The Theology of the Cross

THE THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS

At the crucifixion of Jesus they offered Him wine to drink mingled with

gall. He refused to drink their distilled damnation; He refused to imbibe of

their liquid fire. At best or at worse you might say the Lord turned down

their social drink. No wonder they continued with the crucifixion; our Lord

Jesus was a party pooper. There isn't anything that makes a gathering of

people any more upset than to turn down their booze. He would not take

anything that would dull His senses in the matter of suffering for our sins.

So they drove their nails through His hands, it was at this time that He

said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." This was not

carte blanche forgiveness on the spot unless we can say there is forgiveness

without repentance.

The soldiers took the garments of Jesus and divided them among them. They

cast lots for the seamless robe of the Master: gamblers at the foot of the

cross. Many gamble today with higher stakes than were ever bet in the

gambling casinos.

There used to be a man many years ago who was known as "Bet Million Gates."

Some now make him look like a piker. They play Russian roulette as far as

their soul is concerned. They assume I will have yet one more day to line up

with the Lord.

Pilate wrote a title and put it upon the cross: This Is Jesus The King Of

The Jews. Everybody could read it since it was written in Hebrew, Latin and

Greek. The Jews said, "Write not the King of the Jews but that He said I am

the King of the Jews." It was customary to put the charge against a criminal

on the cross. An appropriate sign would have been a sign that contained all

of my sins. That is the reason that Jesus died. Because of computers we can

understand how God could give a read out of all our sins and hang them on

the cross. Considering the thousands of impressions that can be contained in

a computer. If all our sins could be computerized (and they are)- there

could have been an instant read out of our sins placed on the cross that

day.

The description of the crucifixion in Matthew and Mark is that they railed

on Him as they passed by and taunted Him "If thou art the Christ come down

from the cross, He saved others Himself He cannot save." No truer words were

ever spoken than this. He could not save Himself and save us at the same

time. Mark adds this thought when he states that they said HA. They laughed

at the Lord on the cross. We are in good company today when they laugh at

our ignorance our stupidity for faith in the Word of God.

Even the two thieves rebuked the Lord. One of them said, "Art thou not the

Christ save thy self and us." Get yourself off the cross and us too we will

make a run for it. The other thief later said, "Lord, remember me when thou

comesth into thy Kingdom." Many today speak of being saved like the thief on

the cross. To do this you would have to have lived before Jesus died on the

cross and before He arose from the dead. Jesus told him, "Today you shall be

with Me in Paradise." Did Jesus ever tell you that? When we ask what to do

he gives us a somewhat different answer.

During the agony on the cross Jesus saw His mother and the Apostle John

standing there. He said to His mother, "Behold thy son," and to that

disciple, "Behold thy mother." According to some perhaps He should have

said, "Wait around for awhile, Joseph of Arithmathea, will be here before

long and I will commend you to his care he is rich. He has a four or five

bedroom house, five bathrooms a five car garage, he can take care for you a

lot better than this poor disciple of mine who has given up his fishing

business to follow me.

About the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth

hour. At about the ninth hour was when Jesus said with a loud voice, "Eli

Eli Lama Sabacthani." Some thought that He was calling for Elijah. Some

said, "Let us see if Elijah will come to save Him." In most stories of

fiction the hero always arrives at the last moment to rescue the victim. If

they thought that Elijah would arrive that day in a fiery chariot they were

mistaken. The real Hero was on the cross. Jesus is my Hero; He saves me from

hell fire.

After this is when Jesus cried, "I thirst," and they brought a sponge full

of vinegar to His mouth. Upon the receiving of the vinegar He said, "It is

finished," and bowed His head saying, "Father into thy hands I commend My

spirit." And this is a sketch of what happened when they came to a place

called the place of the skull, Golgotha or Calvary.

The reason we call this message "THE THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS" is because this

story would be a good starting place for any kind of a sermon you might want

to preach or any kind of a lesson you might want to teach. The proclamation

of what happened at Calvary is a story that is relevant to any situation in

the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. So listen to the Theology of the

Cross. The cross can be brought in to any subject. Without the cross nothing

else matters. Consider first a sermon on the giving of money.

GIVING

Suppose a preacher is working on a message on the giving of money. What

better place to start than at the cross. How about the verse God so loved

the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him

should not perish but have everlasting life. That statement about the gift

of God underscores the oft repeated statement, "You cannot out give God." So

look at what God gave. Look at what Jesus gave. The cross is a measuring

stick to gage our own giving. The cross makes the question, "Do I have to

tithe?" sound stupid. No, you don't have to tithe. You don't have to give

nine percent. You don't have to give five percent. You don't have to give

one percent. You don't have to give anything. A person's pocketbook also

becomes a measuring stick to measure the distance from your heart to Jesus

as He suffers on the cross for you. You cannot separate your possessions

from the cross of Calvary. This is the Theology of the Cross. Again think of

a sermon on the subject of baptism.

BAPTISM

Suppose you hear a message on baptism. Is it not a good thing to start at

the cross? Paul said, "As many of us as were baptized into Christ were

baptized into His death." The baptismal ordinance is tied to the cross. The

baptism is a reinactment of what happeded at Calvary. When we stand in the

water our bodies stiffen just like in death. Our eyes close just like in

death. We stop breathing just like in death. And then like a burial we were

buried by the power of someones elses arms. We were completely covered up

just like a burial. Then we were raised up by the power of another just like

a resurrection. Our eyes opened just like a resurrection. And we began to

walk in a newness of life just like it will be in the resurection. Immersion

provides a perfect picture of what happened at Calvary. You cannot preach

baptism without preaching about the sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary. This is

the Theology of the Cross. Again suppose you were preaching a message on the

Lord's Supper.

THE LORDS SUPPER

How can a preacher preach a message on the Lord's Supper without the cross?

Especially when Paul said, "As oft as ye do this ye show forth My death till

I come." The showing forth of the death of Christ is one of the reasons for

the Lord's Supper. Many people will put other thing ahead of the Lord's

Supper on the Lord's Day and the reason is they have nothing to show. Ye

show forth the Lord's death till He comes. An old axiom in show business is

"The show must go on." In the King James Version, ye show forth His death.

For the Christian it is true, THE SHOW MUST GO ON. Ladies and gentlemen,

that is the Theology of the Cross. Suppose you were going to preach a

message on the Second Coming of Christ.

THE SECOND COMING.

Remember the first chapter of Revelation when the Apostle said,

"Behold He cometh with the clouds and every eye shall see Him yea and they

that pierced Him and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over Him even

so Amen." One of the dominant characteristics of the Second Coming of Jesus

will be that every eye shall see Him and recognize Him as the one who was

crucified. They will mourn over him because they have rejected His blood.

The song says it well for us as Christians.

I shall know Him I shall know Him

And redeemed by His side I shall stand

I shall know Him I shall know Him

By the print of the nails in His hands.

At the Second Coming He will be recognized as the crucified one and this is

the Theology of the Cross. Suppose you were going to preach a message on the

church.

THE CHURCH

Again we state that the crucifixion is paramount in Church doctrine. When

the Apostle Paul gathered the elders of the Church at Ephesus together at

Miletus he gave them farewell instructions on their behavior as elders. One

thing he said was in regards to the origin of the Church, he said, "Take

heed unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit hath

made ye our bishops to feed the Church of God which He purchased with His

own blood." God the Son is the one who gave His blood. You cannot preach or

teach about the Church without being reminded of the cross.

One preacher told me of a man in his community who shot his wife and then

turned the gun on himself. Two teenage children who were members of the

church were called home. The preacher who was summoned to the scene saw them

coming and rushed out into the yard and held up his hands to stop them from

coming it at that time. One of the young people the son of the dead parents

saw the blood on the preachers hand and said, "Brother Joe, is that my

daddy's blood on your hands?" That preacher told me he felt the cold chills

run up his spine. You cannot separate the Church from the blood of Christ.

He bought and paid for it at Calvary and that is the Theology of the Cross.

How about a sermon on the Judgement Day? -

THE JUDGEMENT DAY

In speaking of the Judgement day we note that Paul links it up with the

cross. Remember how he spoke to the Athenians on Mars Hill and told them

that God had appointed a day in which He would Judge the world in

righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained whereof He hath given

assurance unto all the nations in that He hath raised Him from the dead.

According to Paul there is some connection between the raising of Jesus from

the dead and His appointment to judge the human race. During the days of

World War Two, Adolph Eichmann was responsible for killing six million Jews.

When he was brought to trial and found guilty he was sentenced to be hanged.

The reporters met with him to get a statement before he was executed. I

remember reading the account in the paper. The last thing that Eichmann said

to the reporters as they left him was, "Gentlemen, I'll be seeing you."

Eichmann evidently knew where he was heading. He was going to appear before

another judgement bar the judgement bar of God. The judgement bar presided

over by Judge Jesus. Jesus who has been as Paul said ordained to this

position by virtue of the fact that He was raised from the dead. Therefore

any sermon that we preach or any lesson that we teach on the day of

Judgement must take into consideration the crucifixion of the Lord and that

is the Theology of the Cross. Then again we must consider that the same

thing is true should we decide to preach a message on the matter of the

inspiration of the scripture.

INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE

At the account of the Great Commission of Jesus to the Apostles in the

book of Luke Jesus told the Apostles regarding His death and resurrection,

"These are My words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that

all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and

the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." According to Jesus He regarded

the writings of the whole Old Testament as inspired. He said that these

prophecies made by Moses; David and all the prophets have been

fulfilled-these prophecies regarding His crucifixion and His resurrection.

So when you speak of the inspiration of the word of God this statement

regarding His sacrifice must be considered. You cannot talk about the

inspiration of the Bible without considering the sacrifice of Jesus and that

is the Theology of the Cross. And now let us apply this same principal to

Christian living.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

Paul says in the sixth chapter of Hebrews, "For as touching those who

were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partaker

of the Holy Spirit and tasted the good word of God and the power of the age

to come and then fell away it is impossible to renew them again to

repentance seeing that they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and

put Him to an open shame."

The crucifixion is thereby tied to the Christian's life style. When we fall

away we crucify the Son of God afresh. According to some once you are saved

you can never be lost. But Paul says you can and I believe Paul. Your whole

life as far as your faithfulness is concerned is tied into the crucifixion

and that is the Theology of the Cross. And now one more it is equally true

that the crucifixion is related to prayer.

PRAYER

In the first epistle of John the second chapter John tells "And if any man

sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And He

is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only but also for the

whole world."

We have a lawyer, an advocate with the Father. I went into a Barbershop

and saw a man laid back in the chair. His face was lathered up for a shave.

He looked up and saw me coming in and said, "I will tell you how it is. When

you die, if you have a good mouthpiece at your funeral you will make it." He

mentioned the name of his favorite preacher and said if he will preach my

funeral I will make it to heaven and then I suppose to be polite he said,

"Or if you do it, I'll make it." He was right as far as needing a good

mouthpiece is concerned; the only thing is he had a couple of shysters for

lawyers. The only one who can plead your case before God is Jesus. If you

retain Him for your defense you will make it. He has never lost a case. He

is our advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous, He is the One

who pleads our case before God. The reason He can plead our case is because

He is our propitiation; the wrath of God against our sins has been removed.

He paid the price for us. God will hear our prayers through Jesus by virtue

of the fact that He died in our place. So you see we can't even pray to the

Father without thinking about the crucifixion. Because of the death of

Christ on the cross God the Father is willing to listen to us. That is the

Theology of the Cross.

Some might say that it is not good homiletics to bring in the Cross and the

plan of salvation to a sermon from Ezekial or one of the other prophets. I

never let homiletics interfere with my preaching and the salvation of those

who are lost and going to hell. To leave out these important matters is an

exercise in futility. The story of Calvary, Golgotha, the place of a skull

and the proper response to that message must be brought into every message

when the lost are listening. THIS IS THE THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?

Were you there when He rose up from the grave?

Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.