Cross Plumb Line II

OS: Doing a double-take. (Luke – Plumb Line)

I. A casual glance is just not enough!

A. Since the day Jesus died men and women have been looking at it, gazing upon it, and meditating on it. The more they look the more they see.

B. The writers of our hymns have done the same thing.

C. Some of the greatest poetry ever written was inspired by the contemplation of the cross.

1. They have not simply looked and gone on indifferently.

2. They have not simply said something like, “Oh, yes, I believe in the cross, I believe Christ died for me”, and then thought no more about it.

TS] If that is the way you feel about the cross this morning then you have not yet seen the cross. More than the mind – more than the eye. It is time to stop and really look, soak it all in, and you will see not only the cross, but you will get a glimpse of your own heart. A glimpse at the plumb line for your life.

II. The Cross of Christ is Plumb line

A. See the truth about forgiveness of sin and I feel cleansed, the pain of sin

B. I can imagine Luke, as he penned the words, “There they crucified Him”,

TS] If you are willing to take a look you will be changed. Maybe this morning you need to take a long look into the most compelling mirror of the soul ever known to man. As we look this morning we ask the question,

III. “How do I make the cross of Christ impact my daily life?

A. Maybe you have heard the crucifixion story all of your life and it’s lost its power – What do you do?

1. We partake of the Lord’s Supper over and over each week. How do you keep it fresh and meaningful?

B. Some of the songs we sing we’ve sang so much that we sing them without thought of the words…

Alas! and did my Savior bleed And did my sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head For sinners such as I? Was it for sins that I have done He suffered on the tree? Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree! Well might the sun in darkness hide And shut his glories in. When Christ, the mighty Maker died For man the creature’s sin. Thus might I hide my blushing face While his dear cross appears, Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, And melt mine eyes with tears. But drops of grief can ne’er repay The debt of love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away-- ’Tis all that I can do. (Isaac Watts)

TS] So, How can the cross of Christ become deeply personal all over again?

I. Remember that the cross is an expression of God’s love for you.

A. 1 John 3 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

1. Romans 5 tells us the same thing that in the cross God demonstrated His love for us.

B. You may not feel like it but the cross says you are loveable to God. (All men matter. You matter. I matter. It’s the hardest thing in theology to believe.)

1. We feel insignificant – Matthew 6 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

2. You are the all-consuming passion of your Creator! – God considers you worth loving.

3. No matter who you are, where you have come from or what you have done, God considers you worth loving. You are not a product of a happen-chance encounter between two other human beings. You are not a number who is lost in the massiveness of this world. You are significant to God. You count!

4. Which character would you be tempted to consider, “not worth loving”? (pick one) High Priest, Judas, Peter, Pilate, Soldiers, ? “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” ???He can’t love and forgive you when He can love and forgive them?????

C. You may not feel like it but the cross says you’re loveable enough for God to want a relationship with you.

1. Jesus didn’t give His life for a set of religious principles - He gave His life for people – He gave His life for you and me.

2. John 14 23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

D. If you don’t have that relationship with God this morning it’s not His fault! The cross shouts that God considers you worth loving, and speaks volumes of His desire to have an intimate relationship with you.

TS] Everything that God has done He has done for you – because He loves you very much. If you were the only person on this planet God would have still come for you! Secondly, to make the cross personal all over again…

II. Remember that Calvary exists because of your sin.

A. This one may be the most difficult.

1. Remember Romans 12 – Do not be conformed to this world…

2. Our culture passes the blame – someone else is always responsible.

3. On March 10, 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure known as the "cheeseburger bill." The bill is designed to protect the fast food industry from potential lawsuits filed by overweight customers. Caesar Barber, 56, pointed the finger at McDonald's, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Burger King for his two heart attacks, diabetes, and weight problem. Gregory Rhymes, a 15-year-old high school student, joined his mother in blaming fast food restaurants for his obesity. Rhymes's mother stood before a judge and stated she "always believed McDonald's was healthy for my son." Gregory weighs nearly 400 pounds. The purpose of the "cheeseburger bill" is to stop these kinds of lawsuits. As Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. says, "Don't run off and file a lawsuit if you are fat. Look in the mirror because you're the one to blame."

B. Your sin, My sin is the problem.

1. Matthew 26 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Curtain was torn in two)

2. Adam’s sin or anyone else’s sin did not separate you from God – your sin did.

3. Isaiah 59 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

4. Isaiah 53 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

C. When you see it like that you have renewed strength to overcome the temptations of Satan.

1. Genesis 47 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

TS] If you want to rejuvenate your walk with God remember that God loves you personally, and that Jesus paid the price for your personal sin, and thirdly…

III. Remember – There is also a cross for you.

A. When the cross becomes personal you pick it up yourself and carry it’s burden!

1. Luke 9 23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

2. Notice: a ‘cross’ is something you take up. It is not some difficulty or problem in life. It is something you choose to do.

B. When the Cross gets personal several things happen to your life. Some are pleasant; some are difficult.

1. It is when the passion of Christ becomes deeply personal, so personal that you want to share in the passion experience yourself.

2. You experience that death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus as you are baptized into Christ as Romans 6 so beautifully portrays.

3. Romans 6 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

4. It doesn’t end there – Galatians 2 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

C. Your cross is dying to self and to the world.

The cross must become deeply personal. Transformation begins with the mind! Remember that God loves you deeply, Remember that your sin took Jesus to the cross remember that you now have a cross to bear.

There are three choices to make when you really behold the cross:

#1 you can reject the invitation and sacrifice of Christ all together and just do nothing. Result? Lostness, emptiness, hopelessness, death though you live.

#2 you can respond to His invitation and begin a life of wholehearted loyalty to Christ. And in Him you find meaning, purpose, and significance. You find relationship with the Almighty God who loved you so much He came for you. The Almighty God who loves you so much He wants to experience life together with you now throughout eternity.

There is a third option that many people attempt that is empty and void and brings only frustration and confusion and false hope. #3 you can respond half way – be baptized into Christ, have access to the Father, and then try and live apart from Him even within your religion.

1. You go to church week after week – you never have time with the Father.

2. You get involved in ministry – you never have time with the Father.

3. You believe strongly in doctrinal positions – you never have time with the Father.

4. You are miserably religious – No relationship. Denying its power.

Where do you stand this morning?

1. #1? Change – no hope without Christ – Give your life to Him – If you don’t believe, search – what a tragedy to miss something so true and good because you didn’t take a good enough look.

2. #2? You can be baptized into Christ this morning.

3. #3? You can walk down that isle this morning and we can pray together as a family should – and you can go home today with a renewed relationship with the Father.