Title: The Cross of Jesus
Contents
*** Crucifixion of Jesus / 1 Peter 2:19-25
** Introductory words
1 Peter 2:19-25, “19 It is beautiful if you endure hardships in ambiguity and endure sorrows by thinking of God. 20 What praise is there if you endure being beaten because you have sinned? But if you suffer for doing good and endure it, this is beautiful in the sight of God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. 22 He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly, 24 He ran and bore our sins in His body, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you are healed. 25 Once you were lost like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.”
All of you and me who follow the Lord must have these traces of Jesus. In the latter days, when we stand before the judgment seat of God, it is the mark of the cross engraved in our hearts that proves that we are the people of Jesus. The cross, the mark of Jesus that must be engraved on our hearts, is the ‘blood of Jesus’ that washed away our sins. That's why the Reformer M. Luther said, "If you squeeze the Bible, it bleeds." In the Old Testament, the blood of an animal sacrificed for human sin flows, and in the New Testament, the blood of Jesus, who gave His body to restore our identity. Even if we live and die on this earth, what we must live or hold on to is the blood of Jesus on the cross. This is the only way to save us. Therefore, I must make it clear what the cross of Jesus is for me.
1. The cross of Jesus is the love of God.
The emblem that symbolizes Christianity today is the cross. However, in the early church era, the cross was rarely used as a symbol. Perhaps it was because the cross was the instrument of death that caused people to die in the most terrible pain. The use of the cross as a symbol of Christianity in earnest was influenced by the Roman emperor Constantine. This emperor was the emperor who made Christianity the state religion, which had been severely persecuted. He had a vision of the cross before the battle called 'The Battle of Milvian Bridge' (312-313) and chose the cross as his badge. He won that battle a great victory and has since marked the flag of his army with a cross. Since then, the cross has been used as a symbol of Christianity.
Even today, the cross of Jesus, which rises high as a symbol of the church around the world, is a cry of God's silent love for mankind. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 is the cry of God's supreme love for mankind.
In fact, the cross is a symbol of God's terrible justice. God never tolerates sin; He always finds out, judges, and punishes. Therefore, someone had to bear that sin in order to save mankind who had disobeyed God and fell into sin because of Adam and Eve. In the Old Testament times, animals were imputed to their sins to die instead of those who sinned. However, this was only a one-time use. Because every time they sinned, they had to offer a sacrifice. In the end, God's love for mankind gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice. And Jesus suffered the terrible punishment of God on behalf of mankind according to God's will. That is the cross of Jesus. This fact is expressed in 1 John 4:10 this way: (Hyundai English Bible) “With this kind of God, we have come to know what true love is. True love is not our love for God, but God's love for us. This love was shown in that God, who was angry for our sins, offered his only Son as a sacrifice in exchange for punishment. This is the pinnacle of love.”
That's right. The cross is never something we should love or be proud of. Rather, it is excruciating pain, shameful and disgusting. However, because God's love was contained in that cross, it became the power of life that we are proud of and long for. God punished Jesus for our sins through the cross of suffering and shame and made us alive. This is the culmination of God's love for us that no one can imitate. Therefore, the cross of Jesus is God's love for us.
2. The cross of Jesus is the door of salvation and power.
When Jesus died on the cross, he cried out, “It is finished.” What have you accomplished? He broke down the barriers between mankind and God, and opened the door of communion with God that was cut off by disobedience and sin. The Bible testifies that at the moment when Jesus died, the gates of heaven were opened. In Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, and Luke 23:45, the unanimous testimony is that “the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.” This is the breaking down of the wall that stood between man and God until then, and the door of communion with God was opened.
Also, Romans 1:16 says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. First to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” In other words, the cross of Jesus is the power of God to achieve salvation, whether it be the chosen people or the Gentiles. Also, 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The cross of Jesus is the door that saves us from our sins and is the channel of God's power.
When the Israelites disobeyed God in the wilderness, they were bitten by a fiery serpent sent by God and many people died. At that time, God made Moses make a copper serpent and put it on a pole so that he could proclaim, ‘Whoever sees the snake will live. All who heard the proclamation and saw the copper serpent on a pole in faith had life. Today, the cross is the symbol and door of salvation that enables people to live in this age, just like the copper snake on a pole.
Therefore, the cross of Jesus is the key that unlocks the kingdom of God. If you feel that something is closed in your life, hold onto the cross of Jesus. Rely on the cross of Jesus and ask God. This is Jesus' repeated promise and exhortation in John 14:13, 15:16, 16:23-24. Let's look at verses 16:23-24. “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in my name; ask. Then you will receive, and your joy may be full.”
3. The cross of Jesus is the path of glory that I must follow.
Have you heard the saying “without the cross there is no glory”? In other words, ‘the cross is the way of glory.’ Jesus said to his disciples and crowds, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34). This verse is a firm statement that there is no way to follow Jesus except the way of the cross.
What does the cross mean to you? The cross says only one thing. It is ‘self-abandonment’. Let's look at the Bible verse that best expresses this. First, Romans 14:8. “If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” Next is Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Now that I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
In the light of these words, there is no basis for claiming me in life. That is, there is nothing in life that can claim to be mine. Yet we do not depend on God, we stand up for our will and our thoughts, and we still claim that “my life is mine.” If I believe that all of my things belong to God, I will never be able to neglect God like this. The closer we are to the crisis of death, the more we must hold onto the cross of Jesus. This is the only way to the promised life and glory that we must follow. Verse 21 says, “To this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”
Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week. If you are truly a child of God and desire the kingdom of God, make one resolution this week out of love for the Lord. Giving up bad habits, curbing any desires, fasting one meal a day and using that amount of money for the needy, or committing to a life of total devotion. I hope that you can think of the cross of Jesus as a love that does even one small thing, not with the abundant determination and devotion through words alone.
finish the speech. The cross of Jesus is God's love and power for me, and at the same time, it is the path I must follow. This cross means ‘forsaking me’. By forsaking me, I become the Lord's property, and by forsaking me, the power of God comes upon me. I pray that you will realize the life of a truly happy child of God who follows the cross of Jesus by discerning wisely in your life on earth for a while.