remove the cross or to conceal it under her blouse whenever she came to school. She was told that
there was a state regulation prohibiting school employees from wearing religious symbols.
For Brenda, however, removing the cross or tucking it in out of sight was a form of denying Christ. She said it was like asking her to take off her wedding ring. "My wedding ring says that I’m a wife and that we’re devoted and we’re committed to each other. And that’s what my cross says to me too. It says I’m a believer in Jesus Christ and I love my Lord and Savior and it’s just who I am."
"My superiors were asking me to hide my faith and, therefore, in a sense they were asking me to deny Christ. In my heart that’s what I felt they were asking me to do," Brenda said.
What would she do? She thought about the matter. Prayed about it, cried over it, and in the end decided not to comply. In her heart, she felt the Lord was saying to her, "Do not deny Me, Do not deny Me." Brenda continued to wear the cross after the deadline and was immediately suspended for one year.
In turn, Brenda has gone to court to get her job back. She filed a lawsuit contending that her constitutional rights have been violated. It is against the law to forbid someone to wear a cross to work. It is a form of religious discrimination.
The symbol of the cross is very precious to 43—year old Brenda Nichol!
The cross is the symbol of the Christian faith. It is our central message.
I Cor. 2:2; 1 Cor. 15:3
Crucifixion
Death by crucifixion was the ultimate humiliation, the ultimate horror, and the ultimate degradation. Tacitus, a Roman Historian, spoke of crucifixion as "A torture fit only for slaves." It was reserved for only the worst of criminals. The act was barbaric and inhumane. The victim was usually naked and the corpse was often left on the cross for the birds and animals to eat. Cicero called it, "The cruelest and the most horrible torture."
The cross was not just any kind of death. Not only was it a painful death but it was a shameful death. As the old hymn says, "On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame." Death on a cross, through the eyes of anyone during that time, was obscene and offensive.
One of the earliest drawings of the crucifixion dates from the early 3rd century. It is ancient "graffiti" from Rome which ridicules and mocks the Christian faith. This graffiti depicts a man with the head of a donkey being crucified on a cross. In the foreground is a worshipper with hands lifted high. Then this inscription is written just below the drawing: "Alexmenos worships his god!" The drawing illustrates how contemptible the idea of a crucified Lord was to pagan thinking. No sane person would ever brag that his friend or relative had been crucified. Crucifixion was nothing to be proud of! No sane person would ever boast that he was a follower of a movement whose leader was crucified.
So how is it that Paul, a Jewish rabbi, scarcely twenty years after Jesus’ execution could write, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!" (Gal. 6:14)
TEXT: Romans 5:6—11
I. The Cross Shows Us Our Great Need
A. Christ died for us when we were helpless and ungodly.
1. When we were sinners.
2. When we were enemies of God.
3. When we were subject to his wrath.
B. How important is Reconciliation?
1. Paul uses this word to help us understand the message of the Cross.
2. He uses it three times in two verses.
C. Illustration: Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a famous poet who lived in England during the 19th century. She was educated at home. She learned to read classical Greek, Latin as well as Hebrew. At an early age, she learned to speak several modern languages. Most of all she was admired for her beautiful poetry. Another poet in England with the same last name, Robert Browning, began to write Elizabeth praising her for her poetry. Elizabeth wrote Robert back. Soon a romance began with love poems being passed through the mail. Elizabeth’s most famous love poem began with these now famous words: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." However, Elizabeth’s father strongly disapproved of their budding romance. He forbade her to continue the romance and threatened to disown her. The young couple eloped, were secretly married and settled in Florence, Italy. In Italy, Elizabeth wrote to her parents in England almost every week asking for reconciliation. They never once replied. After ten years of writing, Elizabeth received a huge box in the mail. She opened it and to her dismay, the box contained all of her letters to her parents. None of them had ever been opened! Today her letters of reconciliation are among the most beautiful in English literature. Perhaps if her parents had opened and read only a few of them, reconciliation might have taken place.
D. Reconciliation: the doing away of hostility (enmity) between warring parties. To restore peace to a soured relationship.
E. Every time Paul uses the word reconciliation he does so in reference to the cross.
1. Man being reconciled to God through the death of Jesus.
2. Col. 1:19—22
3. The bible never speaks of God being reconciled to man. It always speaks of man being reconciled to God.
F. The seriousness of our sin is made known in the cross.
1. The payment for our sin is death.
2. That is how serious sin is!
II. The Cross Shows Us God’s Great Love
A. Have you ever questioned God’s love for you?
1. Perhaps after a tragedy?
(a) An accident.
(b) A divorce.
(c) The loss of a job.
(d) The loss of a loved one.
(e) If there is a God how could he let this happen?
B. Illustration: During the depression employment was hard to come by. One man, John Griffith, moved his family from Oklahoma to Missouri in search of work. Eventually John found a job as the controller of a railroad bridge spanning the Mississippi River. He was responsible to see to it that the bridge was raised to allow for the safe passage of river traffic and lowered when trains approached. During the summer of 1937, John took his eight year old son, Greg, to work with him for the first time. You can imagine his excitement as he watched his dad work and experienced the sight of all the boats and trains. As lunch rolled around John raised the bridge for an approaching ship, then took his son to an observation deck to eat lunch. Suddenly there was the sound of a train whistle in the distance. John was startled! He looked at his watch, it was the express train to Memphis with four hundred people on board! The bridge had to be lowered. Not being in the control house he did not have time to radio the train and request it to stop. He must lower the bridge or else everyone on the train would plummet into the river. John rushed to the controls and placed his hand on the lever. Then he glanced under the bridge to make certain there were no ships in the way. It was then that a horrible sight caught his eyes: His son Greg had fallen from the observation deck into the giant gears that operated the bridge. His leg was caught in between the main gears. Again he heard the train’s whistle. It was closer than he thought. What should he do? If he pushed the lever, his son would almost certainly be crushed to death. If he didn’t, four hundred people would certainly perish. He knew what must be done. He pushed the lever! As the train zoomed across the bridge, John raised his head, now covered in tears and looked into the passing train. He saw businessmen reading their paper, conductors looking at their watches, women sipping their coffee and children eating ice cream. In agony he cried out, "I just sacrificed my son for you! Don’t you care?" Nobody heard. The train rushed on.
C. I wonder what God thinks as he looks down on us from time to time?
1. Busying ourselves with this or that and no time for him.
2. I wonder if He cries out, "I just sacrificed my Son for you! Don’t you even care?"
III. The Cross Shows Us The One Who Took Our Place
A. Substitutionary Atonement Isa. 53:4—6
B. A most unusual incident took place during World War II in July 1941. One hot afternoon a prisoner slipped away from a labor detail at Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp in southern Poland. When his disappearance was discovered that evening during roll call, search parties were immediately dispatched. The camp commander announced that, if the fugitive were not found in twenty-four hours, ten of the 600 men in that man’s cellblock would be selected at random and be put to death in reprisal. It would be the most gruesome of all lotteries. No one slept that night in cellblock fourteen. Would the escaped prisoner be found? Each prisoner hoped he would not be one of those unlucky ten who would be chosen the following day. Tomorrow finally arrived, the sun came up and began to move across the sky. At six p.m., the commander announced that the fugitive had not been found. He would now choose the ten men who must die. The selection did not take long. Up and down the rows of men the colonel walked. Ten times he stopped, pointed, and said: "You!" Each time guards shoved the condemned man up front. Some of the ten wept. One man cried out, "My wife! My children!" As the guards prepared to march the doomed men away, an eleventh man came forward, his face white as death. He walked forward, ignoring the raised weapons of the guards. Finally he spoke, "Colonel, I want to take the place of one of those prisoners. That one there." "Are you crazy?," the commander replied. "No, sir! But I am alone in the world. That man has a family to live for. Please let me take his place!" Everyone who witnessed this scene stood speechless. "Accepted," the commander responded. And the two prisoners exchanged places.
C. We are not innocent.
1. Our sin deserves punishment.
2. Christ took our place on "death row."
3. Gal. 3:13
4. 2 Cor. 5:21
CONCLUSION
What is your response to Calvary?
Will you continue in you sin?
Will you obey the Gospel?
