The Cross Centred Life

Introduction

Opening Illustration

In the Lion King...

Simba is the son of King Mufasa, destined to rule.

But after being deceived by his uncle Scar,

Simba is led to believe that he is responsible for his father’s death.

Overwhelmed with guilt and shame, he runs away and leaves behind everything—

his identity, his calling, his responsibility.

Instead of facing the truth, he builds a new life where he tries not to think about the past at all.

Years later, Simba is confronted with the reality that the kingdom is suffering under Scar’s rule.

He’s torn—he knows what’s right, but he feels disqualified and unwilling to return.

It’s in that moment—lost, conflicted, and running from who he really is—

he has a vision of his father…

Mufasa: “Simba, you have forgotten me.”

Simba: “No. How could I?”

Mufasa: “You have forgotten who you are and so forgotten me.

Look inside yourself, Simba.

You are more than what you have become.

You must take your place in the Circle of Life.”

Simba: “How can I go back? I’m not who I used to be.”

Mufasa: “Remember who you are. You are my son, and the one true King.

Remember who you are.”

Application to Us

This is very similar to what happens to us as Christians.

When we are saved, we are filled with joy for all that God has done for us.

We have been forgiven and saved into His family.

But then we start to feel shame and guilt over our sin,

and Satan encourages us to run away from who we are in Christ.

We stop looking at what Jesus has done for us,

and we begin to focus on our works,

which leads to a life of frustration and dissatisfaction,

because we feel that God is always unhappy with us!

Transition to Title

This is why we need to live…

The Cross Centred Life

(Book I read by C.J. Mahaney)

On Good Friday, Pastor Jonah showed us why Good Friday is Good…

Because Jesus died for us… EVEN WHEN WE WERE HIS ENEMIES!

We were helpless to save ourselves,

but God demonstrated His love for us by paying for all our sin through His sacrifice.

This morning, we have been praising God by remembering His resurrection.

This is proof that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice,

by raising Him from the dead.

The Gospel is the Good News that:

It is done.

It is finished.

There is no work left to be done.

God has given the gift of His Son, Jesus,

and simply calls us to put our faith in Him!

And after we do,

we don’t put the cross in our rear view and move on to bigger and better things…

NO! We never outgrow our need for the Gospel!

We strive to live “The Cross Centred Life”.

The cross is the centre of our Christian lives,

It’s everything to us!

We always remember Jesus’ sacrifice,

because it is essential for us to guard the truth of the message of the Gospel.

This is what Paul did…

Transition to Sermon

Paul, at the end of his life, writes to Timothy. What does he say?

Keep the Gospel the main thing!

2 Timothy 1:8–14 ESV

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

Paul worked very hard to guard the truth of the message of the Gospel,

and at the end of his life he encouraged Timothy his protege to do the same thing.

He emphasized it so much because we are so prone to leaving the message of the gospel,

and putting the emphasis back on our works and effort.

But this only leads to a legalistic life filled with fear and worry!

Main Point of Sermon

When we keep the cross at the centre of our lives,

when we keep the Gospel as the main thing,

THEN we will experience:

joy;

happiness;

victory; and

hope in God’s promise!

LET’S PRAY

When we don’t live a cross centred life,

we fall into…

1. The Trap of the You Centred Life

We begin our Christian lives with joy/excitement

Slowly the focus shifts from what God has done for us to what we do for God.

We begin living to avoid making God angry, and He changes His mind about us.

We turn away from the cross, and toward ourselves.

This leads to 3 different traps…

EXPLAIN

a. The Trap of Legalism

Have you ever seen a plate spinning act?

Man uses plates on rods/spinning/plates on table/runs around keeping it all up… STRESSFUL!

But not a plate falls to the ground!

This is what the trap of legalism looks like.

We are joyful and excited at the beginning of our Christian lives,

but then the plates start accumulating…

Bible reading/prayer/d-groups/evangelism, etc… Like spinning plates!

When we’re doing well balancing our plates we feel good about ourselves, and joyfully worship on Sundays.

But when we had a bad week and dropped a few plates, we hesitate to come to God because we failed.

This is the trap of legalism… the lie that we can somehow earn God’s love/favour/forgiveness,

and it leads to…

b. The Trap of Condemnation

When we base our Christian lives on our own performance, it leads to guilt/shame/condemnation.

This is like baggage that we carry around.

You carry the baggage of:

that sin from years ago…

that unkind word to someone at work a few months ago…

that argument with your spouse from a couple weeks ago…

the guilt that you’re not farther along in your spiritual life…

This condemnation and guilt leads you to believe God is angry with you/ready to give up on you.

This is the trap of condemnation… it’s centred on your performance.

The final trap of the you centred life is…

c. The Trap of Feelings

We all know what it’s like to be led by our feelings/emotions.

It starts early in the morning...

The alarm goes off…

“I went to bed too late”…

hit the snooze button;

Wake up late… now your rushing and the worries of the day creep in;

all the things you have to do

don’t have time to spend with God…

guilt/shame/condemnation…

“man I feel overweight;

why don’t I eat healthier/workout;

I guess there’s no point in trying now…”

“what did that person mean by what they said yesterday”

“I still have to deal with that difficult situation”

“how long has it been since my spouse and I have had a date/did something fun with the kids…”

We allow our feelings/emotions to run out of control.

This is often the reason we feel condemnation because we’re not measuring up,

leading us to feel God is not happy with us, because we are stuck in the trap of legalism…

SUMMARY

These are all the traps of “The You Centred Life”!

Legalism; Condemnation; Feelings.

This doesn’t sound like the life of peace/joy/hope we were expecting when we first became Christians is it???

Maybe you’ve found yourself there; maybe you’re there right now.

We all struggle with this… it’s not a fun place to be.

Thankfully there’s…

2. The Freedom of the Cross Centred Life

When we truly understand and live in light of all that Christ has done for us,

that’s when we walk/live in the freedom of “The Cross Centred Life”.

On Good Friday, Pastor Jonah talked about what Jesus did for us:

Dying for us when we were his enemies.

Now we are saved from our sins, and God declares that we are righteous!

And this is all from faith?!? Amazing!!!

So why do we still struggle with sin then?

This comes because we do not correctly understand God’s work of salvation in the life of the believer.

EXPLAIN

The first thing you need to understand if you have put your faith in Jesus is that…

a. You ARE Justified

The moment you put your faith in Jesus, the final sacrifice for your sin, you are justified.

Justification is,

“Justification: An act of God whereby He pronounces a sinner to be righteous because of that sinner’s faith in Christ.”

YOU ARE SAVED FROM THE PENALTY OF YOUR SINS!

The moment you believed in Jesus as your Saviour,

God pronounced you to be righteous.

Jonah — legal term — declared innocent — not guilty anymore!

Romans 3:21–26 ESV

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God graciously justifies you based on YOUR FAITH…

not your works/anything you could do.

So why do you still sin?

b. You Are BEING Sanctified

You have been justified/declared righteous, even though you’re not perfect yet.

You will still sin because though you have the Holy Spirit, you still have your fleshly nature.

“Sanctification: The process by which Christians are set apart for God from the rest of the world, or the process by which Christians are made holy.”

YOU ARE BEING SAVED FROM THE POWER OF YOUR SIN.

You have been set apart by God as His holy possession/child…

And He is slowly conforming you to the image of His Son, Jesus.

Hebrews 10:14 ESV

14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

God HAS perfected you, but IS sanctifying you.

God does this through the power of the Holy Spirit in you working through God’s Word, is making you more and more like Jesus.

This is work that God does, but you are involved!

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

We must understand the difference between JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION,

otherwise we will fall back into legalism and condemnation because we’ll focus on our works.

The final aspect to “The Freedom of the Cross Centred Life” is…

c. You WILL BE Glorified

You ARE Justified - righteous before God because of your faith in Jesus (past tense)

You Are BEING Sanctified - made more like Jesus through the Holy Spirit (present tense)

You WILL BE Glorified (future tense)

“Glorification: God’s final removal of sin from the life of the saints so that they stand faultless before him in glory in eternity.”

YOU WILL BE SAVED FROM THE PRESENCE OF SIN!

One day you will be freed from the temptations and desires of your flesh.

You will be holy and blameless before God, and have a glorified body!

Romans 8:18 ESV

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

Romans 5:2 ESV

2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Colossians 3:4 ESV

4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

One day, God will finally and and fully finish the work of salvation He has started in you!

SUMMARY

This is “The Freedom of the Cross Centred Life”!

When you live with cross at the centre of your life, you remember that:

God…

HAS justified you…

IS sanctifying you… and

WILL glorify you

Understanding how God saves us gives us hope/joy/assurance.

We’re not depending on our ability to maintain our status before God.

We can’t be good enough to do it!

Our assurance comes from our faith in Jesus,

that His sacrifice was enough for us!

This leads us to…

3. The Joy of the Cross Centred Life

When we truly understand the gospel,

That God has declared us righteous,

That we are his children,

That we are his special/holy possession,

It frees us from the feeling that we must work in order to earn/keep his favour and love.

Does that mean that we don’t do any works?

No!

James tells us that faith without works is dead.

It’s not that we don’t do works,

It’s that we rightly understand them.

“Your works are not a means of earning grace, but experiencing grace.”

That is why we practice disciplines like:

Reading the Bible

Praying

Attend attending church

Being a part of a discipleship group/home group

Sharing the gospel…

Because these are ways we preach the gospel to ourselves and experience God’s grace anew.

These are ways we can keep the cross at the centre of our lives

Keep the gospel the main thing in our lives,

Which brings us joy as it reveals God’s grace to us each and every day.

Therefore, we should view the disciplines of the Christian life as:

Habits that point us to “The Joy of the Cross Centred Life”.

C.J. Mahaney gives some disciplines he finds particularly helpful in keeping the cross at the centre of his life…

EXPLAIN

a. The Joy of Memorizing the Gospel

As humans we are so prone to forget,

And we revert back to a workspace righteousness often.

We need regular reminders of the gospel to keep the cross at the centre.

This is where scripture memory becomes a joy, not a duty.

ILLUSTRATION - Memorizing Scripture in Seminary

They were regular reminders of the Gospel, and led me to think:

“How could anyone doubt their salvation with regular reminders like this?!?”

When we memorize and recite the Gospel given to us in God’s Word,

it gives us confidence in God’s promises to us.

Let’s read these passages together:

Romans 10:9 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:1 ESV

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

John 3:36 ESV

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

What confidence you would have in God if you recited those passages every day!

b. The Joy of Praying the Gospel

Through Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection,

He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

He tells His disciples that they can now pray to the Father in His name…

John 14:13–14 ESV

13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 16:23–24 ESV

23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

This is why Bryan Chappell wrote the book “Praying Backwards”.

We usually end our prayers “In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Something we tack on at the end.

But Chappell encourages people to begin praying “In Jesus’ name…”

We understand that Jesus has opened up the way to the Father,

and THAT’S why we can pray directly to the Father!

Therefore, we pray in Jesus’ name,

and we are reminded of the Gospel every time we pray,

because we remember we couldn’t pray to the Father apart from Jesus’ sacrifice.

We would have had to go through the priest and the sacrificial system!

This also helps us to pray for the right things.

When we pray in Jesus’ name, we remember that He is God and we are not.

Our prayers, therefore, are about seeking His will and His kingdom, not our own.

This gives us joy as we remember He is in control, working out His purposes, and they will not fail!

c. The Joy of Singing the Gospel

Thankfully there is a lot of good Christian music available today!

Some of it is better than others.

There is some Christian music that is two man centered, and not cross centered.

It is more focussed on what we need or what we want God to do then on what Jesus has done.

We need to find good cross centred music that will bring us joy as we remember the gospel.

“THE STEADFAST LOVE OF CHRIST”

Sovereign Grace Music

VERSE 1 Once my heart was a prison, defiled and cold Where sin and the enemy reigned I was bound by the chains that enslaved my soul No hint of repentance or shame

VERSE 1 But then Jesus appeared like the morning sun Defeating the shadows with light And forgiveness flowed through His precious blood Oh, the steadfast love of Christ

VERSE 2 Though redeemed I still battle the lies within That silently war in my soul In my weakness I yield to the power of sin And desperately cry out for hope

VERSE 2 But then grace rushes in like a mighty flood New strength to engage in the fight And I taste the freedom the cross has won Through the steadfast love of Christ

VERSE 3 All the world is accursed and in sorrow still As heartache and suffering remain But the hope of creation will be fulfilled Our Savior is coming to reign

VERSE 3 I believe in the justice of God the Son I know faith will turn into sight Every tear stain dried, every wound undone By the steadfast love of Christ

TAG All of Heaven will quake when we see our King The Lamb on the throne, lifted high We’ll behold in awe and forever sing Of the steadfast love of Christ Oh, the steadfast love of Christ

d. The Joy of Reviewing the Gospel’s Effect

It’s easy for us to want to forget the past,

especially if you’re ashamed of your sinful decisions.

Paul embraces his past every time he shares his testimony.

1 Corinthians 15:8–11 ESV

8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

He embraces his sinful past,

because it shows God’s grace in his life.

ILLUSTRATION - Jessica sharing about me when I was younger… a jerk!

Some of you may not believe it, but I used to be MORE of a selfish jerk/jock.

I still can be, but God has really changed my heart!

Jessica will remind me of that from time to time,

and it doesn’t feel good in the moment,

but it really highlights God’s grace in my life…

I’m glad I’m not like that… as much… anymore!

Regularly look back over your life and remember how you used to think/act/talk…

Then give God the glory for how He has changed your heart!

You will have joy as you remember His grace through Jesus in your life!

e. The Joy of Studying the Gospel

The gospel is not something that we experienced once and then we move on from it.

The gospel is something that we continue to grow in for the rest of our lives.

We should never stop growing in our understanding of what Christ has done for us.

Read books,

Listen to sermons,

Find good music,

Attend Bible studies,

Always be seeking to grow in your understanding of the cross

So that your love for Jesus and all that he has done for you will grow!

The more we understand what he has done for us, the more we will love him!

Luke 7:36–48 ESV

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The more we understand why Christ had to die for us,

the more we realize how we have sinned and offended God and are deserving of hell,

the more we will love and worship Him for His willingness to die for us!

SUMMARY

These are the habits that help us experience,

“The Joy of the Cross Centred Life”.

We don’t do these things to earn God’s grace/favour…

we do them to experience His grace/favour!

But we can’t do this on our own!

We need the Holy Spirit to help us!

Closing

You may be tempted to think, as I have in my life,

“I already know the Gospel. Do we really need to keep thinking/talking about it?”

YES! It is vital… because we are so prone to forget!

David Prior

“We never move on from the cross, only into a more profound understanding of the cross.”

J. Knox Chamblin

“The Spirit does not take his pupils beyond the cross, but ever more deeply into it.”

Closing Illustration

Paul emphasized the cross of Christ throughout his life and ministry.

It was his desire to gain a deeper understanding of it,

and ultimately experience the joy of his salvation, which is the resurrection!

Philippians 3:7–11 ESV

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

The more we understand Christ and what He has done for us,

the more faithful/obedient/joyful we will be,

as we live our lives for Him who died for us!

This is what it means to live “The Cross Centred Life”.

All of our hope, confidence, and faith is in Jesus, and what He did for us.

We trust in His promise to forgive us, cleanse us, and resurrect us,

to live with Him in eternity forever!

This enables us even to endure suffering in this life.

We can have joy and hope knowing that God will raise us from the dead.

We do this looking to Jesus…

Philippians 2:6–11 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Have you bowed your knee to Jesus?

Have you confessed Him as your Lord?

Or are you stuck in the trap of the you centred life,

thinking you can be good enough?

Jesus has already done it all!

He died to make pay for your sins and make you right with God…

He rose from the grave, defeating death and giving hope in eternal life…

Surrender your life to Him find freedom and joy in “The Cross Centred Life”!

Let’s pray!