UNDERSTANDING THE REAL MEANING OF THE CROSS!

The Cross of Jesus Christ is central to the Christian faith. 

So today, we are going to return together to the Cross of Calvary to understand the real meaning of the Cross.

Apostle Paul said, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14).

The Cross is a symbol of Christianity all over the world. We have beautiful Crosses in our churches. We also have beautiful Crosses hanging on our necks. But people do not understand the real meaning of the Cross. What is the real meaning of the Cross of Christ?

1. The Cross was a Roman instrument of capital punishment, a form of execution reserved for the worst criminals, the most shameful death imaginable.

And when I see Christ hanging on the Cross I remember what Prophet Isaiah said, “There is no beauty in Him that I should desire Him” (Isa. 53).

“In human form He obediently humbled Himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a Cross” (Phil. 2:8).

2. The Cross reveals to us the character of God: His love for lost sinners and His perfect justice meet at the Cross.

3. The cross is a symbol of the price that Christ paid to ransom us from sin and death. “You know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. . . . He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 Pet. 1:18-19).

4. Christ used the Cross as a picture of the kind of commitment that He expects from His followers - a commitment that makes us willing to suffer anything, including torture, ridicule, shame, and death, for the sake of Christ.

Jesus said, “And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it” (Mark 8:34-38).

5. Because of the extreme sacrifice involved in Christ’s willingness to die on a Cross, the Cross represents the kind of love that we are called to have for our Christian brothers and sisters.

“We know what real love is because Christ gave up His life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters” (1 Jn. 3:16).

6. Christ’s blood and His cross represent the ultimate victory that we have in Him. “And they overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death (they were not afraid to die)” (Rev. 12:11).

7. The Cross shows us the depths of our sins. We don’t realize what sin is in the sight of God, how deeply it offends Him and how it separates us from Him. In the Cross we find the strongest proof of God’s hatred for sin. God has said, “The soul that sinneth shall die” (Ezek. 18:4, 20).

8. Keeping the Cross of Christ central will protect you from the many winds of false doctrine blowing in our day. Satan hates the Cross because it sealed his doom and he is relentless in his attacks to undermine and thwart the Cross.

Every cult or false teaching in some way diminishes the work of Christ on the Cross and magnifies human ability.

Before Jesus went to the Cross, He prayed in Gethsemane. He was agonizing, sorrowful. He prayed to God, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matt. 26:39, NKJV).

He looked into the cup, and what did He see in that cup? He saw the sins of the whole world! He saw murder, war, racial prejudice, adultery, lying and fraud, etc.

9. The cross is the place where all the wounds of sin are healed. If you suffer from emotional problems--guilt, anxiety, depression, anger, or whatever--there is healing in the Cross of Christ.

If you are going through tragedy or suffering, there is comfort in abundance as you contemplate the sufferings of the spotless Savior on your behalf.

People ask the question, “What is sin?” Sin is coming short of God’s righteousness. God is righteous and holy. He cannot behold sin.

10. The Cross of Christ is the emblem of suffering and shame. And the death of Christ is what makes the Good News.

11. The Cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Apostle Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ (the Cross): for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (1 Cor. 1:16).

12. The Cross is the instrument of our salvation. The Bible, tells us that there is no other way to cleanse sin, but through the sacrifice of an innocent One in the place of the guilty one.

“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (forgiveness of sin)” (Heb. 9:22).

13. The Cross is God's statement of love to the world. In Christ's death on the Cross, God declared boldly, for all to see, His boundless, matchless love for humanity.

God is saying today, “I love you. No matter what you have done–how bad you have been–I love you.”

God is saying to you, “I love you. I forgive you because of what Jesus did on the Cross” (Jn. 3:16).

14. The Cross shows us the way to victory. The Cross is the instrument through which God delivers us from the hand of the devil.

15. The Cross is about defeating the devil. Ever since the Lucifer sinned and became the devil, he has been in the business of trying to hinder the work of God. He loves nothing better than keeping souls in bondage and seeing them condemned to Hell (Eph. 2:1-3).

But, when Jesus went to the Cross, the devil thought he had won the victory that day. I am sure he rejoiced when Jesus cried out, "It is finished!"

But, what the devil did not know that day was that the Lord Jesus wasn't planning to stay dead! Maybe the devil should have listened closer and he would have understood that Jesus did not say, "I am finished!"

He said "It is finished!" You see, when Jesus died on the Cross, He did not die to stay dead, but He rose from the dead three days later and nailed old slew foot's coffin lid shut!

The Bible tells us that the victory over the devil is found in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 12:11).

Realize that Satan is defeated! He may roar like a ferocious lion and he may try to keep you from God (1 Pet. 5:8), but he has been defeated by the power of God and you do not have to remain his prisoner!  There is power in the blood of Jesus to set you free!

16. God dealt with our sin nature completely at the Cross. God made it clear that our old man is crucified with Christ, and we do not need to serve sin any longer.

Apostle Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

The Scripture says, “Sin shall no longer have dominion over us” (Rom. 6:14). In the Cross there is power to overcome all sorts of temptations.

I am fully persuaded that God is able to give us daily victory over the devil through the Cross so that we can say with Apostle Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ…” (Gal. 2:20).

Look at the example of what happened in the wilderness:

Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:14-15).

“And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. 6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore, the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, WHEN HE LOOKETH UPON IT, SHALL LIVE. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” (Num. 21:5-9).

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

In spite of all these benefits, the world still stumbles over the Cross. And that is the reason why so many people are not in the Kingdom of God today. So many are in the church but they have never come to the Cross. Have you come to the Cross? Once you come to the Cross and have an encounter with the Christ of the Cross, you’ll never be the same again. If you come to the Cross right now by faith your life will be radically changed for good forever.

Watch out for the next edition of the Good News from the pulpit.

•  Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor)                                             28.04.2019