Centered on the Cross
Selected Passages
October 2, 2005
Morning Service
Introduction
I grew up near a small town called Centerburg. When I was growing up, Centerburg was the home of the local mill where we purchased feed for our animals. It was home to the pharmacy where my grandmother got her prescriptions. The bank in Centerburg had my first savings account.
The biggest claim to fame for Centerburg is the reason for its name. Centerburg is the exact geographical center of the state of Ohio. There is still a sign outside of town that says the heart of Ohio. Why am I telling you all of this?
A few weeks ago I was asked an unusual question: what is the most important thing in the church? I gave a quick answer and moved on. As I thought later, the question continued to follow me. The more I thought about it, more things came to mind. I could have answered that question in many different ways. Even my answer of Jesus seemed incomplete.
I thought that maybe the area of outreach is most important because we are meant to reach people for Jesus. Perhaps the area of worship is most important because that is where we gather to experience Jesus. Maybe the area of ministry is most important because we meet the needs of others in Jesus’ name. All of these things are important but what is the most important?
Last week as I came into the sanctuary for prayer time, it hit me. The most important thing in our church needs to be the cross. The cross is the center of everything it means to be a Christian. The cross stands at the center of our theology. The cross is the center of biblical prophecy. The cross is the center of our purpose. The cross is the center of our message. The cross is the center of our methods.
The cross is God’s centerpiece on the table of time - Paul Guttke
Just as Centerburg is at the center of the state; the cross is meant to be the spiritual center of your life. The cross is where God poured out His judgment on Jesus and where He pours out His mercy to us. The cross is an unusual mixture of pain and peace, suffering and salvation, loss and life. The cross is the most important aspect of the church. The only question that remains is this: do we have the cross where it needs to be? Is your life centered on the cross?
This morning I want to explore the reality of the cross and it’s rightful place in our lives. Paul gives us a glimpse of this in his letter to the Galatian churches. Open your bibles to Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
The cross is the center of our reality
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The main fact that most Christians seems to forget today is that we are called to die. Maybe not die in a physical sense but to die in a sense of self. It is impossible to follow Jesus without dying to yourself.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. Matthew 16:24
When Jesus enters our lives He issues a call to come and die. It is a call to take up your cross, give up yourself and die to your will. Why is this so crucial?
We live in a world where self is exalted above everything else. We live in a world where selfishness is its own religion. We bow down and worship at the altar of I, Me, My, Mine and Myself. We live to do little else but please ourselves and we sacrifice anyone or anything that gets in the way. We are desperately seeking to please ourselves. We sacrifice relationships, values, beliefs and even our Christianity to have self satisfaction.
The Wonderful Cross
Oh the wonderful cross, Oh the wonderful cross, bids me come and die and find that I may truly live, Oh the wonderful cross, Oh the wonderful cross, all who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name
The desire of Jesus is that we totally embrace the life He has to offer. The only way to experience the life that Jesus offers is to die to yourself. In other words give up living your way by your standards. Jesus wants an act of self surrender to start your new life with Him. However, we are wrong if we think this is a one time situation. Jesus desires us to carry the cross each and every day that we live. Is your life centered on the cross?
There is a massive difference between the Old life and the New life
Old Life New Life
Death Life
Darkness Light
Despair Hope
Bondage Freedom
Weakness Strength
Jesus endured the suffering of a Roman cross. Jesus felt the intensity of pain on the most extreme scale. When you look at the life of Jesus, He did no wrong. He died on the cross as an innocent man. He committed no crime. He was without fault. His character was without blemish. He was without sin! So, why die He die on that cross?
Jesus was crucified for our sins. It was our sins that placed Jesus on that cross so long ago. Yes, your sinfulness crucified Jesus. Jesus died for you and me. Jesus died because we had broken God’s Law. Jesus died because we were guilty. Jesus died because we rebelled. Why did Jesus go to the cross? Because of us, pure and simple. He died, so that, all of our guilt, all of our mistakes, all of our failures, all of our sins wouldn’t cause us to die. On the cross, Jesus died my death for my sins, so I could live.
The cross is the center of our reliance
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
In our world, trust seems to be a thing of the past. There was a day when a person’s word was their bond. A handshake actually meant something. A commitment was exactly that a commitment. Our world has gone to a fierce relativism. Where nothing can be trusted and nothing can be counted on at any time.
Jesus can be trusted. This is the basis of faith. The fact that we can count on Jesus to be who He said He was and to do what He said He will do is the basis for faith. Faith is nothing more than simply placing your trust in Jesus. We express our faith by placing that same trust in Jesus each and every day.
Trust and Obey
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
The life that we live here is gauged by a hope that there is a better life waiting just on the other side. A hope that the pain of this world will be erased and that there will be an eternal reward waiting. A hope that Jesus has indeed prepared a place for us. A hope that heaven is where we are destined to go. A hope that we will spend all of eternity with Jesus. How can we have this kind of hope?
Hope like this can only come through faith. It almost seems like a paradox. We must have faith to gain hope and our hope then increases our faith. Faith works like the muscles of our bodies. The more you use them, the stronger they become. When was the last time you exercised your muscle of faith?
We are to live by faith, not by sight. Having a life that is centered on the cross means that we walk each day by a simple faith. It means that we place our complete trust in Jesus. It means that we live with an eternal hope beating in our hearts.
The cross is the center of our redemption
who loved me and gave himself for me.
At Calvary
Mercy there was great and grace was free; pardon there was multiplied to me; there my burdened soul found liberty, at Calvary
The fact is that our only source of redeeming grace flows from the cross. The redemption we have been given comes from the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
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. Isaiah 53:5
Jesus died to give us grace. Grace is nothing more than getting what you need instead of what you deserve. Grace is gaining the riches of God at the expense of Christ. It is having the best of God in our lives. It is the grace of God found only in the person of Jesus that helps us get through life. Are you living in the grace that Jesus is giving?
Living your life centered on the cross means that you have an understanding that God’s grace can be part of your life because Jesus died.
Conclusion
The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it.
A.W. Tozer.
The message of the cross remains the same through time itself. Come and die. Today we cannot look at the cross without remembering what Jesus did for us. We cannot look at it and remain the same.
Is the cross of Christ at the center of your life? Is the cross holding your life together?
This morning if you need to get your life centered back on the cross, now is the time to do it? Don’t wait one more day, come get you life centered back on the cross.
