Sermon Central
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7 Portraits Of The Cross
Contributed by Dr. Stanley Vasu on Apr 10, 2009 (message contributor)
Summary: 1.GOD WHO GAVE HIS SON 2.THE LAMB OF GOD 3.THE GOOD SHEPHERD 4.THE BRAZEN SERPENT 5.THE SIGN OF JONAH 6.THE BREAD OF LIFE 7.THE LAST ADAM
7 PORTRAITS OF THE CROSS
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OUTLINE
1.GOD WHO GAVE HIS SON
2.THE LAMB OF GOD
3.THE GOOD SHEPHERD
4.THE BRAZEN SERPENT
5.THE SIGN OF JONAH
6.THE BREAD OF LIFE
7.THE LAST ADAM
THE MESSAGE
7 PORTRAITS OF THE CROSS
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1.GOD WHO GAVE HIS SON
When we look at the cross we see the portrait of a God who loved us so much that He gave His only Son to die for us. The cross makes it very clear that God does not want to condemn us but to save us and grant us eternal life. It give us confidence that God who sacrificed His son for us would surely grant us everything else that we need. When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac , it was a foreshadow of what God Himself would do in order to save mankind.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
2.THE LAMB OF GOD
When we look at the cross we see the portrait of the lamb of God who was sacrificed to take away our sins. Jesus was the precious lamb of God without blemish or defect whose blood alone was worthy to wash away our sins. He silently bore all the suffering of the cross in order to save us from our sins.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
