The Crucifixion Of Christ Explained

2023.06.25.Sermon Notes.The Crucifixion of CHRIST Explained

William Akehurst, HSWC

BIG IDEA: Did you ever wonder why JESUS had to die on a cross of all the ways that HE could have died? There is a deep meaning of forgiveness, redemption and restoration behind the Crucifixion of CHRIST on the Cross.

Scriptures: Isaiah 53:4-6; 1 Corinthians 1:18; Genesis 3:22-24; Genesis 3:15; Psalms 22:16; Zechariah 12:10; Revelation 1:7; Genesis 2:21-23; John 19:31-37; Genesis 3:17-18; John 19:1-4; John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19-21;

John 19:28-30; Romans 8:13-17; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

MESSIANIC PROPHECY – HE would take it all upon HIMSELF for you and me

Isaiah 53:4-6

4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

QUESTION: THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS. IS IT FOOLISHNESS OR THE POWER OF GOD TO YOU?

OUT OF THE GARDEN – AFTER TAKING OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.

Genesis 3:22-24

22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

ILLUSTRATION:

Adam: GOD, Why would you kick us out of the Garden?

GOD: Because I Love you.

Adam: I get that, but wait, no-no-no, …but if I eat from the tree of life, I’ll live forever.

GOD: NO, because you ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil first…that BROKE you, and if you ate of the tree of life, you would live forever…. BROKEN.

So before you make a bad thing permanent, let me get you out of here.

Because I knew this was going to happen, so I had a LAMB, I had selected a LAMB that would be slain before the foundation of the earth!

The now BROKEN and SINFUL Man could not undo what he had done (sin), and what he had done brought the curse of sin and destruction to all of GOD’s Creation.

Only GOD could Fix, Restore, Redeem, that which man broke. And GOD had a plan, already in place.

1 Peter 1:20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST EXPLAINED

The topic of capital punishment is not something we like to talk about. Over the course of history, many different methods were used to take the life of the offender.

Today’s society accepts its methods as more humane to the offender. Electric Chair, Lethal Injection, hanging, etc. each designed to take the life of the offender quickly.

However, since sin entered the world, death to the offender was made to be torturous and inhumane, to make the individual “pay the penalty” in pain and suffering.

Roman Crucifixion was one of the most inhumane methods of torturous death. Purposely a slow and painful death as a sign to everyone who saw it, to comply with the laws of the land.

(Explain death on a cross) Hanging by nails in hands and feet; joints out of socket, painfully pushing and pulling up for each breath, until exhaustion and finally suffocation. To prolong the pain and time of suffering, the Roman Soldiers added a board so the offender/victim could barely rest/sit on the cross until pushing up for their next breath…All to make a spectacle of suffering public.

JESUS was nailed to and died on a cross between two criminals who were sentenced to death for their actions.

DID YOU EVER WONDER WHY JESUS HAD TO DIE ON A CROSS OF ALL THE WAYS HE COULD HAVE DIED?

• Man stole from the tree from the very beginning.

• So GOD had to put back on the tree for you and me what the first man and woman couldn’t do for a correction, restoration and redemption.

• That’s why JESUS had to die on a Cross…because it was a tree.