The Glory of the Cross
Notes
Transcript
Calvary Shows us God’s Commitment to His Own Glory
Calvary Shows us God’s Commitment to His Own Glory
The purpose of the cross is revealed when we see the seriousness of sin.
The purpose of the cross is revealed in what the cross accomplished.
God’s Glory in Judging the World through Jesus Christ
God’s Glory in Judging the World through Jesus Christ
Many of us have grown up hearing sermons about the future day when Jesus will come to judge the world. And that is true, there is a future day of judgement. But look at what Jesus says here in the beginning of verse 31.
31 Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Jesus has been given the authority by God to bring Judgement at the end of time. At the end of time all people will stand before Jesus to receive their judgement.
But then read
john 5:27-29; 5:24]
24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
Jesus says, “Now, is the judgement of this world...”
The hymn “Hallelujiah, what a savior!” says it so beautifully,
Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
"Full atonement!" can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
"It is finished!" was His cry;
Now in heav'n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we'll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Christian, please hear this. Your feelings this morning DO NOT determine how God sees you today. Many of us walked into the building this morning with a guilt and shame that never ceases condemning us. “God could never love a sinner like me.” Christian, you who have repented of your sin and have trusted Christ, stop projecting your feelings about yourself on God! God doesnt see you how you see yourself!
God made His determination about you more than 2,000 years ago—on the cross when Jesus stood condemned in your place. You Christian, are no longer stand before God a condemned sinner. You stand before God this morning as a blood bought—forgiven—loved—blessed—lavished in grace—forgiven—adopted child of God.
And I know what you’re thinking...”Well I dont feel it, though Jonathan.” As gently as I can say this, “I dont care about your feelings.” Our feelings dont determine the facts—the facts determine how we should feel. The Facts are that what God says about you is true.
And why did God do all of these things? Why did he purchase us with his blood, forgive us, show his love to us, bless us in Christ, lavish His grace upon us, and adopt us as His beloved Children?
12 so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory.
Ephesians 1
It was for His glory…God’s judging his perfect son Jesus on the Cross and saving wretched sinners was for one purpose and one purpose only. It was to put his infinite and amazing glory on display. It was so that we would have to say, “WOW! Look at how amazing our God is!!!”
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
Let me give you an example of how God has shown himself to be glorious in judging sin on the cross of Christ.
**Story about Muslim student:
Asked him how sure he was he was going to go to heaven.
He said 50% at first “Because I dont live like I should.”
Immediatly followed by 100%, “Because God is merciful...”
God will have mercy on me…thats what he said.
Fair enough…unbeknownst to this young man, he had stumbled upon the key issue of salvation...
Namely, “How does God deal with our sin?”
This man’s answer was, “Well God will look at me and see that I tried hard, and because I tried hard—even though I failed—he will have mercy on me.”
So I asked him the obvious question, does that mean God will just ignore your sin?
He answered, “Yes.”
So then I asked him if he believed God cared about justice? If God was fair?
He said yes.
Do you believe it is fair for God to ignore someone’s wrongdoing just because they said they were sorry? Like, if a rapist was caught and he stood before a human court and said, “Yea I know Im a rapist, but Im really sorry...” Do you think we should let him off the hook completely? Would that be fair?
Obviously he answered “no”...
So I asked him, “Well, your god has a problem, then. How can your God be both fair and merciful?
He had no answer...
The first way we see how God glorifies His name by judging sin on the cross, but in the second half of verse 31 we see that...
On the Cross God Reveals His glory by Casting out the ruler of this World.
On the Cross God Reveals His glory by Casting out the ruler of this World.
31 Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
fjohn 12:31
Jesus makes it clear that on the cross he casts out the ruler of this world—namely Satan Himself.
The obvious question that we are confronted with when we read this verse is, “How?”. If Satan has already been defeated by God on the cross, why then do we have verses like ?
8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
and
10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil.
If we still have to fight against the devil, in what way did God overthrow the devil on the Calvary?
Thats an appropriate question. There are some verses that help us understand what Jesus is talking about:
27 After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. So Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.”
John 13:
30 I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me. 31 On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me.
“Get up; let’s leave this place.
John 14:
John 14:
What John tells us is that Satan’s plan was to put an end to the Kingdom that Jesus had come to establish. From the very beginning of Jesus life Satan had tried to thwart the plan of God. When Jesus was born, Satan used Herod’s insecurities to try to kill Jesus by killing every first born son of Israel. But God saved Jesus by giving him a father who was willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and rescued Jesus by fleeing to Egypt. Then, after Jesus’ Baptism and inauguration into ministry. The Holy Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted in every way by Satan. Yet Jesus, by the power of the Spirit and the ministry of God’s word, was able to withstand every temptation the devil threw his way. Throughout Jesus’ ministry the devil would try to interfere with God’s plan, but Jesus was faithful to do all God had called him to do.
Yet here, in the last moments of Jesus’ life, Satan thought he had finally back Jesus into a corner. John tells us that the cross was Satan’s last ditch effort to try to destroy the plans of God through Jesus Christ. Satan thought that if he could kill Jesus then He would stop the Kingdom of God from coming.
But what Satan didnt know was that God was in control the whole time. Jesus death was the very means that God intended to use to bring the fullness of the Kingdom to reality! It was through Jesus’ death that sinners would be made alive!
This is why the Apostle Paul said these words,
13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.
You see, what Satan meant for evil, God had meant for good!
Through the work of Christ, death was defeated, the record of your sin was erased, and Satan was totally disarmed.
This is why we sing,
It was on the cross of Jesus Christ, the record of our sin was erased, death was defeated, and God made a disgrace of the Accuser by using his vain attempts to destroy us.
I love what Martin Luther says in “Bondage of the Will.” He writes,
“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!”
Christian, this is a glorious truth…the accuser has no more accusations to make. The ruler of this world has been cast out of the courtroom. So next time you sing these words, sing them with all of your might, “When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of my guilt within. Upward I look and see Him there, who made an end to all my sin.”
God has made a mockery of sin, death and the devil through the cross of Jesus Christ!
Why? Because God displays His glory through the Cross of Christ!
So...
On the cross
On the cross God reveals his glory by judging the world.
On the Cross, God reveals his glory by casting out the ruler of this world the devil....and lastly...
On the Cross God Reveals His glory by Drawing All People to Himself
On the Cross God Reveals His glory by Drawing All People to Himself
32 As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.”
On the Cross God Reveals His glory by Drawing All People to Himself
On the Cross God Reveals His glory by Drawing All People to Himself
john 12:
On the cross God was made glorious by drawing all people to Himself.
There are 2 Aspects of this Call:
The Call Is Universal
In order to understand how important of a statement this was you have to understand who Jesus’ audience was.
Jesus had come into the city of Jerusalem and he was being praised as “Hosanna” which was a Hebrew name for “Savior” He was called the King of Israel. So Jewish people would have thought that Jesus had only come to save people from the Nation of Israel.
But what Jesus says here is that the cross has no limitations. The whole world is drawn to God through the Cross of Christ. This meant that Jesus was going to the cross to save Jews and gentiles, male and female, slaves and free.
Here’s the significance for us. It doesnt matter what your background is, what family line you come from, what the color of your skin is, what number is in your bank account, what political party you identify with—if you will believe on Jesus this morning, repent of your sin and trust him, the cross is for you.
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Here is the deal, all of us would probably agree that we believe this truth this morning. We would all say that the cross is for everyone. But the question is, do we live it?
If the cross is for everyone, why is it that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week? You see, because the cross is for everyone, that means that the church should be the leading advocate for racial reconciliation. Im not saying that we can fix the cultures bent toward racial injustice, but I am saying that the blood bought church of Jesus Christ should be the picture of ethnic diversity. When the whole world seems to be trying to divide, there is only one truth that can bring healing and unity…the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jesus draws all people to God on the Cross. And as the church of Jesus Christ, we should make it our aim to gather with all types of people at the foot of
The Call is Effective
Notice that Jesus says that all whom he calls will come to him
He does not say that they may, might, can, or could. They shall.
The calling of Jesus is guaranteed.
Our salvation is not based upon our coming, but His calling.
But God still tells us that we have to respond…Some of you, God has been calling you for years. But you have yet to respond to his call.
This morning, would you come?
..The last part of this passage is about the urgency of the call....you dont have forever to respond, you will get no second chance to respond to this glorious God who gives you the glorious gift of Jesus Christ.
Jesus had come into the city of Jerusalem and he was being praised as “Hosanna” which was a Hebrew name for “Savior” He was called the King of Israel. So Jewish people would have thought that Jesus had only come to save people from the Nation of Israel.
The Last thing I want us to see this morning is..The last part of this passage is about the urgency of the call....you dont have forever to respond, you will get no second chance to respond to this glorious God who gives you the glorious gift of Jesus Christ.
The last part of this passage is about the urgency of the call....you dont have forever to respond, you will get no second chance to respond to this glorious God who gives you the glorious gift of Jesus Christ.
Come to Christ this morning, be forgiven, be redeemed, experience the glorious love of God in Christ this morning.
But what Jesus says here is that the cross has no limitations. The whole world is drawn to God through the Cross of Christ. This meant that Jesus was going to the cross to save Jews and gentiles, male and female, slaves and free.
Here’s the significance for us. It doesnt matter what your background is, what family line you come from, what the color of your skin is, what number is in your bank account, what political party you identify with—if you will believe on Jesus this morning, repent of your sin and trust him, the cross is for you.
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 timothy
Here is the deal, all of us would probably agree that we believe this truth this morning. We would all say that the cross is for everyone. But the question is, do we live it?
If the cross is for everyone, why is it that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week? You see, because the cross is for everyone, that means that the church should be the leading advocate for racial reconciliation. Im not saying that we can fix the cultures bent toward racial injustice, but I am saying that the blood bought church of Jesus Christ should be the picture of ethnic diversity. When the whole world seems to be trying to divide, there is only one truth that can bring healing and unity…the cross of Jesus Christ.
On the cross Jesus brought all people
Jesus draws all people to God on the Cross. And as the church of Jesus Christ, we should make it our aim to gather with all types of people at the foot of