How do you view the Cross?
It is the grandest single chapter in the entire Bible.
And at the center of the Christian faith stands the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We sometimes think that Easter should be celebrated only once a year.
But actually every Sunday—the first day of each week—celebrates the empty tomb, and apart from Christ risen from the dead there can be no Christian faith.
Paul knew that and in his great chapter on the resurrection of the dead, which is now preserved for us in 1 Corinthians 15,
Paul makes this statement: "If Christ has not been raised your faith is futile and you are still in your sins."
If God has not raised his Son, as the New Testament tells us he has, then there is no basis for our Christian faith.
And we might as well just give up all of our Christian activity and proclamation and go do something else.
The Christian faith stands or falls on the resurrection of its Lord.
Jesus Christ risen from the dead is the central tenet of our belief.
The one most exhilarating thing in the whole range of human experience is the thought that we are immortal, that we cannot die, that whatever may happen to the body, we ourselves shall live on and on and on and on.
And we have this feeling made sure in our hearts because Jesus rose from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
The first thing that we need to understand is that if there had been no resurrection:
Death would have won, and the life of Christ would have been exterminated.
And if the resurrection didn’t really happen, then everything He said about these things was a bunch of what Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H would call, “Horse hockey.”
If Christ had not been raised he would have no power over death. We would have no hope of life beyond the grave.
We would not be able to say with Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth,and after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:25-26).
We need to understand that without the resurrection:
Evil would have won and the sacrifice of Christ would have been worthless.
Jesus died for the sins of the world.
But if sin killed him, and he was not able to rise from the dead, sin would have won.
Evil would have conquered good and killed God. The Bible says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).
If death had conquered Jesus Christ it would mean he could not conquer death for us. Everything rests on this, for the Bible says, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14).
This is the underpinning of the Christian faith. Without the resurrection Jesus Christ is just another dead religious teacher.
But because of the resurrection, he is Lord of all. He has conquered death, sin and hell. He has said, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19).
Christ died for our sins.
He died for our failures. Our impurities. Our sinful life.
Our failures are not Fatal because of the cross.
Jesus took the blame for our failures.
Jesus lived a perfect life, so that his life would be accredited to your account.
And all of your sins and all my sins and all the sins of everyone that ever lived or will ever live was imputed or charged against Jesus’ account.
The great thing is Jesus was not forced on the cross.
Let us see how to pick up the cross on that 650 yard walk to Golgotha.
There are three ways we can view the cross as Christians today.
Some Christians today are forced to the cross.
People like Simon of Cyrene. Simon was forced to carry Jesus’ cross
I always said that even the few times I went to church I became a drug addict. Because joy always drugged me all the way there.
Some of you are in that picture. The husband who comes out of obligation for his wife.
A mother that comes for her children. Others who come out of tradition.
Others who only come to make their community profile more polished.
They are forced to view the cross.
They may have touched the cross but never let the cross touch them.
Simon had the horizontal beam of God’s love across his back, but was never changed by it.
You can be close to the cross but so far from Christ.
Secondly, There have been those who were Foolish at the Cross
This picture is people like the religious leaders that hurled insults at him.
And soldiers who play games at the foot of the cross.
You may be have been foolish at the cross by the mockery of your life and lips and your actions.
These people get so close to the cross but choose to deny the blood it shed.
You see, we huddle around that cross and play our games of hypocrisy, gossip, back biting, envy and strive.
So close to the cross but yet so far from away.
Our pride prevents us from removing the masks we wear to see that bloodstained cross.
From not picking up the cross we cannot display or show our cardboard to others let alone ourselves.
Paul made it public that he persecuted Christians, he knew Christ had forgiven him.
The last way to view the cross is to seek forgiveness through the cross and wrap your arms around your Savior denying yourself in true humility.
Matt 10:38, “and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
God doesn’t care about the past lifestyle, he only desires you to be in the final family of forgiveness of believers.
God loves you and forgives you and accepts you.
And in this you can know that your failures are not fatal.
You can be forgiven. God cares more about where you going than where you came from.
How do you view the cross. What do you see?
One lady wrote in to a question and answer forum. "Dear Sirs, Our preacher said on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered.
Dear Bewildered, Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear thru his side...put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens
Take a view at the cross……
The minimum wage Roman Soldier drove a railroad spike in his royal wrist.
Look at a beaten, slashed nail-suspended preacher. His face crimson with blood.
His bones peeking through the torn flesh, his body heaving for air.
For what? For You!
For you to know your cardboard life lives no matter how big the piece.
How does he do that? How does Jesus Christ make our failures not fatal?
He took our place.
On the cross God treated Jesus as if He lived your life.
So that he could treat you as if you lived His.
Your sins are put to his account and His perfect life is accredited to your account.
But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three — sin, guilt, death — are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!”
That death is not final for the person who follows Jesus into the tomb and walks out the other side to eternity.
We learn from the cross and the tomb that:
The living must die so that the dying may live.
Can I give you a life lesson?
It is much easier to die like Jesus, if you have lived like him for a life time!
And when you do.... God gives your soul a bedrock anchor that gives you the hope that your death and the death of your loved ones that trust in Jesus is not final!
The proof of His death is what is mentioned next. 1 Cor 15:5-8
5and that He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve.
6After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, but some have fallen asleep;
7then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
The Twelve became sort of a title for the twelve disciples. By this time, they were down one, but nevertheless they still were referred to as the Twelve.
We know Jesus lives in our hearts. That’s true, it’s biblical, that’s part of the good news, but that is not how we know He lives.
He is saying this resurrection of Jesus and His appearances are patently verified.
It’s true. He is alive. He came to be with His disciples. He ate with them. He showed them His wounds.
He offered himself, said explore, see if it’s not Me.
They were so convinced it was, all of them en masse, their entire lives were totally changed.
He met them cowering in an upper room.
Jesus appeared and the next time we see them in the 2nd chapter of Acts they are boldly proclaiming the truth of the gospel.
Their lives are radically changed because He appeared and they knew He had beaten the undertaker. He had beaten the grave.
Do you think the cardboard testimony Christians are excited?on fire?
Paul is saying my history, my checkered past, is history. It is over.
He changed me. The gospel has gripped me and given me new life.
He says He called me and He changed me as bad as I was.
And Paul was bad by his own admission.
He was persecuting God’s people, going after them, agreeing to their murder and seeking to confine them.
If Paul can get right with God, cannot you and I? That is good news.
Conclusion
Well, I think I’ve pretty much said enough. But I hope you’ve caught the main point of what I’m trying to say.
That we have a great hope in Christ because He’s risen. And that we need to take that hope to the world.
But we need to take it them so they can respond to it for themselves.
My prayer is that if you’re here and you already have eternity taken care of because you’ve put your faith in Christ and strive to live for Him, that you’ll give others the same chance.
But maybe you don’t have it taken care of and you want to walk out of here today knowing that your sins are forgiven and you have a home in heaven.
Maybe you’ve heard about Jesus your whole life and about going to heaven,
but you didn’t understand just how to get there, or didn’t really want what Jesus offers until now.
I want you to know that you’re going to get an opportunity right now to take that step to allow Jesus to be your forgiver and boss.
You can be a new person because of what Jesus did for you by dying on the cross and rising again.
So let me just invite you to take it. Take the offer of forgiveness and heaven for yourself.
I’m going to pray in a second here, and if you want to take what Jesus offers, you can pray along with me in your heart this morning.
The next time you find yourself entombed in a darkened world of fear remember that Jesus paid the ultimate price for you.
The next time pain boxes you in a world of failures.
Remember the anchor of the cross
Think about that musty tomb God chiseled into a tunnel to eternity
Because of the cross you failures are not final!
Flip your cardboard for the sake of Jesus’ sufferings. Flip your cardboard for the sake of proclaiming the good news. Flip your cardboard this morning for life.
Eternal life through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Because of the Cross you death is not final!
