The Cross

The Cross
Reading: Rom 5:1-11
Text: Rom 5:6-9

1. Introductory Thoughts

a. Gal 6:14 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.

b. In the above passage in Galatians, Paul was opposing false teachers who had perverted the gospel by leaving out the essential message of the Cross and substituting a return to the Jewish ceremonial laws.

c. The false teachers in the churches of Galatia, the men whom Paul opposed with vigor, were men whose teachings and actions may be summed up as

(1) Glorying not in God, nor in the Cross of Christ, but in man’s religion, in the flesch

(2) They did not possess THE FAITH, that set of Biblical doctrines so often referred to in the New Testament

(a) Historic Christianity is called “THE FAITH.”

Acts 6:7 "… great company of the priests were obedient to THE FAITH."

Acts 14:22 "… and exhorting them to continue in THE FAITH…”

Acts 16:5 "And so were the churches established in THE FAITH…"

Rom 1:5 "By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to THE FAITH …”

1 Cor 16:13 "Watch ye, stand fast in THE FAITH, …”

2 Cor 13:5 "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in THE FAITH…”

Eph 4:13 "Till we all come in the unity of THE FAITH…”

Phil 1:27 "… with one mind striving together for THE FAITH of the gospel;"

Col 1:23 "… continue in THE FAITH grounded and settled,…"

Col 2:7 "Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in THE FAITH, …”

1 Tim 1:2 "Unto Timothy, my own son in THE FAITH: …”

1 Tim 3:9 "Holding the mystery of THE FAITH…"

1 Tim 4:1 "… in the latter times some shall depart from THE FAITH,…”

2 Tim 3:8 "… men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning THE FAITH."

2 Tim 4:7 "… I have kept THE FAITH:"

Titus 1:13 "… rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in THE FAITH;"


(a) Jude adds a very powerful and defining phrase when talking about THE FAITH, he calls it THE FAITH “Once Delivered…” A sacred trust of doctrine to be handed down.

2 Tim 2:2 “…the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

Heb 4:14 "… let us hold fast our profession."

Heb 4:14 "… let us hold firmly to the faith we profess."


(3) Not possessing THE FAITH, the false teachers of Galatia could not and did not teach THE FAITH, but as Paul told timothy in 2 Tim 4:1-5, these false teachers taught “fables,” or as Peter said in 2 Pet 2:1ff, “damnable heresies…”

(4) Paul says they taught these fables, these falsehoods for the love for the world and out of the fear of men.

b. So today the false teachers of the new heresies have ignored, denied, diverted and perverted the message of the Cross, and have done so for the same reasons.

(1) A crucified Savior, dying for the real sins of real people is not popular.

(a) He makes us face our sin, and admit to its ugliness.

(b) He brings us face-to-face with our spiritual inability, and with the depth of the darkness of our souls.

(c) Once God has saved us, then we are bound by His Spirit and His Word to take up our own cross, to deny our selfish desires and live for Him as He died for us.

(2) This is not the gospel of ease and enjoyment that people seek to soothe their bruised egos.

(3) For true believers today, we must Glory in the Cross--in the True, Biblical act, fact, doctrine, and way of life that emanates from the Cross, and we must live with reference to the world in the way that Paul describes here--the world is crucified to us, and we to the world. We must ask a series of provocative, searching questions about our Faith.

(4) Essential Questions on the Cross

(a) What is the essential Act, Fact, Message, Meaning and Power of the Christian faith?

(b) What is far more important than therapy, miracles, health, wealth, good self-esteem, or correct politics?

(c) What event is the one fulcrum, the single pivot point of the history of the universe?

(d) What event was the most important battle ever fought and won in the entire history of time?



(e) What deed far surpasses all the deeds ever done, even creation itself?

(f) What glorious act demonstrates the wrath, justice, sovereignty, truth, love, mercy, and power of God all at once?

(g) What supreme, mysterious, glorious, awesome, Act of God is the only reason His people stand today, whole, saved, and testifying of God's greatness?

(h) This act, fact, message, meaning and power of our faith is this (and we must personalize these statements to give them the full impact of their Biblical basis):

(i) The Almighty Creator, Jehovah God Himself, God the Son, became flesh for me.

(ii) This God-Man lived a perfect life for me.

(iii) This Perfect Lamb of God demonstrated His own power over nature, sin, Satan, disease, and death for me.

(iv) This Ruler of the Universe Incarnate was arrested, beaten, tortured, convicted in a kangaroo court, and hung on a cross for me, and By My Sin!
)
(v) This Sinless Substitute took my sin upon Himself, suffered the equivalent of eternal Hell, and laid down His own life for me.

(vi) This Fountain of Life arose from the dead for me.

And all of our preaching and proclamation must be done in the light of the glory of the Cross of Christ—to convict us, to save us, to sanctify us, to disciple us, to conform us to His Image (Rom 8:29



2. What We Were Before He Saved Us—“…For when we were yet without strength…”

a. Context

(1) The apostle has just told us that Hope makes not ashamed, that the Holy Ghost has spread the Love of God abroad in our hearts—

(2) What is the basis of this hope?

(3) What is the great act of God’s love which has been done on our behalf?

(4) The Cross is the basis of our hope.

b. “…when we were yet without strength…”

(1) God’s plan of redemption did not include some contribution from us—when God conceived it, He conceived it in the knowledge that we would be without strength.

(2) Not weak, not with a little bit of strength, but without strength

(3) God’s love for us was uncaused by anything in us—it was ungenerated by any good or merit in us.

1 John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

c. Without Strength—lost people are sinners, dead, deaf, insensitive to God, hating God and His Gospel, and such were we!

d. One of the glories of the Cross is that we were totally helpless and totally alien to God, yet He sent His Son to die for us!

3. “…in due time…” The cross was part of an ancient plan, conceived by God, and carried forth in His time.

a. in due time…. The plan was conceived by God

(1) When was this plan conceived?

1 Pet 1:19-20 " the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Titus 1:1-2 "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; 2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;"

(2) Remember… The Gospel is Good News, but it is Not New—The Gospel is older than creation itself. The Gospel is older than time.

Rom 1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

(3) God had promised the Gospel by His prophets, but the Gospel did not start there.

(4) The Gospel started before time began.

(5) The Bible doesn't tell us all that took place before time began, but it tells us a lot....

b. Before Time Began--

(1) Jehovah God was God--God has no beginning-- a concept hard for us to even grasp, because everything we know in this world has a beginning and an end (in this world, anyway).

Psa 90:1 LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

(2) Before Time Began, the Triune God existed in a loving, mutual relationship—

Jn 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. See also Heb 9:14

(3) Before time began, the Bible was written down in Heaven

(a) The Bible is unique to all books.... The Bible is not some afterthought—

(b) Psa 119:89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.

(c) Psa 119:152 Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever.

(4) Before Time Began, God ordained a Mysterious Purpose--The gospel was not an afterthought--the gospel was part of an eternal plan which predated the first act of creation......

“…Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Chris…”:

(5) God ORDAINED his purpose--He made it an eternal law--and that eternal mysterious purpose was done for our benefit and glory.

“…1 Cor 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,…”

(6) Before the world was made, God ordained the method of redemption and the redeemer--He filled in all the blanks in the plan.


c. In Due Time….The plan was announced and prophesied.

(1) The prophecies were given—Rom 1:1-4 "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) 3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:"

(2) Rom 3:21 "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;"

(3) There are dozens of scriptures that predict the Messiah, in excruciating detail.

(a) The Time of His Birth

(b) The Place of His Birth

(c) The Manner of His Birth

(d) His Forerunner

(e) The Character of His ministry

(f) The manner of His betrayal

(g) The Manner of His death—and crucifixion had not even been invented at the time Ps 22 was written! Ps 22:14-18

(h) The time of His Death—the evening sacrifice

(i) His resurrection, that He would not see corruption

(j) His Second coming as well as His first

(4) The prophecies were so mysterious that the prophets did not even understand what they were writing.

1 Pet 1:10-12 "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into."


d. In Due Time…..

(1) The plan was carried out by God. Gal 4: 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

(2) The plan was carried out by God

Acts 2:22-23 "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:"

Acts 4:27-28 "….. both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."


4. “…Christ died for the ungodly…”

a. Not for the Godly, because without His Cross, there would be no Godly!.

John 10:11-18 "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. …… 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. …... 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."

(1) He was not murdered as a helpless victim

(2) He was not caught up in some thing over which He had no control.

(3) He was not part of some miscalculation by God

(4) He gave up the ghost, He laid down His life, He died, He was in control from beginning to end.

b. “…Christ died for the ungodly…”.

(1) The death of Christ was a real death—He did not “swoon” as the liberals would say.

(2) The Roman soldiers certified He was dead—and they were experts in death.

(3) His side was pierced, and water and blood flowed out, signifying a heart that had literally exploded in His chest—He was dead.

c. “…Christ died for the ungodly….”

(1) The death of Christ was a substitution.

(2) He died in the place of particular people—He died that we could live, He sacrificed, that we could be free, He died in our place.

Isa 53:5-6 "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

d. “…Christ died for the ungodly…”

(1) He did not die for good people, there are no good people.

(2) He did not die for the innocent—none are innocent

(3) He did not die for His friends—without the intervention of God, we would still be His enemies.

(4) Christ died for sinners, ungodly sinners, unholy sinners, dirty, rotten defiled sinners—sinners in need of a Savior, sinners totally without any spiritual resources whatsoever, lost, doomed sinners.

e. And this is why we have Biblical Hope, not a maybe so thing, but a certain thing—

“…(Heb 6:17-19) "Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil…,"

f. And this is the Love of God that has been shed abroad in our hearts…And this is the basis for all we are in Christ

Rom 5:6 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

5. Applications

a. For believers—surely we should rejoice and praise His Name without end, for he has died for us, and has brought us to Himself.

b. If God is for us, what difference does it make who or what is against us?

c. The Cross must rule the lives of believers—Our feelings about the world, our relationship with it, our walk in it, and our increasing detachment from its rule are all determined by the Cross.

d. As far as Paul was concerned, the world was dead--the praise, advancements, approval of the world were not important . For the Apostle, as for every believer, the world was not his real home--but unlike many of us, he knew it, and he lived like it. Paul proved his allegiance to the rule of the cross. He had made choices in his life; he had chosen the Gospel's Truth over family background, tradition, and riches—Phil 3:1-10

e. As John Brown of Edinburgh said, it is that "...we view the world system as crucified, cursed, useless, of no influence, of no matter, of no importance to us at all. The world is not to be desired, listened to, followed, or worshipped1 ..” Rom 5:6, 1 Jn 2:15-17

f. For unbelievers—the only remedy for you is to run to the Cross as fast as you can go! Flee to Christ, Flee to Christ, Flee to Christ!


6. Dying for Another is Rare

a. It is a Remarkable Thing to Die for Another
(1) The annals of heroism hold in highest esteem those who died for others, who made the highest sacrifice.
(a) The mother who died defending her children.
(b) The soldier who died protecting the lives of others.
(c) The police officer who dies in defense of public order.
(d) The middle school teacher in Jonesboro who died shielding a student.
(2) It is rare even to die for someone worthy.

b. It is Even More Remarkable to Die for the Undeserving
(1) Though it is rare, and though we hold it in high esteem as evidence of great nobility of spirit and character, we can understand a mother sacrificing for her children, a father dying for his family.
(2) Though it is rare, and though we consider them great heroes, we understand somewhat how a man could die for his country or to protect his buddies.
(3) Though it shows unusual character, we can understand a teacher shielding a student or a policeman protecting a citizen, and paying the ultimate price.
(4) But to die for someone undeserving, or worse, for someone who deserves anything but this sacrifice, that is rare indeed.

c. That is the case with the cross—5:8
(1) What love! What Grace! We were rebels, murderers, haters of God and of His way, and He sent Christ for us!
(2) Again, God did not send His Son for righteous people—there are not any righteous people. God did not send His Son for nice people—in God’s eyes, we are all vile, hopeless sinners.
(3) God did not forsee us as believers and send His Son—while we were yet sinners He came!

d. It was a voluntary act of Love by a Sovereign, Triune God
(1) Christ did not die because He was too weak to get out of it.
(2) Our Lord and Savior was no helpless victim--as He demonstrated when He said, “I am” and they all fell down (Jn 18:4-6), Jesus could have wiped out the Roman Empire with a word and called for twelve legions of angels to do the light work and mopping up.
(3) No third party arbitrated a settlement between God and the human race--God did it Himself. John 10:11-18, 1 John 4:10, Rom 3:24-26, Heb 9:14
(4) The Triune God Authored and Acted out the Cross.
(a) The Father Sent the Son
(b) The Father Poured Wrath out on the Son
(c) The Son laid down His life
(d) The Son Presented the Sacrifice
(e) The Father Accepted the Sacrifice
(f) The Spirit was involved in a way that the Bible does not specify.

(5) The Cross, therefore, was all a work of God! It was undeserved by us, it was uncaused by us, it was All of God!

7. The Doctrine of the Cross—Substitution, Satisfaction, Blood Atonement, Propitiation!

a. The Cross is a substitution--Christ actually died in the place of sinners--He specifically took the punishment that should have been theirs
(1) 2 Cor 5:21, Isa 53:5
(2) How can the death of One man accomplish this? It is possible because He is infinite--He is God, and His blood sacrifice is of infinite worth.

b. The Cross is a Satisfaction –5: 9 The Cross is our Satisfaction (of the Law's demands).
(1) Unlike the "gods" of the world's religions, who either disregard sin or forgive it capriciously, the God of the Bible can state that all the demands of His law have been met. Rom 3:28-31
(2) And on the cross, God showed to the world that as He forgives people through faith in the blood of Christ, He has dealt with their sin...
(3) to demonstrate His righteousness, Rom 3:26
(4) There are three things in which Christianity is vastly different from the various human religions:
(a) We serve a risen Savior
(b) Our way of salvation is totally apart from human effort
(c) In the Cross, a Holy God DEALS WITH SIN

c. The Cross was a Blood Atonement—
(1) Every blood sacrifice made, every lamb, goat, bull, calf, or dove sacrificed, foreshadowed the great sacrifice Christ would make. He shed real blood for the real sins of real people!
(2) As on the first Passover—“Exo 12:13 "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt."
(3) The New Testament is full of references to this: Mat 26:28, Acts 20:28, Eph 1:7, Eph 2:13, Col 1:14, Col 1:20, Heb 9:14, Heb 10:19, 1 Pet 1:2, 1 Pet 1:19, 1 John 1:7, Rev 1:5, Rev 5:9,
d. The Cross is a Propitiation— we shall be saved from wrath through him
(1) Rom 3:25 whom God set forth--We can never let this get away from our minds, that God is the Author of the Cross...as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, Jesus’ death on the Cross was a propitiation--this is a word in the Greek which carries several shades of meaning.
(2) It is the same word used for mercy seat--that place in the temple where the blood was sprinkled on the day of atonement
(3) In the context of the wrath of God revealed against sin, it means a sacrifice which turns aside the righteous wrath of God against our sin and rebellion and makes reconciliation.
(4) This is a place where the doctrinal lines must be drawn with utter precision.
(5) Liberal theologians want to eliminate any sense of the wrath of God, but the entire premise of the long Romans passage on sin and justification is the statement in Romans 1:18 -- “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,...”
(6) But too many folks who love to manipulate people through guilt go off in the other direction and create a cave-man kind of God who is just plain bloodthirsty--WE must avoid both extremes and look at what the Bible is telling us here......
(7) God propitiated His own righteous wrath which was aroused because of the interaction of His holiness and our utter rebellion against Him—John 3:36, Rom 5:8-9, 1 Th 1:10

e. The Cross is a finished work—John 19:30
(1) It cannot be repeated èHeb 9:27-28
(2) It cannot be supplemented by human works
(3) His suffering ended on the Cross....it was not added to in the days following
(a) I know there is a popular myth that Christ went to hell during the three days His body was in the tomb.

(b) The source of this myth is an addition to the Apostle’s Creed, made by pagans in the 6th century church.

(c) Among some groups of TV preachers, this myth has achieved giant theological meaning, tied in with their concept of Christ as being a mere man during His earthly ministry.

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.

Jn 19:30..."It is finished!"