sf1043 - The Christians View Of The Cross (1 Corinthians 1 18)
1 Corinthians 1:18
Introduction
Last week:
The Cross from God’s View Point
Ø Christ died for the sinner
Ø The sinner died with Christ
Ø The father was satisfied
Ø
The emphasis here is how the cross affects our daily life.
1A. The Cross is the Key to Our Victory
Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Old Self (man) - palaios
Ø Refers to something that is completely worn out and useless, fit only for the scrap heap. For all practical purposes it is destroyed.
Ø Our new life as Christians is not a made-over old life but a new divinely-bestowed life that is Christ’s very own.
The “body of sin”
Ø Refers to the body controlled by the power of sin. Sin’s power or dominion was over the old us in Adam (the old man).
Ø What happened to him / her? The old man has been crucified with Christ.
What does that mean for us in our daily lives?
Ø The last part of Romans 6:6 says “… that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” We can now walk in victory over sin!
Romans 6:14a (NKJV) “For sin shall not have dominion over you”.
Ø That means that we are not powerless over any temptation or addiction or habit pattern. We have victory over sin.
2A. The Cross is the Focus of Our Message
1 Corinthians 2:2 (NKJV) “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Ø The cross was the centerpiece of Paul’s theology.
The cross must be central in all we do.
Ø Without the cross none of the rest of the Bible makes sense.
Only the person who understands the cross can really understand the Old Testament.
Ø From Genesis 3 where the cross is prophesied to the sacrificial system where the cross is pictured, to the prophets who spoke of God’s holiness and the coming messiah, it is all about the cross.
The second coming of Christ is the culmination of all that Jesus purchased on the cross.
We can’t talk about prayer apart from the cross
Ø Only by the cross that we can come before the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
Holiness is impossible apart from the cross
Ø Daily taking up of our cross and reckoning ourselves dead to sin and allowing Christ in us to live His life through us.
Relationships are pointless without the cross
Ø Unless we are daily coming to the cross our lives will be filled with selfishness and selfishness is responsible for most every relationship problem.
Spurgeon used to say that wherever he began in the Bible he made a beeline for the cross.
From eternity past, the cross was on the mind of God.
Revelation 13:8b (NKJV) “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
Ø After time here is no more in eternity future we will be praising God for the cross and being reminded of the cross every time we see the nail prints in Jesus’ hands.
3A. The Cross is the Object of Our Boasting
Galatians 6:14 (NKJV) “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
When I see and apply the cross, I realize that I cannot boast in my self discipline, I cannot boast in my goodness, I cannot boast in my abilities, I can only boast in the cross.
CONCLUSION
“We never move on from the cross, only into a more profound understanding of the cross.” [David Pryor quoted in MaHaney page 74]
That is the purpose of this series. I want us to centralize the cross in our life and come to a more profound understanding of the cross.
The cross isn’t just for unbelievers. The cross is for the saints.
Have you been to the cross?
Do you daily live in the cross?