This is the first of a series on the Cross

THE CROSS OF CHRIST

Jno. 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Intro: We often get involved with the problems of life and living etc. until we lose our perspective. Sometimes we see the cross only as a faint background for the activities in which we become involved, while in truth, It should be in the forefront of all we say, think, do and are!

Consider:
I. The message of the cross
How you receive the message determines your relationship to God and your hopes for eternity!
I Cor 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

God is sending a message to man by the cross,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
A. It is both the core and the summary of God’s message concerning sin and holiness.
1. It was absolutely necessary that death be the penalty for sin (disobedience to God). The bible declares it and reason dictates it.
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Ezek 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Any lesser penalty would have made God content to dwell with sin eternally. This COULD NOT BE, for He is HOLY!
2. Yet, this very holiness demands that there be a way of escape for those created in His image. Man was created to inhabit eternity with God and if he can be thwarted in ANYTHING, He is not the omnipotent one.

B. The cross is the message of Love and Sacrifice which transcends all barriers of time, language and culture and all stages of man’s depravity.
1. As the Good Shepherd, He gave his life for the sheep.
Jno 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
2. As our friend, He died for us.
Jno 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
3. Even in our enmity toward God, He loved us.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Jno 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
4. If willingness to sacrifice is the measure of love, then His love for us is limitless and we fall far short in return!
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

I Jno 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

C. It is God’s message concerning righteousness and peace
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Without an answer to the penalty for sin, man could have no peace. He would be like the fugitive from justice who knows that someday the law will exact its penalty.
 

II Will you receive the message?
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
A. Have you heard its message about the awful effects of sin and God’s hatred for it?
B. Have you accepted its message of love?
C. Are you relying on and rejoicing in its message of righteousness and peace?