THE MYSTERY OF THE CROSS

TOPIC: THE MYSTERY OF THE CROSS

TEXT: John 12.23-33

MEMORY VERSE:  Behold, I shew you a mystery...(1 Cor. 15:513).

CENTRAL TRUTH: The events that culminated in Christ's death on the Cross is revealed by God alone through His Spirit.

INTRODUCTION

The programme that brought about the cross of Calvary is God's way of satisfying the demands of His own nature. God made Jesus bear the punishment of our sins and take our guilt upon himself as our substitute (1 Pet. 2: 24). Jesus did something more than just covering sin but became our substitute taking our own place into Himself (2 Cor. 5: 21). The victory over sin. death and the power of Satan was not only worked by Him, it was delivered by Him.

1. JESUS OUR SIN-BEARER - Jn. 19:16, 17; Heb. 12:2; 1 Pet. 2:24.

Jesus was actually made sin with our sin. Jesus did not become a sinner, i.e. He was not sinful. Jesus offered Himself up as a perfect sacrifice without spot or blemish (Heb. 9:14) for our sins. P.T. Forsyth said: “God made Him sin. treated Him as if He were sin, but He did not view Him as sinful..." This is the heart of Calvary the place where Jesus exchanged divine acceptance and joy for rejection and sorrow (Isa. 53:3); soundness for wounds and bruises (v.5); freedom for oppression and all manner of reproach, ”yet he opened not his mouth.” He was acquainted with grief, violence, and was numbered with the transgressors bearing the sin of many. Jesus alone could pay the debt he did not owe.

2. DEATH BEGETS LIFE: Jn. 12:24-26.

To be human is to mortal. But God did not originally create man to be subject to death (Gen. 3:22). God cut man off from the source of his eternal life because of his disobedience. From this point on, man became subject to death.
Jesus Himself was not subject to man's death until he took sin into himself (Rom. 5:12). Jesus only took the form of man and became sin (Phil. 2:7-8). And all sinful flesh must die to raise up a new and live nature (Jn. 12:24). The only one who had not need to die, either spiritually or physically. was the one who took death upon himself to break its power (Heb. 2: 14-15). On the cross it was the immortal who was put to death. Jesus was human but immortal, for no man in normal human strength could ever have faced what Jesus faced (Lk. 22: 41 -44).
This is where the power of the cross lies with us: not when we try to understand it all, because we never shall; but when we bow before it. accept the mystery and power of it. and when we receive into ourselves the saving effect of it.

3. THE CROSS, A THOUSAND AND ONE LIFTER - Jn. 12:27-33.

The Roman cross was prepared for any public execution. The same cross was used as a way to humiliate Jesus and to frustrate his mission. The Roman cross was made as an instrument of fear and woe for Jesus and his followers, but God used the same cross as means of total spiritual and physical emancipation. This means, though Satan may mean woe and doom for you, God. by the CROSS means a lifting for you! This, besides, Jesus himself said. “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me." (v. 32). A thousand-and-one souls will be drawn unto the saviour if we would put Jesus forth anywhere we go.

DISCUSSION.

1. What do you think Jesus went through at this time and who did He do it for? (Read Lk. 22: 39-46; Matt. 26: 36-46)
2 How did Jesus deal with our sin? (Heb. 4: 15; 9: 26)
3. How may the world benefit from the good of the cross of Christ?
4. (a) Have you benefited from the Cross How?

     (b) How can you be a symbol of Christ's cross today?
My name is Ubong Kingsley Nsini. I am a preacher in Bible Christian Evangelical Church Inc. I am called by God to preach His good news and to help other preachers spread the good news all over the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PREPARATION FOR STREET PREACHING AND VILLAGE CRUSADE.

TEXT: Mark 16: 15-20; Lk. 14:28-32; Prov. 24:27. The great commission of Christ covers every person, people and place. Since the fall of man, God has been providing ways of restoring the fallen man to Himself. The only perfect way came eventually i.e Christ “the lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29). The gospel of Christ is the POWER of God unto salvation to EVERYONE THAT BELIEVETH (Rom. 1:16-17). Therefore the whole gospel must be preached to the whole world. To reach the world with the gospel requires planning. Planning in the means and the method to adopt. The men God can use to carry out this great task. Bringing men to Christ is a great task: “or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house” (Matt. 12:29). This therefore calls for a crusade a campaign against something believed to be bad (sin) and the preaching of the gospel for the salvation f
Read more

CONSERVING THE FRUITS OF EVANGELISM

CONSERVING THE FRUITS OF EVANGELISM  TEXT: Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15-20; Acts 2:41-47.  INTRODUCTION There are two parts of the great commission which was given to the church by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The first one is to preach the gospel to every creature and make disciples of the nations, while the second is teaching the disciples that have been made all that Christ has commanded us. This we generally refer to as follow up. Without giving proper attention to this second part of the Great commission all our labour in evangelization may not produce much fruit. Consequently, there will not be much growth in the Church. Therefore, for the Church to grow as God desires, there must be proper conservation of the fruits of evangelism.  1. MEANING OF FOLLOW-UP.  Follow-up has been defined as the conservation, maturation and multiplication of the fruits of evangelism. Winning and building are inseparably linked together in Scriptures. The new convert requires parental guidance a
Read more

WITNESSING TO A LOST SOCIETY

TOPIC: WITNESSING TO A LOST SOCIETY TEXT: Acts 17:16-33  MEMORY VERSE: Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry - Acts 1 7.16. CENTRAL TRUTH: Christians have the God ordained responsibility to declare the truth of the Gospel to an ungodly society. The truth of the Gospel is the message of life to the lost and hope to the hopeless from the living God. We are living in a society given to idolatry and other abominations and therefore needs the power of God to bring it back to life. it is only the potent power of God that can quicken men's dead consciousness. “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord", we need to persuade men by proclaiming the true God, teaching them repentance from dead works and faith in the living God. READ ALSO: The Place of Prayer in Evangelism REACHING OUT TO THE “SHUT-INS” WINNING NOMINAL CHRISTIANS FOR  CHRIST 1. DEALING WITH THE LOST SOCIETY -Acts 17:16
Read more