“The Necessity of the Cross”

Returning to the Cross Sermon Series

“The Necessity of the Cross”

KEY PASSAGE: Romans 3:19–23 (NASB)

Father God, Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory. It is not ours, but Yours. We pray You accept our worship and our praise. May Your name [that is] above every other name be glorified and lifted [up] as we serve and worship You in true godliness. We pray this in Christ’s holy name and let everyone say Amen.  You may be seated.

TITHE and OFFERING

We will call on the ushers to pass around the [offering] plates so we can give our gifts to God. Please follow the instructions on the screen on how to give to Christ’s church. The worship team will lead us [again] with a song as we collect our tithes and offerings.

PRAYER FOR TITHE and OFFERING

What a joy it is to give You our gifts. Lord, these gifts are Yours. This building is Yours. Our future is Yours. Our gifts are for You. We give them gratefully and generously. I pray that these gifts will be used to advance Your work here on earth. With them come our hearts and lives, and I pray that You give us the determination to be faithful in our giving as we live for You. I also pray that these gifts will be used with integrity and honesty to advance Your work here on earth. In the name of Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

WELCOME

Welcome everyone to our Sunday Worship Service. Please stand up [everyone], greet some folks around you, and welcome them to worship [Service]. Our first-time visitors, please stand so we can see you. We also welcome all who join us online.

ANNOUNCEMENT

· Wednesday Night [Remember] is our Bible Study Connect at 7:00 p.m. Please join us on Wednesday night to STUDY THE WORD OF GOD.  We are halfway through the Book of First Corinthians. We will meet every Saturday at 8:00 a.m. for the Corporate Prayer Meeting. If you have a prayer request, please fill out the prayer request form online or in-person using the prayer request form so we can pray for you.

·  Men’s Breakfast is on Saturday, April 5th at 10:00 a.m. Our Worship Night is March 28th for this month.

· All the weekly activities for the church are posted online on the church’s website.  

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together.

Please remain standing as we pray.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Join me as we pray, please.

Our Father is in heaven, and we are thankful for this season of the year. Together, as Your followers, thank You for sending Jesus, Your one and only Son, to die on the Cross. We are thankful that Jesus had us in mind when He came into this world. We who have been brought to this earth to live realize that Jesus came to this earth to die. Thank You for the death of Jesus. Thank You for the complete payment for [sin] His death provided for all [people]. Thank You for the Good News of Jesus. May we proclaim the Good News openly, freely, and boldly so that those who never heard will realize what they missed. Make this church a winsome place, our Father. Guide us from the click that is often the characteristics of the church. May we see this church as a community church. May we understand that this church belongs to all people, not just those here today. And it is all about Jesus, who loves and gives Himself for us. Take special care for those uniformed today in difficult and dangerous places. Watch over those who help others in need. And be near and dear to those who have lost the lives of precious loved ones. We pray for them today. The message proclaimed today is for Your glory. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, we pray. And everyone said Amen.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

As you know, we started a new sermon series titled “Returning to the Cross.” We are going back to the basics. [And] As you walk [with] me through the basics, perhaps you will discover some things about the Cross that you didn’t fully understand, that we have forgotten, or that we are not responding to properly. The Cross is the centerpiece of the Christian faith. By the Cross, we are not talking about two pieces of wood [or sticks]; we are talking about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Calvary. The Cross refers to the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

As we continue with our sermon series on “Returning to the Cross,” I want you to think about the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, looking at His death and His sacrifice for sin, I want you to see it from your side but I also want you to see it from God’s side. I want you to [see] how the death of Christ on the Cross glorifies God, how Christ died for God to be glorified.

[You see] But the Cross is more than something that hangs on a steeple identifying [recognizing] a church. The Cross is more than something that hangs in the living room of your house as a religious symbol. The Cross is more than jewelry that you hang around your neck. The Cross [is] the – Crème de la Crème. The Cross is the sine qua non! [si-ni kwa non]. The Cross is the intricate primary essence of our faith. Sinners don’t fully understand the Cross simply because they would run to the Cross. For us believers, we don’t appreciate the Cross because if they did, we would live differently. We don’t appreciate the Cross because the Cross has been reduced. The Cross has been lowered, and we do not understand its pragmatic, practical relevancy for our lives today.

SERMON EXPOSITION

Looking at the Book of Romans, I want to read it in your hearing as our major position of Scripture and share three thoughts with you this morning so you can understand….so that we can [understand] afresh. Today, I want to talk to you about… “ The Necessity of the Cross.” The first thing you need to understand about why the Cross is necessary is that you have to understand the Standard of God. Paul says in Chapter 3 of the Book of Romans. He says starting with verse 21—“But now apart from the Law, the Righteousness of God has been made manifest.”

In verse 21, Paul mentions the “righteousness of God.” I want to focus on this for a moment. The “righteousness of God” is used in three ways in Scripture. First, righteousness refers to God’s character. It means the righteousness, justice, and perfection God possesses and shows. The “righteousness of God” is God’s Holy Standard. [The righteousness of God] is one of God's attributes. Secondly, righteousness reveals man’s lack of godly character. It means man's sinful, depraved, unrighteous, unjust, and imperfect nature and behavior. Thirdly, righteousness means the perfection [which] God provides for man in Christ Jesus. When you allow the Lord Jesus Christ to take your sins, you are given the righteousness of God.

You cannot appreciate the Cross [Where the Son of God died] until you start with the Righteousness of God. The Cross will make absolutely no sense [to you], or very little [sense to you], if you do not understand the Righteousness of God. From an ethical viewpoint, God is Holy…God is Righteous…..and [God is] Loving. [Watch This] God’s fundamental attribute, His controlling perfection, surrounds the word ‘Holy.’ That is the only word that describes God to the third power. God is never called Love … Love … Love. God is never called—Peace … Peace … Peace …— God is never called Joy … Joy … Joy. But in Revelation 4:8, God is called “HOLY… HOLY … HOLY …” “Is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” HOLY … HOLY… HOLY …” is God’s controlling attribute.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION 1

What does the word holy mean? The word Holy means separate, distinct, unique, or one of a kind. There is nobody like God and He is in a class by Himself. ‘Holy’ speaks of the transcendent nature of God. Because God is unique in His moral character, He is allergic to sin. Many of us here this morning have allergies. We are allergic to certain levels of pollen in the air. And what is sad about this is that we can’t help it…. When the pollen counts rise or go up, the allergic reaction increases.

The eyes get watery. The nose gets irritated, and the eyes and nose begin to run. Why? Because there is something in the air that does not agree with us. There is something in the air [that] does not agree with your body’s immune system, causing your body to overreact. One thing you and I must understand to appreciate the Cross is God’s allergic reaction to sin. God reacts to sins—not because God is trying to be mean.…[To be unkind or inconsiderate]. It is God’s nature.

SERMON EXPLANATION 1

By His very nature, God responds negatively to the reality of sin. In the Old Testament, God built a No-Trespassing sign around His Holiness. That is why God told Adam and Eve in the Garden, “From every tree you may freely eat, but around this tree in the middle, no trespassing.” In other words, God always wanted man to know and not take His Holiness for granted, so He built No-Trespassing signs. When God reveals His Holiness or makes His Holiness known, that is called Righteousness. God is Holy by nature and righteousness is the standard that men call upon to recognize God’s Holiness.

What blue is to sky, wet is to water and hot is to sun, Holiness is to God. The sun doesn’t try to be hot, because the sun was made to be hot. The sky doesn’t try to be blue, because the sky was made to be blue. The water in the ocean doesn’t try to be wet, because the water was made to be wet. Everything I just told you is nature. God is Holy by nature, therefore, His requirements are righteous.… And, God set guiding principles [the foundational beliefs or values] [in place] that reflect His Righteousness, so that there would be an awareness of His Holiness. It says that God has a Righteous Standard in verse 21.

SERMON EXPLANATION 2

The world wants to dump down the Holiness of God. If I can reduce God and not make Him so much God, then I don’t have to respond to Him as God. So, what you have today is not the rejection of the Name of God. You have today the rejection of the Nature of God. [The rejection of God’s holiness in culture and a world that is moving far away from God]. People want to use the name of God at invocation and in benediction, without the God’s Nature. They do not want to acknowledge that God is allergic to sin. And so, we reduce God.

Romans chapter 1, verse 18 says, “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” The Bible says that the world wants to suppress God's righteousness. The world wants nothing to do with the truth about God’s Righteousness. So, what you have today is dumping down God's nature while still using God's name.

So, the God people talk about, is not the same God that the Bible reveals… We can [talk about] God’s love, but don’t mention God’s wrath. We talk about God’s mercy, but don’t bring up His justice. Folks will say, “Well my God is a God of love.” That is half true, but that is only one side of God’s nature. And so, we suppress the truth and do not deal with the God who reveals Himself, who sneezes at unrighteousness—the God who sneezes at ungodliness.

SERMON EXPLANATION 3

Verse 20: “Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in its sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” Let’s get this straight. The Law cannot make you righteous, but what it can do is reveal how unrighteous you are. The Law is like a mirror; you go to the mirror to see how messed up you are when you wake up from bed. The Ten Commandments were God’s guidelines for revealing the Standards He wanted the People of Israel to operate by. God never designed the Ten Commandments to make you righteous.

When you woke up this morning and went to the mirror, the mirror said, “You had a bad night.” The mirror did not fix the problem but revealed what was wrong with you last night. The mirror showed that your hair was out of place, but you didn’t brush your hair with the mirror. The mirror showed boo-boo in your eyes, but you did not wash your face with the mirror. In other words, the mirror revealed the problem, but the mirror could not fix the problem. Many people today misunderstand the intent of the Law. The Law was not designed to fix you but to reveal that you need to be fixed.

SERMON EXPLANATION 4

The second reason [why] we must go back to understanding [The Cross] is the [sinfulness of man.] Verse 23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That means you are not an exception. To understand the [sinfulness of man], you must measure it against the Standard of God. Paul says all have sinned, and the reason all have sinned is they don’t meet God’s Glorious Standard. So, guess what? You and I are sinners because the Standard of God, God’s glory, has not been met. The word glory means to show off, manifest, or reveal. Remember, you and I were created in the image of God. The “image of God,” in Latin is called “Imago Dei.” Imago Dei is a theological concept in Christianity and Judaism [that] signifies the unique creation of humans in God’s likeness. You and I were [created] to reflect the glory of God. Whenever we do not reflect God’s glory in attitudes or [in] actions, the Bible calls that sin. And all have sinned.

Romans 3:12 says, “There is no one who does good, There is not even one.” God is not measuring you and me by our neighbors. God is not measuring you and me by our friends. God is not measuring you and me by our coworkers. God is measuring you and me against His Standard, and when that Standard is measured against us, God says, “Nobody meets it! Not even one.” God wants us to see how sinful we are so we can fully appreciate the meaning of the Cross!

If you don’t see yourself as a sinner, you don’t see the need to be saved. If you don’t see yourself, even as a Christian, as sinful, then you will lose sight of the Cross. Why is it that so many of us as Christians don’t see the value of the Cross even though we saw it when we first got saved? Because somewhere along the line we lost the substance, and significance, and importance of understanding the nature of sin against the Standard of a Holy Righteous God.

And whenever that happens, even if you are already a Christian, the Cross gets lost. So, the Cross loses its value even among Christians, because we forget the Standard of God versus the sinfulness of me. God is Holy; which means He has a Standard of Righteousness, which is expressed through His Law. There is the sinfulness of men, and no matter how sophisticated your sinfulness is, it is an offense to the Glory of God.

SERMON EXPLANATION 5

He says in Verse 22: “Even the Righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” That brings up the Cross.  The Cross. What is it? The Cross is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In Romans Chapter 5, verse 6: “For while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” This verse also brings up the Cross. Verse 8 says: “But God demonstrated His [own] love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Verse 10 says: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.”

The Cross refers to the sacrificial death of Christ for sin. But if you don’t understand the Standard of God, and if you don’t understand your sinfulness, you won’t appreciate and benefit from the death of Christ. Why did Jesus have to die on the Cross? The Bible describes sin as a bill. The Lord’s Prayer says, “Forgive us our debts.” The Lord’s Prayer refers to sin but uses it as a bill. You and I are in debt to God.  God does not reduce His Standard to make you feel better. God does not grade you on the curve!

Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” The bill is death because of sin, and somebody who is not in debt has to die. The problem is that God cannot die because God is a Spirit. God needed somebody with God's perfection. So guess what God did? God became a man. God’s justice demands death, and His love offers mercy.  So, God becomes a man in the person of God the Son, Jesus Christ. .… Jesus Christ is the perfect Son of God!  2 Corinthians 5:21 talks about the [perfect] Son of God. —“He Who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we could become the Righteousness of God in Him.”  When we talk [about] the Cross, we often talk about Jesus bearing our sins.  The verse said: “Jesus became sin. The definition of sin is what Jesus became.

SERMON EXPLANATION 6

Watch this now … There are 8 billion [people living] on planet earth. All the sins of 8 billion people, not counting the people yet to be born, that is everything they have done, or everything they have wanted to do, or thought about doing … both motives and actions, were accumulated when Jesus Christ hung on the Cross. All of the sins of eight billion people … their actions and attitudes … were tossed at Jesus Christ including the sins of the people not yet born. And two thousand years ago on the Cross, they were thrown at Jesus Christ.

At that moment, Jesus became sin. When Jesus said, “My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?” … Something took place in that moment [that had never happened before] and will never occur again. The definition of God is One Being made up of three co-equal persons—Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, but they all make up the One God here. It is called The Trinity.

On the Cross there was … .… an interruption in the Trinity. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God looks up to His Father and says, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” On the Cross, when the sin of the world was tossed at Jesus Christ, God the Father turned His back on the Son and said, “Go to Hell!” On the Cross God told Jesus … ‘GO TO HELL’, because that is what Jesus did. In that moment, there was a separation between God the Father and God the Holy Spirit as God the Son—God the Father looked at God the Son and said, “Go to Hell!” And for that moment in time, there was a break in the Trinity. So, here is what God did for you and me … God stopped being God, so that He could be God for you and me. Jesus Christ experienced hell so that you and I could experience Heaven … on the Cross, because Jesus became the very embodiment of sin.

So, this Cross is no trivial thing. Jesus died when He was 33 years old. What did He do for 33 years? He tells us, “I am fulfilling all righteousness.”  It took Jesus 33 years to complete all the Ten Commandments and the 613 statutes and ordinances recorded in the Old Testament. Jesus had to fulfill the Ten Commandments and the 613 statutes and ordinances that make up the Old Testament to fulfill the Law—to satisfy the Law. So, when a sinner comes to the Cross and trusts Jesus Christ as Savior, two things happen, not one.

The first is, they are forgiven of their sins … that is number one. The second thing that happened is that… He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. There was a credit transfer. God transferred or credited to Jesus, our sin … but when you came to Jesus, God credited to you, the righteousness of Christ.

You and I stand before God as though we have never [committed] a sin. Even though you are a sinner, you have a credit.… and it is a Jesus credit. That means it is perfect credit. You stand before God as though you have never sinned. When God looks at you, He is looking at perfection … not because you are perfect, but because you have a credit in your account from Jesus Christ on deposit. And you stand before God as a righteous person.

When we come to worship God at the Cross, we see His righteousness and grace [on] display. God’s consistency and holiness are on display on the Cross. God is fully glorified in the death of His Son, Jesus Christ when He died on the Cross. The Cross is God interrupting God, because He loved you so much.

FAITH APPEAL, CALL to ACTION and ALTAR CALL

When you apply for or renew a driver’s license, you are often asked about organ donation, because it is rooted in compassion and the desire to make a difference. For some, organ donation is all about saving lives—organ donation can give a person a second chance at life, especially for those with failing organs like kidneys, hearts, or livers. Somebody had to die for you to get their organ to keep you alive.

All I am trying to say today is that Jesus Christ is the biggest organ donor in the human race. Because on the Cross, [Jesus] gave His life … so He could donate that life … so that you could live because of His donation. The good news is that you will live forever because of Christ’s donation. Heaven is your home because of His donation. You are forgiven, don’t tell me you are too tired to praise Jesus. Don’t tell me you are too cute to give Him the glory. Don’t tell me you don’t have time to serve Jesus.

Don’t tell me you are unwilling to give something to Jesus. Jesus is the biggest organ donor in the [history of humanity.] Jesus is the King of kings, Lord of lords, and our Savior. You should give Jesus some glory and praise because of the Cross; the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on behalf of you and me. Let’s look at the Cross the way we should: Christ died for us. God bless you.

Before we say our benediction and conclude this service. I invite you to come forward if you need prayer so we can pray for you. If you are here today and don’t know who Jesus is and the Cross, don’t make sense to you. I want you to come forward so we can pray for you and lead you to Christ.  Let us stand on our feet [and bless the name of the Lord with worship and praise].

BENEDICTION [CLOSING PRAYER]

Let us pray.

Lord, again we thank You for Your Word. Your Word is so encouraging to all of us. We understand these things, many of us do. Some here today don’t understand these things, for many today is the first time they [understand] this and we are so grateful for that. The clarity of the Scripture speaks to us with such magnificent purity. Thank You for the understanding built into the Scripture and the double understanding [that comes] from the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for the glory of the gospel in which we stand by, which we are saved and hold with everlasting hope. Save … sinners today, Lord, who have thought perhaps to themselves that their goodness can earn them a place in Your Kingdom. Who thought that their good work can earn them a place in heaven? I pray that You will bring them to grace and salvation by faith. We ask that the Cross of Jesus Christ pierce in the middle of our hearts, [our consciousness], and [our] feelings. Let the Cross liberate us from our false masters. Let the Cross liberate us from guilt and sin. We pray all this in the name of Christ, our Lord and Savior. And Everyone says, “Amen.”

God bless you. We will see you next week at 10:30 a.m.