The Power of The Cross (Good Friday 2024)

Welcome! Welcome to Providence Christian Church on this blessed Good Friday. What we have here tonight is a picture of unity. Two churches together, different denominational beliefs, different ways that Sunday looks, but yet, friendship in Christ. Unity in the gospel. A love of Christ who was crucified to save sinner of whom we admit, we are. Believers saved by grace! So, I am so glad to welcome you here tonight to join in the celebration of the death of Christ.

That seems like a strange statment, but truly, is has there even been a greater act of love witnessed before? Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes that it is better to go to a house of mourning, a funeral, rather than to a feast. My friends, tonight we meditate on the death of Christ. We place ourselves in his shoes. Tonight we follow Christ to the sorrowful yet loving hill of calvary and bear witness to God’s plan of redemption.

Stand with me now and receive this call to worship…

Isaiah 52:6–10 ESV

6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.” 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” 8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. 9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Lets remain standing and sing O the deep deep love of Jesus

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Take a copy of God’s word and turn to John 12… John 12 starting in verse 20…John 12:20-33.

This evening it is our goal to meditate on God’s redemptive plan by seeing the power of the cross. When I speak of the power of the cross what I mean is what happened there when Christ was crucified on it. What does the cross now represent to us as Christians? I hope to show you the power, and the glory, and the honor of the cross that is a great treasure to everyone who calls on the name of Jesus…

John 12:20–33 ESV

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

Verse 21... Everyone had a desire to see Jesus, even the Greeks. Greeks and jews alike were stirred up by Christ because of who they though he was. Hopefully you remember this from Palm Sunday. They though Jesus was going to be a political savior, an overthrower of Rome. He was going to establish a dominance in the world that would be eternal. Even Jesus’ own disciples bickered how many times about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven… But upon the greeks coming to see Jesus,

Verse 23... Jesus’ initial response to them is, “the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified…”

As He heads to the cross, what is on Jesus mind?

Glory. Glory is on his mind as he sets his eyes to the cross… Glory, meaning exaltation, extolling, magnification. Glorifying his fathers name and exalting his father in all ways. Glory Glory Glory to God… Yet there is a tension here in the text as there often is in the gospel of John.

Jesus sought glory. The Jews sought glory. The greeks sought glory. But the perfect glory of Jesus’ father, and the glory of the son of man himself will not come in the way the jews and greeks expected. Verse 32… He will be killed. Raised up on the cross in order raise up his name…

Now when we think of Glory we don’t think of death, right? We think of athletes winning metals. We think of a beautiful bride walking down the aisle. The pleasing aroma of fresh baked bread. The wonderful sounds of a melody.

Heaven knows when we think of glory we are especially not thinking of crucifixion.

Yet here stands two contrasting ideas of glory. What has just happened by the time we get to verse 20? His triumphal entry. The people are expecting glory, the glory of a king. The glory of the Romans to be crushed and the glory of the Jews to be magnified! They are bringing him glory and honor in anticipation of this.

Jesus says as the greeks come near, it is the hour of his glorification… And I can see their faces… Yes! It is glory time, baby!… But then he continues…

Verse 24… Jesus gives them an illustration they would understand. He says, Truly truly… Which is like hear ye hear ye, or listen up. He’s about to say something very important about the glory…

English Standard Version Chapter 12

unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit

(suspiciously) That is true jesus… Then his language changes.

Verse 25 and 26… John 12:25-26

John 12:25–26 ESV

25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

See here that Jesus addresses their desire for gaining eternal life, he addressed their hunger for being honored by God and being a part of God’s glory.

Jesus says, do you love your life? Give it up…

Do you want eternal life? Instead of loving your life, hate your earthly life…

You want to serve me? Follow me… And if you follow me you will receive the honor of my father...

But where is he going? Where is he headed?… To death...

And even though he carried a lot of weight in their lives, he preformed many miracles, they sought him… verse 37 says that they still didn’t believe him. As we know, in just a few short days they would be chanting, crucify him crucify him…

So let me ask you this question… If you could have glory and honor and eternal life without the cross, would you take it?

I ask this question of you tonight simply to get you to think.

the scripture says, no builder builds a house without first counting the cost.

We love the idea of the power of the cross, we all want that power, but I fear as JC Ryle once did, that Christians who begin well in their walk with Christ, and really do mean well, turn away from the road to heaven and are lost forever to hell because they simply have not counted the cost of the glory they seek.

But the power of the cross is the same power of a seed falling into the earth. The fruit of the cross does not come without death… So if you could have the glory and honor and power and eternal life without the cross, would you take it?

The reality of the question that I have posed to you is that you can’t have true glory, honor, power and eternal life without Christ, and you can’t have Christ without the cross.

There are some who try. But a Christ without the cross is powerless. A seemingly christian life without the power of the cross produces a life where we merely pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps and tape the plastic fruit of self achievement to our dreadful rotting limbs.

Listen the power of the cross of Christ, this traumatic bloody hour of glory, is found in the glorifying of God’s faithfulness to carryout his redemptive plan that offers us, mere peasants, a seat with him at the King’s table.

The power of the cross is the glorification of the obedience of Christ which flows from calvary to me and you. Those who follow Christ to death are given the gift of being sanctified, set apart, counted as blameless and righteous in God’s eyes.

The power in the cross is glory of Jesus’ name. That all people are drawn to Jesus. Both jew and greek. Jesus tears down the dividing wall of hostility between all racial barriers. Everyone, despite age, race, and sex is welcome to the kingdom of God through Jesus.

The power of the cross is the blissful reality that every sin of yours was placed on Christ. A believer never has to tremble again! It was the glory of the Father to crush him with perfect wrath against your lust and hatred. It was the glory of the son to lay down his life for the sake of your greed and jealousy…

The power of the cross is the glory of fruit growing in the lives of those who follow Jesus. A fruit not just of forgiveness, but the seed of death bears fruit of sanctification. You are forgiven, and cleansed, and strengthened by the power of the holy spirit.

The power of the cross is the heavenly glory in what looked like a good reputation of a miracle worker and teacher coming to an end in the shameful death given to murderers, was actually the example every Christian is to follow and the picture of true glory.

What looked like death, was actually more life than you or I could quantify. What looked like shame and dishonor was actually more honorable to God the Father than myriads and myriads of saints and angels could give to Him in all of eternity.

Colossians 3:2-5 says this… Therfore,

Colossians 3:2–5 (ESV)

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:

Are you following Jesus? Are you a follower of Christ? A way to know is to ask yourself, have I died?

If you have you look to this cross tonight in awe… You look to the magnificent justifying death of our Lord Jesus in praise and thanksgiving.

A follower of Jesus has seen the glory in the power of the cross, does not despise it, but forsakes all the pleasures of the world to die as Christ. Nothing matters more than Christ be exalted and lifted up in our lives, and our lives die out… Let me give you a simplistic example as we close…

When a follower of Jesus has a terrible tay in terms of the world. They get rear-ended, they mess up at work, they lose their temper on their children… When they lay their head down at night, as they consider their troubles that day they recall that they have thought of Christ that day, they considered the cross at least once that day and gloried in it’s power, the worst day melts away into peace of a pretty good day after all.

Contrastingly, if a follower of Jesus has the best day. If they got their coffee paid for in the drive through line, if they got that promotion at work, if their child hits a grandslam at baseball that night, if they have the best day in the terms of the world but go to lay down and their conscience prods them that they haven’t thought about Jesus or the power of the cross at all that day, they realize in sorrow, their day really hasn’t been that great. In that moment the glory of that day fades away into the worst day ever.

So I ask you in a different way,

Are you… are you basking in glory, honor, power, and eternal life apart from the cross?

My prayer for you tonight is that the power of the cross and what Jesus accomplished there through his death would become so precious to you, that you would say, with an adamant NO to the hell of worldly pleasure. My prayer is that you see life apart from Christ as such boundless vanity and foolishness and gladly give up all the earthly glory in order to live for Christ. Even unto death. Christ’s death on Friday was an example for us to follow. A Call to come and die.

Tonight, come and I welcome you to Jesus Christ. The author and perfecter of our faith. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the words of Job, though He slay us, we trust in him. Though he died, he rose. Therefore, if we share in a death like his we will also share in a resurrection like his… Amen.