To the Cross where my Sin Died
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Introduction
Introduction
Today is Palm Sunday where we normally look at the Triumphant Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, but today I want to look at the events of the crucifixion. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? What did Christ accomplish on the cross? Ultimately, what does it mean to you and to me?
Sin is Serious / Sin is Costly
Sin is Serious / Sin is Costly
I still remember returning to college in August of 2005 after two months in Papua New Guinea. On Monday, September 12 (about a month after returning to the States) I came down with chills and could not get warm for several hours. Then I came down with a fever and felt delirious for a couple of hours. Then I felt OK after sweating. Was it just a bug? Or had I come down with something serious from Papua New Guinea. I felt fine on the 13th. Must have been a 24 hour bug. Then on Wednesday, September 14 at the same time as on Monday the same thing happened chills, fever, sweat. I knew I had the tropical disease of malaria. Even though I had taken meds to prevent getting it a tiny mosquito had bit me giving me this serious disease. The next day I went to the hospital where my suspicions were confirmed after vial after vial of blood was drawn. I was given meds that over the next few weeks would eliminate the disease from my system. The doctors knew the cure and provided it to me.
Like any disease when you hear that you yourself or a loved one has a disease the first thing you ask or think, is it serious? Is it just a simple cold or could it kill you or your loved one? What will ultimately be the outcome of this disease? I remember seeing my pastor soon after my diagnosis and breaking down in tears.
The true is, sin IS a disease that will KILL you. It is very serious. It has consequences in this life and the next.
Often many think that certain sins are worse than others. Yet, while earthly consequences for certain sins do have different punishments in God’s eyes sin is sin.
In the Beginning there was only one command from God and one major consequence if it was broken.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
And we know what happened:
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
That one sin had consequences…major consequences. One bite and every living thing is doomed to die both physical death and spiritual death. Sin is serious and sin has a high price!
Later on in 1 Samuel we have an account that shows that sin is sin in God’s eyes. We have this account of the prophet Samuel and King Saul. Saul had not listened to the command of God and spared the King Agag and kept back some animals to sacrifice. He makes excuses.
Samuel’s response from God.
So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”
OBEY is BETTER than Sacrifice. Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe.
Rebellion/Bitterness is the sin of witchcraft or divination.
Stubbornness (or urgency) is the same as idolatry.
Sin is sin in God’s eyes.
Jesus in His sermon the mount talks about Murder and Adultery. Just because you have not physically committed the act, you might have committed the deed in your heart.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
One sin is enough to condemn us. To separate us from God forever in the horrible place called Hell that God created for Satan, the fallen angels, and demons. Yet, our sins are a form of rebellion toward God. Making as the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5:10 “we were enemies...” We are slaves to sin. We are in bondage to sin.
A Puritan preacher once asked his congregation “What sin do love so much that you are willing to go to hell for it?”
What sin do you cling to? Is it really worth the cost?
Sin is anything we think, say, or do that displeases or goes against God.
From the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden that tainted every human that would ever be born and also condemn each person to death.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
This disease is worse than the malaria I went through in 2005, because no doctor can cure sin with a prescription.
That is why Jesus Christ came to go to the Cross of Calvary.
Christ Willing Went to the Cross
Christ Willing Went to the Cross
This coming Friday we remember the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The reason why God in the flesh came to earth is because of this problem of sin. It was an eternally serious problem and one which we could never pay ourselves apart from spending eternity separated from Him. A sacrifice had to be made.
In the Old Testament animals were offered up to cover the sins of a person. An animal (Lamb, Goat, Cow, Dove) had to be offered as a reminder that sin had a high price. When Jesus began His earthly ministry his cousin John the Baptist declared:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Jesus was to be the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world.
He would do it once for all!
For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
Without that sacrifice there could be no remission, there could be no forgiveness. Without that payment the bill would be still be charged against us.
And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Jesus knew when He died that the bill for sins was paid in full! Once for all! It is Finished! Literally: DONE! Finished! Complete!
Christ Paid the Bill for Sins
Christ Paid the Bill for Sins
The Bill was paid in full!
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Christ took the charges that were against you and forgave them in full! He took ever sin you ever committed, are committing, or will commit and nailed to His cross. The powers of Satan were triumphed over! Just as Jesus was put on display in front of the people being mocked, spat upon, crown of thorns shoved on His head. What seemed like a victory for sin and for our enemy, Satan was in fact the greatest victory the universe has ever seen!
Bring your Sins to the Cross / Bring them to Christ
Bring your Sins to the Cross / Bring them to Christ
Today, I do not know your heart. I do not know if you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. I do not know if you have accepted the sacrifice Christ made for your sins. Otherwise you are still paying for them and you will pay for them forever in hell and I don’t want that for you and neither does Jesus.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
For you who know Jesus Christ as your Savior. Is there any sin that you are struggling with? Nail it to His cross. I have paper up here, pens, tacks, nails and a hammer. This is between you and God. If you are serious about tell God. I am not going to see what you write. This is symbolic way of letting God know you are serious about whatever you write on that piece of paper.
For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
That you are not going to let that sin reign over you.
Conclusion
Conclusion
