Title: Religion of the Cross
Contents
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1. Who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2. He grows up in the presence of the Lord like a tender shoot, like a root on dry ground, he has no form or appearance, and there is nothing beautiful in our eyes that we should adore.
3. He was despised and rejected by men, he was afflicted and acquainted with suffering, and he was despised, as men hid his face from him, and we did not esteem him.
4. Surely he bore our sorrows and bore our sorrows, but we thought that he was chastised, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and with his wounds we are healed.
6. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
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1. What then shall we say? Do we abid in sin so that grace may increase?
2. How can we, who are dead to sin, live any longer in them?
3. Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4. Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
5. If we have been united in the likeness of his death, we will also be united in the likeness of his resurrection.
6. We know that our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be put to death so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.
7. For the dead have been set free from sin and justified.
8. If we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
9. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more, and death has no more dominion over him.
10. For he died, he died to sin once for all; and that he lives, he lives to God.
11. In the same way, consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Content
Subject: Religion of the Cross
Text: Isaiah 53:1-6, Romans 6:1-11
The cross was the frame of death. It was one of the worst forms of execution for those who proved unworthy of living in the world. It was used by the old great powers to execute felons. It symbolized the culmination of shame and curse. So the Roman Empire outlawed crucifixion for Roman citizens. But Jesus was crucified. He could have avoided that, but he was voluntarily crucified. Apparently, it was a combination of the jealousy and jealousy of the Jewish religious people who misunderstood Jesus at the time, the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, who also misunderstood his master, and political bargaining. But if it was clear that Jesus wanted to avoid the crucifixion, the way was possible. There was also a last chance at the court of Governor Pilate.
‘Pilate said to him, “Do you not tell me? Don't you know that I have authority to release you and have authority to crucify you?'' (John 19:10). This is Jesus' answer. 'Jesus answered, "He had no power to harm me unless it had been given him from above; therefore he who delivered me to you has the greater sin" (John 19:11). From what is recorded in the 4 Gospels, we can see that, contrary to the jealousy of the Jewish religious leaders, the Roman governor Pilate tried to release Jesus. Pilate's wife had a dream she had at night and came to Pilate and started a campaign to save Jesus (Matthew 27:19). Nevertheless, Jesus did not avoid crucifixion. Because he thought it was Heavenly Father's will. It seems like a realization that has nothing to do with the prophecies of the old prophet Isaiah.
In the 7th century B.C. (about 690 B.C.), the prophet Isaiah prophesied that ‘the servant of the Lord would suffer. Today's Old Testament text (Isaiah 53:1-6). “Surely he has borne our afflictions and borne our sorrows, but we thought that he was chastised, struck by God, and afflicted. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. By his chastisement we have peace; by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of our company” (Isaiah 53:4-6). Perhaps, through these words, Jesus understood what the sufferings you are going to face. The same traces are found in the prayer of Gethsemane.
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. But not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Then, he was arrested and subjected to a summary trial and was put to death on the cross. The last prayer of the Seven Words on the Cross was, “Father, into your hands I commit my soul” (Luke 23:46). The reason that the Lord walked the path of suffering prophesied in the Old Testament was to fulfill the will of God the Father. Through the prophesied suffering of the cross, God and sinners meet (vertically), and forgiven sinners meet as brothers and sisters (horizontal) is the history of ‘oneness’. It is the love of God that was revealed on the cross that made this work of salvation possible. In this way, the crucifix, which symbolized the worst curse, became the “cross of love”, a symbol of human salvation (Romans 6:1-11).