The Blessings of the Cross

Read Col 2:13-15 “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

Introduction

When you see a cross, what comes to mind?

You see millions of people all around the world have come to wear a cross.

Whether it’s around their neck or tattooed on their arm, the cross is the most popular symbol around the world.

And here are the most common reasons, people wear a cross.

Some wear it to show their religious devotion.

Some wear it because, ‘it looks cool’.

And others wear it for protection, like a good luck charm.

Before I know Christ, when I was a teenager I wore it as a good luck charm.

I had this rope necklace with a small little cross, and I wore it everywhere.

I made sure that I was always wearing it, to the point that if I realized I had forgot it, I would worry.

And so one fateful day, looking for it in the same place where I always left it, which was in the bathroom on top of a pile of clothes, so that when I was changing I would not forget to put it on, it wasn’t there.

I had lost it.

I was devastated, so I continued to look for it, and hope that I would find it one day, but never did.

I was so broken, over an item, a symbol, that I had zero idea what it meant.

So many of us today look at the cross with no clue of what it means.

Seeing nothing but two lines drawn on top of one another.

Is that how you see the cross?

Do you see the cross as merely a symbol for religion, protection, or aesthetics?

Because the cross is much more than that.

It is a symbol of great meaning.

It is a symbol of great blessing.

So today we’ll be learning about The Blessings of The Cross.

And the first blessing is:

1. A new life (v.13)

To truly appreciate how the cross gave us new life, we must first realize who we were before it.

There is something amazing about before and after pictures.

From massive weight loss, or from something being built from scratch, every time I see a before and after picture, I can’t help but be stunned.

There is also regret when I realized I should’ve taken a before and after photo.

When we went to MFUGE last summer, I was assigned to PCY.

We went to go work for this poor old lady’s backyard.

And I tell you her backyard was literally a forest.

When you enter the backyard, you could not take a more than 3 steps forward because of how dense the bamboo, and weeds were.

And as our team labored to transform it from a forest into a beautifully cut and flat backyard, the other pastor kept saying, ‘we should have taken before and after pictures.’

And I completely agreed as I pondered in regret, how amazing it would have been if I had taken pictures.

That’s the power of before and after photos.

Well students, we don’t have to regret not taking any pictures.

Because we have one.

Paul writes, and you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh.

This is the before picture.

Before you came to Christ.

Before you knew Christ.

This is who we were.

Paul calls us dead.

You see if you remember what we learned last Sunday, that Christ did spiritual surgery, took out our heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh if you put your faith in Him.

But if you don’t put your faith in Him, that heart of stone will cause a spiritual heart attack in you.

Leading to eternal cardiac arrest.

Leading to eternal death.

Before you came to Christ, you were were dead.

No movement, no lifeless, gross, and decayed.

You may look alive on the outside, with warmth in your veins, a glow in the skin, and frolicking about.

But on the inside, depressed, anxious, fearful, worried, and hopeless.

You see to God, without Christ, we are merely walking dead.

Why do you think God asked Ezekiel this question in Ezekiel 37:1-3?

Ezekiel 37:1–3 (ESV)

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”

People are so interested in horror movies, yet they forget the true horror that we are walking skeletons without Jesus!

When God looks at people who reject Him, He sees dead people.

When God looks at us before Christ, He saw a dead you.

So before Christ we are dead, but in what manner are we dead?

Paul writes, dead in your trespasses.

In other words, dead in your sin.

Ezekiel 18:20 (NKJV)

The soul who sins shall die.

Dead people, love sin.

They enjoy it and want more of it.

How can you tell someone who is truly dead when they look happy, breathing, and moving like everyone else?

By whether they pursue sinful lifestyles or not.

And before you knew Christ, you were the same.

You can see how you continuously ignored the light and pursued unrighteousness.

Before Christ, I actively pursued the wrong friendships.

Worldly people, other dead people.

You see, dead people want to hang out with other dead people.

And do dead things like smoke weed or go to drinking parties.

Before Jesus, those were the people I hung around, and I participated in those sinful activities, because I was dead.

There’s one more description Paul gives of being dead, dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh.

And here Paul is talking about being born apart from Israel.

Paul explains this more in Ephesians 2:12

Ephesians 2:12 (ESV)

remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Unless you were born God’s Kingdom of Israel, you had no hope.

Because Israel had the Word of God, and without the word of God, you cannot be saved.

Without Christ, we are separated from God.

God would not hear you or be near you, because He is a Holy God.

And before Christ, you have no hope, because you were without God in this massive, cold, and dark world.

This is our before photo.

A grotesque beast in some deep and dark hole i the world, pursuing sinful activities and separated from God.

A grey, lifeless, and dead person.

And now this is our after photo.

Paul writes, He has made alive together with Him.

When God asked Ezekiel if these bones can live, He answered Ezekiel 37:4-10

Ezekiel 37:4–10 ESV

Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Our after photo is a living and breathing person, full of life, joy and peace.

Full of hope.

How is this possible?

Because Jesus has made us alive together with Him.

When Jesus died and rose again on the 3rd day, we died and rose with Him into new life.

This is the power of the resurrection.

And this is also the fundamental truth of the resurrection.

If there is no resurrection, there is no Christianity.

Paul said this in 1 Cor 15:17-19

1 Corinthians 15:17–19 (ESV)

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Faith in Christianity as a whole is useless if there is no resurrection.

So when you look at your faith, and what you believe in, always think of the historical fact, that God rose Jesus over 2000 years ago.

And that you rose with Him.

Through the cross you have the blessing of a new life.

As you walk through your Christian life, through hills and valleys.

Through deep and dark passages.

Take a look at your before and after photo.

Not the weight loss one or the glow up one.

But the rose up one.

Where Jesus took you from a decrepit and depraved dead person and made you into a living and bright person.

Rejoice that the cross gave you the blessing of a new life.

You don’t need the fake promises of a best life now in this world, when you already have the blessing of a new life.

2. Your debt is forgiven (v.13-14)

We see this when Paul writes, having forgiven you all trespasses.

There is no greater joy, than to have your sins forgiven.

Many people who don’t know Christ, live their whole life with guilt and regret.

People who say they live their lives with no regret are really lying to themselves.

Do you know how many mistakes, we make in a lifetime?

Who doesn’t think of how they only did this differently or that differently that their lives would be for the better?

Even as Christians, we sometimes wonder this!

And that is the pain of sin.

The pain of guilt, sorrow, remorse, for the wrong things we have done.

Millions of people live with this burden of guilt on their back, and can never move past it.

How can you move forward, and grow in life when you have such pain and guilt holding you back?

You can’t.

But we are forgiven.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Not only are we forgiven John also says that Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us!

That Jesus is right to forgive us!

The same way it is right or just to send criminals to jail it is also right and just for Jesus to forgive us!

And it is a full forgiveness as Paul writes, having wiped out.

Our slate is wiped completely clean!

Psalm 103:12 ESV

as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

That’s how forgiven we are.

Our infintely unpayable sins are completely forgiven forever.

But this is something that we are all familiar with.

We all know forgiveness and its beauty.

But there forgiveness is even more wonderful when you understand the debt that comes with our sin.

That’s why this translation is helpful Col 2:14

Colossians 2:14 (ESV)

by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

You see, sins are not only trespasses.

They are crimes that deserve punishment by law.

Before Christ, every time you sin, each sin is recorded, and it’s recorded by the Bible which tells you what is sin is and also the law written in your heart, or your conscience, which God gave you to tell you what is right from wrong, so that you have no excuse that you didn’t have a Bible.

When you use a credit card for example, or buy now pay later, a record is kept of what you bought called a statement, because you will have to pay for it a later time.

I know when I take the toll road when I visit Virginia, that since I don’t have an EZ pass, a record is kept when I take the toll road by using my license plate number, and I pay after online.

And it’s the same when we sin.

Every sin recorded on this document must be paid for.

Romans 6:23 (NKJV)

For the wages of sin is death

And every sin must be paid for with eternity in hell.

1 sin = 1 eternity in hell, 2 sins= 2 eternity in hell, etc.

Let’s say you sin a million times in your entire life.

Your sin statement would say that you owe a million eternities in hell.

You are in debt 1 million eternities in hell.

That is what you owe God, not the devil by the way.

We owe God because He is your creator, and judge, not Satan.

And in order to pay for the damages you did with sin, the cost is 1 million eternities in hell.

How in the world are you ever supposed to pay that?

You can’t, it’s impossible.

But what does Jesus do?

He wipes that statement clean.

He cancels this record that stood against you with its rightful demand of justice.

That is the true beauty of forgiveness.

That not only is your guilt removed, but your debt that you deserved to pay, has been wiped clean by Jesus.

But there’s a problem.

You see, God can’t just forgive you.

He can’t just cancel your spiritual debt.

That would be like sweeping your sins under the rug.

And this is what all the other false religions do, they sweep evil under the rug.

There is no justice.

That’s why people question God, how can he let evil people like Hitler into heaven, if Hitler were to accept Jesus right before he died?

That’s not fair.

And that’s right, that isn’t fair.

To commit such evil, and then go into heaven for free?

Where is the justice?

That’s why Hebrews 9:22 says,

Hebrews 9:22 (ESV)

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

That’s because there must be justice for evil.

And that’s what Jesus did on the cross.

He shed His blood for those who believe in Him, so that they would be forgiven.

Because in the cross your debt is forgiven.

Some of you who decide to go to university, may have to take loans in order to pay for it.

The average student debt after graduating is $40k some are in the 6 figures.

So you can understand, the relief felt, when some people got their student debt forgiven.

That they are now free.

That they can now finally live their lives.

In the cross, you are now free.

You can finally live your life.

I remember before I came to Christ, I would often be randomly afraid of things.

I would be taking a shower alone in the middle of the night, and I would suddenly feel this dread.

That something was out to get me.

And looking back, it wasn’t some demon, monster, or murderer.

It was the justice of God that could have rightfully ended my life.

But when Christ saved me I was free.

He freed me from this fear, that at any moment if I died, that I would not know where I would be.

That I would instantly wake up in darkness and fire, hell.

And that is the blessing you have in the cross.

This freedom from the wrath of God.

And the joyous hope, of the endless possibilities that God has in store for your life.

What will you do with your life now that your millions in spiritual debt is forgiven?

3. Victory

This is the final that Paul writes to us.

He writes, And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

You see there is a specific way that Jesus cancels our debt.

And that’s by taking it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.

When we think of Jesus, we usually think of Him being nailed to a cross.

We usually see Jesus as a victim of sin.

But that’s not what Paul saw.

What Pal saw was Jesus nailing our sins to the cross.

What’s really going on, is not the Roman soldiers crucifying Jesus on the cross.

It’s Jesus crucifying our sin on the cross.

Jesus is the crucifier.

He’s the one carrying the hammer, the nails, and bringing our record of sin and killing it on the cross.

The one who was truly doing the killing was Jesus, not the Romans, and He killed our sins with hammer and nail on the cross.

Because Jesus is not the loser but the winner.

In His cross He brought us victory.

Paul goes into our victory on the cross by concluding, He disarmed the rules and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them.

Rules and authorities refer to demons.

On the cross Jesus stripped away the weapons of demons.

And He shamed them by publically showing off their defeat.

This is not some private, or small little celebration.

No He did this and made it known to everyone, in a spectacular triumph.

In Paul’s day, the Roman army would do what is called a triumph when they came back victoriously from long foreign campaigns.

And they would bring the kings and soldiers they defeated and humiliated them by publically parading them in the city streets.

That is what Jesus did to the demons on the cross, because Jesus brought us victory on the cross.

So no longer have any fear of demons.

Because Jesus defeated them on the cross.

He removed their power.

1 Corinthians 15:55 NKJV

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

Not that they no longer exist, because they still do.

But they are defanged.

No one fears a declawed cat.

No one fears a gunman without a gun.

They can’t hurt Christians.

So be fearless of demons, because Jesus has won.

Conclusion + Gospel

After looking for that cross for many years, Christ saved me 5 years later, and I finally understood what it meant.

And ultimately I found the cross in my heart.

If you are listening today, and you don’t know Jesus Christ, and you don’t have the blessings of the cross, I urge you to put your trust in Jesus today, and be saved.

Be saved from your record of sins and have it cleared and nailed to the cross by Jesus Christ.

Otherwise you will have to pay your life in hell to the Lord forever.

Let’s pray.