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Title- The Mystery of the Cross: The Unlikely Victor
Passage-
Attention-
Did you ever have one of those situations where nothing went right...
You planned and planned and planned…check the plan several times…rehearsed it
But in the end it went horribly wrong
The description for that today is a fail
Maybe it was in a sporting event
Or preparing a meal
Fixing a car
A building project
Maybe it was what we call today a Pinterest fail
My prize for the greatest fail of all times goes to the Russians.
They invented the "dog mine."
The plan was to train the dogs to associate food with the undersides of tanks, in the hope that they would run hungrily beneath advancing Allied tanks.
Bombs were then strapped to the dogs' backs, could you imagine if they tried that today?!?.
Unfortunately, the dogs associated food solely with Russian tanks.
The plan was begun on day one of the Russian involvement in World War II...and abandoned on day two.
The dogs with bombs on their backs forced an entire Soviet division to retreat.
They had a plan....they had some issues implementing their plan
Sometimes the greatest plans ending up being the biggest failures
Introduction
In this passage there were two contrasting plans on display at the cross
The plan of the Jews
-The plan to continue in a religious system
-The plan to fight God’s plan
Then there was the plan that was laid down by the Lord before the foundation of the world
A plan of…
-Redemption
-Reconciliation
-Sanctification
-Glorification
The cross was an indispensable part of both plans
We summarize the cross and the activities surrounding it as the Gospel
The truth that Jesus died, was buried, and that he rose again the third day…these activities that surround the cross are summarized in one descriptor…the Gospel
What is the main driving point (CPS)?
Friends, the Gospel (this death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) must be an indispensable part of our lifes!
This is a truth for those in need of forgiveness and those of us who have asked for that forgiveness.
We have promoted this morning as “The Cross” because if you were to pick one visual for the Gospel it would be the Cross
The cross of Jesus Christ is of utmost importance to the life of every human being
every human being
The acceptance or rejection of Jesus’ death on the cross impacts every human heart
every human heart
It impacts every human heart in this life and the life to come
Transition
In this passage there are three miracles that display supremacy that the Gospel ought to have in our lives
The first miracle is …
SLIDE
I.
The veil (51)
Explain
This could be easily ignored in our reading…and I think that sometimes it is
This miracle that happens after Jesus’ death but has an extraordinary impact on us
So what is going on here?
We need to understand this with some OT background
The Tabernacle and then later the Temple were the center of Jewish life.
This is where they came to worship…to offer sacrifices for sin and receive forgiveness
Inside the Tabernacle and then later the Temple was a place called the Holy of Holies
SLIDE
Read in Bible
describes for us how the Holy of Holies was separated by this particular veil
What we need to understand is that God, at some moment must judge sin!
We often hear that God won’t let you into heaven without accepting the Gospel because He cannot be around sin…that is not true
There are multiple times in the scriptures that God interacts with His sinful creation…Read the book of Job and especially where Satan comes before God and tell me that He can’t be around sin
The truth is that God in His perfect holiness and perfect justice cannot allow sin to go unpunished…it would be more accurate to say that God cannot tolerate sin
The truth is that God in His perfect holiness and perfect justice cannot allow sin to go unpunished…it would be more accurate to say that God cannot tolerate sin
So in order for God to begin the process of restoration He set up the OT sacrificial system
Here the Priests would accept sacrifices on the behalf of the people.
It had to be done there because within the Holy of Holies was where God dwelt with man.
Once a year the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to offer the blood sacrifice for all of Israel.
There would be a sacrifice of a bull and that blood would be sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant
This was all done so that their sins would be covered by the blood
The Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin
SLIDE
Read in Bible
I think that what is being displayed here is a struggle for authority
The Jews wanted to be the religious authority but Jesus displays his authority
The Jews rejected Jesus because they thought they were in control and Jesus came to regain control of what was rightfully His…the authority to judge and atone for sin
The veil represents the divide between mankind and God that is based on His authority to judge sin
Relevance
We read this passion account and think of the Jews as murderous monsters, and they were, but we need to see what was driving them…
I believe they were murderous monsters because they had lost focus on who was in charge…they wanted to be their own authority
You and I look at this situation and think…How ridiculous that
And I am right there with you but in reality….
We are no different…….We want to be our authority
We want to deal with our sin problems on our terms…in our own way
It doesn’t work that way because we do not have the authority to judge sin
We seek independence to try to produce freedom
Why does this matter?
But rejection of authority does not lead to freedom but to enslavement
We can reject authority all we want but that does not free us from the consequences
If I get a speeding ticket…I can cry independence but I am still responsible to pay the ticket or face further consequences.
I can cry freedom all I want but when I ignore the reality long enough it doesn’t nullify the arrest warrant
Friends, God is the authority, not us
God is the judge of sin, not us
This is the first step in allowing the Gospel to empower us
The realization that God is the one in control and that we are to respond to our actions the way God does, that starts by admitting our sin
Transition
We need to understand that God is the authority and that we are not…but it goes further than that
The second miracle that we see in this passage is ...
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