Jan. 5, 2020 - The Centrality of the Cross
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If there is any one thing that is the focal point of Christianity...
it’s Jesus Christ - and the Cross
The cross of Jesus Christ
The Centrality of the Cross is the heart of Christianity
The theological framework of Christianity all leads back to Jesus and His work on the cross
And when we SAY - The Cross of Christ - INFERRED IN THAT Cross - is the resurrection!
The WORK of Christ on the cross - includes the resurrection
And so - The Cross is VITAL when it comes to the MESSAGE of our faith
John Owen once said:
There is no death of sin without the death of Christ
As we know - it took the DEATH - the shedding of blood - of the RIGHTEOUS ONE - Jesus...
to CONQUER DEATH!
And so as we come to our text today - we’ll see this very thing
If you remember last week - Jesus spoke about the grain of wheat needing to fall into the earth…TO DIE…if it was going to bear fruit!
And what we SAW last week was - THE HARD THINGS that Jesus calls us to...
ALONG WITH the blessings that come on the other side of those HARD THINGS!
And now today - we come to our text...
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
We’re going to summarize this passage FIRST....and then focus in on what I believe to be the MAIN POINT of it...
Remember, last week Jesus eluded to His own DEATH...
And begins today by saying...
WHAT - shall I pray - “Father, save me from this hour?” - “Hep me AVOID what’s coming for Me?”
He then says - NO - it’s for this VERY PURPOSE that I have come to THIS HOUR!
My purpose for COMING - was to DIE...
INSTEAD - Father - GLORIFY YOUR NAME!
And then the Father speaks from heaven and says - “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!”
To SOME there it just sounded like THUNDER - but to others they said - OH, an angel has spoken to Him!
Jesus then describes that He must be LIFTED Up...
which revealed to the crowd how He was going to die...
And the people UNDERSTOOD that He was describing His own death...
They then say
34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
The people knew what the OT said about the coming Christ...
4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
They knew the Christ was to REMAIN forever…and so they were trying to CORRELATE that with Jesus (this guy claiming to BE the Messiah)
…saying that He- the Messiah - was going to DIE...
And so what’s CLEAR in all of this - is that - WHILE they seem to understand that Jesus was going to DIE...
They DID NOT understand the IMPACT that the Cross would have on HUMANITY and the DEEPEST MEANING of what the CROSS was ABOUT!
They didn’t GRASP the weight of the CENTRALITY of the CROSS
SO, let’s focus in on that DEEP MEANING today...
We’re going to focus in on v30-32… as we gaze upon the CENTRALITY of the CROSS
30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.
What’s Jesus referring to?
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
What we see here is...
SLIDE: The Centrality of the Cross: The Cross of Jesus Glorifies God
The Centrality of the Cross
The Centrality of the Cross
Let’s go to Romans 3:23-26 to see this...
And AS we read through this - Ask yourself this:
Is God SELF-EXALTING in His giving of Christ for me?
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
ALL people are SINNERS...
And we FALL SHORT of the glory of God...
We are WITHOUT God
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
So we’re MADE RIGHT with God - how?
by His GRACE (undeserved favor)
WHICH means - this is a - GIFT
And that GIFT - THROUGH the redemption that is in - JESUS CHRIST
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.
Propitiation: a sacrifice that removes WRATH
THIS PUTTING FORTH of Jesus - BY GOD...
…was to SHOW God’s RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Why?
Because in God’s divine forbearance - He had passed over former sins...
So WHY did God - passing over former sins - NEED TO SHOW His righteousness?
*Texas church shooting
So now - THINK about OLD TESTAMENT times....
And ALL the sins that took place back then - BEFORE Jesus came to earth
God didn’t END existence as we know it because people in the OLD TESTAMENT sinned...
Abraham - sinned
David - sinned
and YET - SAVED!
Forgiven! by God!
How could God PASS OVER THEIR SINS?
It’s as if GOD doesn’t think SIN is a big deal!....right?
MAYBE - until - God sends His son to DIE on the cross…PLACING upon Him - the WRATH DUE - US!
That’s PROPITIATION....
A sacrifice that removes WRATH!
And so GOD - SHOWS His righteousness in sending Jesus to the cross...
God is GLORIFIED at the CROSS!!
God is EXALTED at the CROSS!!
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
God’s GLORY shines BRIGHTEST - at the cross of Christ...
and God’s glory will REFLECT off the cross for all of eternity!
And so as we LOOK to the CENTER of HISTORY - we see the CROSS of Jesus Christ...
and 1 of the things we SEE there - is - the GLORY of GOD!
What else do we see?
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
We see here that…as we look at the CENTRALITY of the Cross...
SLIDE: The Centrality of the Cross: The Cross of Jesus Conquered Sin and Death
The Centrality of the Cross
The Centrality of the Cross
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
The SERIOUSNESS of sin - on FULL display - on the CROSS!
The CROSS gave us EYES to see the JUDGMENT of a HOLY God upon SIN…Not the SIN of Christ...
But - OUR SIN!
JUDGMENT came down!
CONDEMNATION poured out on the SON
And if we go back to the text in Romans 3...
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.
The CROSS displayed:
the JUSTNESS of God - that God IS JUST....
It looked like to the world that God was NOT JUST - He passed over former SINS...
He does so TODAY - for you and me - EVERY SINGLE DAY!!
We TRAMPLE His glory EVERY DAY!!
YET - He doesn’t CONSUME US IN FIRE - He doesn’t DESTROY US - which we deserve....WHY?
Because of the CROSS!!
Yes - God PASSED over FORMER sins and He passes over OURS today - BUT - He is JUST...
His WRATH was POURED out on CHRIST...
His wrath against SIN - was satisfied poured out on Christ!!
He is JUST!
AND...
The CROSS displayed God as the JUSTIFIER of the one who has faith in Jesus!
MEANING -
It is CHRIST’S life that JUSTIFIES...
It is CHRIST’S righteousness that JUSTIFIES...
It’s HIS perfection that JUSTIFIES...
We’ve talked about this before - It’s Christ’s FAITH that Justifies!
Remember when we looked at the original text of Romans...
When we read Romans 3:22 in our versions of the Bible, it reads like this....
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
But - When we look at the original text, it reads like this...
SLIDE: Interlinear (Romans 3:22)
The PERFECTLY righteous one, was also PERFECTLY faithful...
And His faith - justifies...
SO WHEN you SIN, and EVILNESS, and DESTRUCTION - are put in the ring with Jesus Christ!....
The result is: VICTORY in JESUS!
At the CROSS we see:
The GLORY of GOD
VICTORY over SIN and DEATH....
But what else?
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
What we see here is...
SLIDE: The Centrality of the Cross: The Cross of Jesus Judges All Men
The Centrality of the Cross
The Centrality of the Cross
Let’s look at v32 again...
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Now - some may look at this verse and see the phrase “DRAW ALL PEOPLE” and think it’s speaking of the same kind of DRAWING that this verse is speaking of…in John 6:44
SLIDE: Both verses (12:32 - 6:44)
So with this understanding - When Jesus says - I will draw all people to myself...
I believe the thrust of his point is:
WHEN I AM LIFTED UP (the cross) - ALL MEN will be RECKONED WITH - THERE
Forgiveness COMES - thru the SHEDDING of blood..
Forgiveness comes at the CROSS...
JUSTIFICATION before God COMES at the cross!
24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Jesus DRAWS ALL MEN to Himself on the cross...
It’s the CROSS that is the FORK in the road of history!
SLIDE:
All men come to the cross and either bow to their King, or reject Him.
They either BELIEVE - and receive PARDON...
Or they REJECT - and receive PUNISHMENT...
(explain as you go)
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
You see how ALL MEN will filter through the Cross of Christ!????
The message of the CROSS is preached:
to MOST it’s either FOOLISHNESS or a Stumbling Block...
And to the rest who are CALLED - it’s SALVATION
ALL MEN filtered through the cross of Christ!
All men DRAWN to Jesus on the cross!
THIS is what I believe Jesus meant when He said:
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Christ says this - and then closes this passage by saying...
35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
A call to FAITH here…BELIEVE in the light...
And no WONDER - Jesus knows that NO ONE stands outside the shadow of the cross
…ALL MEN
NOW - as we prepare to leave here today - thinking about the Centrality of the Cross...
SUMMARY
HOW the Cross:
Glorifies God
Conquered Sin and Death
Judges All Men
AND - as we remember back to last week’s message - DO THE HARD thing!
If we want to REACH our...
families
friends
neighbors
co-workers.....for Christ...
THEN WE HAVE to bring them to the CROSS...
It’s a HARD thing - BUT - as Jesus said to start this message…
What He said applies to us - AS we contemplate the HARD thing ahead...
The hard conversation ahead of us...
The hard decision ahead of us...
These words DO apply to us....
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
Embrace the HARD thing....and bring people to CENTER of all history...
The Cross of Jesus Christ
Let’s pray