Power of the cross.

Have you ever stopped to think of where the world would be if it were not fo the cross.

Not just any cross, as there were many a man nailed to them by the romans, but the cross o which Jesus died upon.

The cross and all it denotes was not and action rushed by a God because his son was not getting through to the church leaders of the time but is was the culmination of a plan or redemption that was put into motion in the ivory Palaces of heaven and ran through the beginning of time until those final saying of Jesus upon the cross.

Already i have used some long words so let me give the meaning of these before we start.

The word redemption means in the context of scripture. The act of which the death of Jesus christ pays the penalty for our sins.

We might know the song

I had a dept i could not pay He paid the price he did not owe i needed someone to take may sins away and now i sing a brand new song amazing grace my Jesus came and took my sins away.

In the song we see that we had a dept that we could not pay

Jesus payed price that he didn't owe

This is all about love and restoring what was right at the beginning

so lets have a look at why and how Jesus came to do this act.

SO lets look at the beginning

Genesis 1:26–31 AV

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Gen 1:26

first thing to note is

Genesis 1:26 AV

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Gen 1:26

to words stand out to me there and it is

Image and likeness

scholars over the years have debated what this means weather it means that we were made to look like God physical or weather it was to be like God spiritually.

6754. צֶלֶם tselem, tseh’-lem; from an unused root mean. to shade; a phantom, i.e. (fig.) illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, espec. an idol:— image, vain shew.

As no one has seen God when can oly speculate that it might be physical

mean. mean. = meaning

But spiritually i think we have enough text to give credence to use being made like God having a spiritual side. And created without sin.

i.e. i.e. = that is

It was only to man that God said let us make man in our own image and likeness.

Placed in a wonderful new world and given dominion over all

fig. fig. = figurative, figuratively

espec. espec. = especially

fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth

Man had a position of authority over all that God had created.

so what went wrong

lucifer which is another name for satan was upon earth

Isaiah 14:12–14 AV

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

isa14:12-

here was an angel who because of pride was cast out of heaven and had made earth his play ground

Genesis 2:9 AV

And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

many trees in the garden two really important trees

Gen 2:9

tree of life

tree of the knowledge of good and evil

but of only one where they told not to eat of.

Genesis 2:16–17 AV

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Gen 2:

God had shared this bit of information with the man

then incomes a talking snake and beguile Eve

as all the things in the garden where created Good by God we can take that the serpent was used by satan or was in fact satan to rob man of what he had in the beginning with God.

eve took of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and gave to Adam and the scripture says

Genesis 2:7–8 AV

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

They looked, took and ate

Gen 2:7-

Genesis 3:7–8 AV

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Gen 3:

they did 4 things

there eyes were opened

they new they were naked

they sewed fig leaves together to make aprons

they hid themselves from God

what was the response of God did he call and when he got no answer go away

Genesis 3:9 AV

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Gen3:

Adam’s response was

Genesis 3:10 AV

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Gen 3:

Gods response

Genesis 3:11 AV

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Gen 3:

then as so often when confronted with ones own sin Adam said

Gen 3:

Genesis 3:12 AV

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Blame the woman

Genesis 3:13 AV

And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Gen 3:

blame the serpent.

when sin is revealed theres no point blaming someone else for your sin

you have to man up and take the consequences.

God was about to reveals the punishment of sin in the garden. and this would be a lasting punishment,

to the snake or satan

Genesis 3:14–15 AV

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Gen 3:1

to the woman

Genesis 3:16 AV

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Gen3:

to the man

Genesis 3:17–19 AV

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Gen 3:

but because God is a God of Love he showed the pattern for the future.

Genesis 3:21 AV

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Gen 3:21

God killed and covered their sins the blood of the animal was to them a covering for their sins.

and because they were still in there sins although covered by the blood of an animalGod had to turn them out of the garden

Genesis 3:22–24 AV

And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

gen 3:22

allowing them to have access to the tree of life would have given them life everlasting in there sins so God did that which was necessary and set in progress they way that sin would be delt with until Jesus Came.

Genesis 2:16 AV

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gen 2:16

Strong, J. (1996). The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.