Topical - Cross
I. The Cross of Jesus Christ - Topical
Introduction: On Sunday evening, February 19, 1882, Charles Haddon Spurgeon opened his message with these words, “On whatever subjects I may be called to preach, I feel it to be a duty which I dare not neglect to be continually going back to the doctrine of the cross—the fundamental truth of justification by faith which is in Jesus Christ.” As I learn and grow in my relationship with Jesus and my understanding of the Scriptures, I always find that I during my studies, I am constantly going back to the Cross of Christ.
My prayer is that these studies will help you better understand the practical application of the death of Christ in your life.
A. Was the Cross God’s Intention?
1. The Cross of Jesus Christ was not a human accident (Matthew 26:3-4).
a) The Plan to Kill Jesus – Who killed Him?
(1) The Jews have borne the brunt of the blame and the expression “Christ Killers” has been handed to them.
(2) However, there is a true sense in which both Old and New Testaments hold Israel responsible for the murder of her Messiah.
Isaiah 49:7, for example, speaks of the Holy One, the coming Messiah, as “Him whom man despises … Him whom the nation abhors.” Isaiah 53:3 prophetically describes how the Messiah would be despised and not esteemed by His own people, who would, as it were, hide their faces from Him in the hour of His death.
Psalm 22:6–8 prophetically describes the treatment Christ would receive at the hands of His own brethren as He hung on the cross: “I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, ‘He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
(3) In the New Testament, we read that the plot to kill Jesus was devised in a secret council led by Caiaphas, the high priest:
The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” … Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. (John 11:47–50, 53)
(4) And there is a legitimate sense in which the guilt of the crime was shared not only by the chief priests and rulers, but also by the people of Israel:
Luke says "Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people," (Luke 23:13)
The people were the ones who shouted, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” as He stood on trial before Pilate (v. 21).
That is why Peter, speaking in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, addressed the “men of Israel” and said, “You have taken [Christ] by lawless hands, have crucified [Him], and put [Him] to death” (Acts 2:22–23).
b) The People – Pontius Pilate a Gentile Roman Governor.
(1) Pontius Pilate, a Gentile Roman governor, sentenced Him to death.
(2) The Romans method of execution was Crucifixion.
(a) Roman soldiers drove the nails through Christ’s hands and feet. Roman troops erected the cross (Matthew 27:27–35).
(b) A Roman spear pierced His side (John 19:34). Gentile hands therefore played an even more prominent role in the actual murder of Jesus than the Jews did.
(c) All of the following people were involved in the murder of Jesus: Rome, Herod, the Gentiles, the Jewish Sanhedrin, and the people of Israel.
(d) The Crucifixion is the only historical event where all these factions worked together to achieve a common goal (Acts 4:27).
c) The Purpose – Ordained and Appointed by God (Isaiah 53).
(1) All of these events do not exhaust the full truth about the death of Christ. One of the key Old Testament prophecies about the crucifixion is Isaiah 53.
Isaiah prophetically describes the torture of the Messiah at the hands of a sneering mob, and then adds, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10).
(2) God put his own Son to death? That is precisely what Scripture teaches. Why?
According to Isaiah 53:10, it was to “make His soul an offering for sin.” God had a redemptive purpose.
(3) It was God’s holy and sovereign plan from before the foundation of the world (Rev.13:8).
Listen to the prayer in Acts 4, we read that they “lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: “Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.” For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. (Acts 4:24–28)
Acts 2:23 has the same reflection: “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death”
(4) How did the death of Christ please the Father?
(a) Redemption was accomplished, thus the eternal plan of salvation being fulfilled.
(b) Christ’s sacrifice made eternal life possible, thus showing His love for sinners.
(c) For all of the evil in the crucifixion, it brought about an infinite good. Though the murderers meant evil against Christ, God meant it for good, in order to save many (cf. Genesis 50:20).
(d) The cross demonstrates how God makes all things work together for good (Rom.8:28).
!! B. When Jesus Looked At the Cross.
1. Jesus – The Understanding of His death (Luke 24:26, 46).
a) Jesus “knew” many things: He “knew”:
· that his time had not yet come (John 7:6, 30; 8:20)
· His hour had come (John 13:1; 12:23; 17:1)
· the Father had given all things into His hands (13:3)
· He had come from God and was going to God (John 13:3; 8:14)
· from the beginning who did not believe (John 6:64), and betray Him (John 13:11).
· who was following Him out of genuine faith, or enthusiasm (John 2:23-24)
· Jesus knows if you have the love of God within you (John 5:42; 8:19)
· Jesus knows his sheep, and He knows them by name (John 10:14, 27; 2 Tim-departing from iniquity)
· Jesus knows that the Father always hears His prayers (John 11:42)
· the Pharisees hypocrisy (Mark 12:15), mans thoughts (Matt.9:4; 12:25)
· the time of His ascension was near, He was determined (Luke 9:51; Heb.12:2)
· the disciples would scatter from Him, and Peters denial (Matt.26:31-35).
· the hour of His arrest had come to be betrayed into the hands of sinners (Matt.26:45)
· all the things that would happen to Him, stepped forward to be arrested (John 18:1-4)
· while on the cross that all things had been accomplished (John 19:28)
· He would be raised from the dead by the power of His Father (Matt.16: 21; 17:9, 23; 20:18–19; Rom. 6:4).
b) He identified His death with the experience of Jonah (Matt.12:38-40)
(1) Just as Jonah was buried in the depths of the sea, Jesus was buried in the depths of the earth; and just as Jonah came out of the great fish after three days, Jesus came out of the grave after three days.
2. Jesus – The Good Shepherd (John 10:15-18).
a) The subsitutionary death of Christ (15:11 “for”).
(1) The word “for” (huper) it is a word with profound meaning when used with the death of Christ (Rom.8:32; Gal.1:4; 2:20; Eph.5:2; 1Tim.2:6;Titus 2:14).
(2) It does not mean that Christ died only as an example for us, showing us how we should be willing to die for the truth or for some great cause. What it means is that Christ died in our place, in our stead, in our room, as our substitute.
Jesus said that I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." (John 6:51, NKJV)
Speaking about his disciples And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth." (John 17:19, NKJV)
(3) In (v.15) Jesus did not say that He would fight and protect the sheep. He said He would die for the sheep. He knew that death awaited Him & that His purpose was to die for them.
(4) Jesus dropped the imagery of the shepherd in this statement. He no longer said, “The good shepherd gives His life” (John 10:11); He now said “I lay down my life.”
(5) No Old Testament Sacrifice Ever Died Willingly. No lamb, goat, or sheep ever willingly gave its life. But Jesus willingly laid down His life for us (Gal.2:20; 1Jn3:16). It’s a wonderful thing to be able to say, “Father into Your hands I commit my Spirit” (Luke 23:46).
3. Jesus – The Sacrificial Lamb of God (Leviticus 17:11)
a) The atoning sacrifice was taught in the Old Testament.
(1) Jesus knew that every Jew knew, that the heart of that system was (Leviticus 17:11):
Leviticus 17:11 says “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ (Leviticus 17:11)… for without the shedding of blood there is no remission (Heb.9:22)
(2) The Blood of Jesus Was Shed On Our Behalf! The Blood of Jesus:
· is the New Covenant which is shed for many (Matthew 26:28)
· purchased the church of God (Acts 20:28), therefore glorify God in our bodies (1Cor.6:19)
· propitiated us (Romans 3:24–25), justifies us & saves us from the wrath of God
· reconciling us (Romans 5:8–11), redeemed us & giving us forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:5,7)
· makes us holy unto God (Heb. 13:12);
· give us fellowship with God & purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7)
· makes it possible for any man to come to God (Rev. 5:9)
· takes away our filthy robes of righteousness & gives us the righteousness of Christ (Revelation 7:14; Zechariah 3:1-5)
· gives us victory & makes us overcomers (Rev. 12:11)
· frees us from our sins & makes us a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen (Revelation 1:5-6).
b) In His “birth announcement.”
(1) Jesus declared that His incarnation gave to Him a body that He would offer as a sacrifice for the sins of the world (Hebrews 10:5-7):
Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, `Behold, I have come----In the volume of the book it is written of Me----To do Your will, O God.'“ (Hebrews 10:5-7 NKJV)
(2) Jesus gave Himself as the burnt offering, in total surrender to God, & the sin offering to pay the price for our offenses against God.
(a) Sacrifice refers to any of the animal offerings and would include the trespass offering and the peace offering (Leviticus 1-7); Offering refers to the meal and drink offerings.
(b) Jesus’ death fulfilled the entire sacrificial system putting an end to it (Hebrews 7:26-28) obtaining for us eternal redemption (9:12).
c) The public announcement of the sacrificial death of Christ.
(1) It was first announced by John the Baptist (Jn.1:29, 36).
(2) It was pictured in the Baptism of Jesus (Matt.3:13-17) which illustrated His death, burial and resurrection (Luke 12:50).
(3) It promises us power over sin (Rom.6:1-6).
!!! 4. Jesus – The Destroyed Temple (John 2:19)
a) The Temple was His Body (v.21).
(1) His death and resurrection was to provide a new temple, a new meeting place for God and man. At Jesus’ trial, some of the witnesses cited this statement as proof that Jesus was an enemy of the Jewish law (Matthew 26:59-61; Mark 14:57-59).
(2) The body that God had prepared for His Son was the temple of God:
John said "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14, NASB95)
Paul wrote "For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him," (Colossians 1:19)
He goes on to say "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form," (Colossians 2:9, NASB95)
(3) It was to be in Him that men would be reconciled to God (1Tim.2:5; Rom.5:1-2, 9-11).
That is why Paul wrote "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5, NASB95)
And because of our faith in Christ "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2, NASB95)
(4) They tried to destroy this temple, but they failed. God fulfilled the promise of (Ps.16:10).
b) Our bodies are the temple of God.
(1) The believers body (1Cor. 3:16; 6:19-20; John 14:16-21)
(2) Do not be unequally yoked (2Cor. 6:14-18)
5. Jesus – The Uplifted Serpent (John 3:14-15)
a) The Serpent in the Wilderness (Numbers 21:4-9 cf. v.14-15)
(1) Jesus illustrated His point by using the Old Testament story of Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4-9).
(2) The Symbolism: Jesus said that He must be lifted up just as the serpent was lifted up. What did He mean? There Are Several Pictures Here:
(a) Brass is a metal that in scripture is associated with judgment, and the serpent is a symbol of sin & of the evil one, Satan (Genesis 3:1f; Rev. 12:9; Rev. 20:2).
(b) Jesus Christ destroyed the works of the devil by being lifted up (Hebrews 2:14-15); therefore the serpent hanging upon the pole symbolized the defeat of Satan.
Speaking of Jesus, Hebrews says that “He Himself… that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." (Hebrews 2:14-15, NASB95)
(c) To be hung on a tree was the ultimate humiliation.
· It was the same as being put under a curse (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).
· Jesus was made a curse for us & redeemed us from the curse of the law (Gal.3:13).
(d) By looking upon the defeated evil (the serpent), Israel was healed.
· Today man is healed by looking upon the Son of Man who has been lifted up upon the cross. The people of Israel had great need, for they were dying from the poison of the fiery serpents.
· Men today are dying from the poison of the serpent, the deadly poison of sin.
(3) The brass serpent lifted up on the pole is thus a symbol of our sins that were judged on the cross. There Jesus took upon Himself our sins, and there He died receiving the judgment of God for sin.
!!! 6. Jesus – The Seed Buried in the Ground (John 12:20-28)