cross

Christ and the Cross: 

Christ and the Cross Inspiration from The Cross of Christ by John Stott

Holy God and Sinful People: 

Holy God and Sinful People

Slide3: 

'All inadequate doctrines of the atonement are due to inadequate doctrines of God and man. If we bring God down to our level and raise ourselves to his, then of course we see no need for a radical salvation, let alone for a radical atonement to secure it. When on the other hand, we have glimpsed the blinding glory of the holiness of God, and have been so convicted of our sin by the Holy Spirit that we tremble before God and acknowledge what we are, namely ‘hell-deserving sinners’, then and only then does the necessity of the cross appear so obvious that we astonished we never saw it before.' (p. 109) John Stott

Slide4: 

Why start here when we want to look at Christ and the Cross? Any failure on our behalf to reduce either the Holiness of God or the sinfulness of all people from its proper place of truth results in reducing the cross and the sacrifice of Christ. It then becomes nothing, or at best a story of a man named Jesus who died a martyr. Those who declare themselves as Christians are counting on this being more than a martyr story!

Inherent goodness?: 

Inherent goodness? Is this really the case when you look out at the world or even at yourself? Is this a belief system or just something that will make us feel good about ourselves? The world longs to have you believe that we are all basically good people.

Slide6: 

WHERE is the inherent goodness of the world shining through showing its dominating effect on our progress as a people? Is it in the people who took children left orphaned by the tsunami and sold them to the sex and slave market? Is it in those here in America who set up fake charities? Who saw an opportunity to make a buck and help themselves rather than considering the broken lives of thousands? Today is the 60th anniversary of Auschwitz. Is that the goodness we are capable of? Is it in the men who will force themselves on women this year on this very campus or in the women who seduce men to, in some twisted way, affirm their self worth?

Slide7: 

Maybe you don’t participate in any of these things. Maybe these things feel too far removed. That’s fine because those are only the extremes. What about all those who will: take that extra glimpse to confirm that answer your shaky on while taking a test this year curse at a person who cuts them off despise a teacher who gives an extra assignment hold a grudge, tell someone off, use someone, lust, steal, act out of jealousy and the list goes on. Read the news, observe people. CONSIDER YOUR OWN HEART!!! Does your nature of goodness and that nature in others thrive or is it too often tainted as it tries to come out so it doesn’t really look that good any more? Jesus says that if a man every thinks hatefully about a person he has already committed murder.

The Holy God: 

The Holy God A God set apart from all the evils, corruptions, misdeeds, failings, and sins you could every think of. A God who is the essence of love, justice, knowledge, wisdom, peace, goodness, understanding, power, mercy and grace. What do you want with a 'god' that isn’t holy? What character than about a 'god' that isn’t holy would compel you to trust in, believe in, follow, and commit the will of your life to?

Slide9: 

In order for God to be God He must be Holy!!!! Once again we have to understand this in order to see the need for the cross, to understand why it happened and what was achieved by it. It’s not enough to ‘kinda’ be good, to be a ‘basically’ good person. The standard set in place by a holy God is holiness and He can accept nothing less than purity. We are incapable of this by ourselves. We need help.

The Cross, what is it?: 

The Cross, what is it?

Slide11: 

A cross is literally two wooden beams bound together. It was a form of capital punishment used heavily by the Romans. THE CROSS is the one to which Jesus was nailed and on which He died. To all those that do not claim the same faith as Christianity the cross is a symbol of Christianity and maybe nothing more. To all of you in this room that claim the title of being a Christian, the cross is still a symbol. It is the CENTER PIECE OF OUR FAITH. It is meant to symbolize our entire belief system!

Slide12: 

I would like to pose to you that the Cross is the most important subject and event in history you could every study! I want to challenge you and say that the more you understand the Cross the more you will see, and long for these two intersecting lines to remain the symbol of your faith! Do you currently feel that strongly about it?

Slide13: 

'Christ is to us just what the cross is. All that Christ was in heaven and earth was put into what he did there… Christ, I repeat, is to us just what his cross is. You do not understand Christ till you understand his cross.' (p. 44-45) P.T Forsyth

Slide14: 

The Cross is so much more! Our understanding of the cross is foundational to our understanding and knowing the living resurrected savior that we, as Christians, claim to have an intimate relationship with. Not understanding the cross is like being in a marriage where you don’t what the other person does for a living and you don’t care either, but you’re glad that there is money for the food you need to live. IT IS MEANT TO DEFINE US IN EVERY WAY and IT IS THE STARTING POINT TO WHICH WE CAN KNOW GOD IN EVERY WAY!

Slide15: 

'On this interpretation of the work of Christ [the reconciliation of our relationship with God] the whole Church rests. If you move faith from that center, you have driven the nail into the Church’s coffin. The Church is then doomed to death, and it is only a matter of time when the she shall expire.' (p. 53) P.T. Forsyth

Slide16: 

'…The community of Christ is the community of the cross. Having been brought into being by the cross, it continues to live by and under the cross. Our perspective and our behavior are now governed by the cross. All our relationships have been radically transformed by it. … In particular, the cross revolutionizes our attitude to God, to ourselves and to other people both inside and outside the Christian fellowship and to the grave problems of violence and suffering.' (p. 256) John Stott

Three things that the cross is:: 

Three things that the cross is: Salvation Revelation Conquest

Slide18: 

Salvation There is a gap created by our imperfections between God and us and the cross is the bridge on which we can walk to get to God. The Bible says that, 'He who was without sin (Jesus) became sin (all sin) for us that we might become the righteousness of God.' Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was the punishment paid for us so that we can be in a relationship with God.

Slide19: 

Revelation People have a hard time seeing God’s love when they look at the cross and see the cruel death of Christ. You must understand that the Cross is the best place to understand God’s love and justice. You cannot have one without the other in this life or the next. The Cross embodies both His love through the willing substitution of Himself in Jesus Christ for us, and His desire for justice to be carried out by the death of Jesus that served to justly pacify the judgment that we would have to suffer.

Slide20: 

'But demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' Romans 5:8 'God presented him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left sins committed unpunished beforehand – he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.' Romans 3:25-26

Slide21: 

Conquest Hopefully it has become some what obvious that the Cross was a victory over many things that would normally hinder, hold, and kill our souls. Through the Cross there has been achieved a victory over the spiritual death that plagues the souls of those who don’t have a relationship with God, a victory over the physical death of our bodies as our souls are promised eternal life with God in heaven, and a victory over the power of sin which would normally hold us under just punishment in the eyes of a Holy God.

Life defined by the Cross: 

Life defined by the Cross

Slide23: 

I present all of this as a fellow runner in the race. I am NOT coming to you as one who’s life exemplifies all of these things. However, I want to share with you some of the clarity that God has given to me of what a life bought by the blood of Jesus is supposed to look like. If you are not a Christian, take note. The things I am going to talk about are challenging. But if you put them in the light of what the world needs to be a better place. If you listen to the truths of what Christianity is supposed to be, not what the media declares it to be, you might be pleasantly surprised and wish that more Christians actually stuck true to the teachings of their faith.

Slide24: 

The Cross gives us our identity and our understanding too if it allows us to give of ourselves. Christ’s model for us on the Cross was one of self-denial. He understood His identity and therefore it allowed to give of himself wholly. We too are supposed to deny ourselves. The Bible is quite clear: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.' Mark 8:34

Slide25: 

The Cross is our model for life. Anyone who picks up a cross is picking up to two things: A public action. If you were carrying a cross you weren’t able to hide it away. As Christians, we do not carry our cross in our closets, in the comfort of our Christian fellowship or only on Sundays at church. An understanding of where you are going. If you were carrying a cross you were headed for one place to do one thing. It labels you, permanently. In this life and the next.

Slide26: 

'To deny ourselves is to behave towards ourselves as Peter did towards Jesus when he denied him three times. The verb is the same (aparneomai). He disowned him, repudiated him, turned his back on him. Self-denial is not denying to ourselves luxuries such as chocolates, cakes, cigarettes and cocktails (although it might include this); it is actually denying or disowning ourselves, renouncing our supposed right to go our won way.' ( p. 279) John Stott

Slide27: 

'Self-understanding should lead to self-giving. The community of the cross is essentially a community of self-giving love, expressed in worship of God and in the service of others. It is to this that cross consistently and insistently calls us.' (p. 285) John Stott

Slide28: 

'‘The son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give…’ He renounced the power and glory of heaven and humbled himself to be a slave. He gave himself without reserve and without fear, to the despised and neglected sections of the community. His obsession was the glory of God and the good of human beings who bear his image. To promote these, he was willing to endure even the shame of the cross. Now he calls us to follow him, not to seek great things for ourselves, but rather to seek first God’s rule and God’s righteousness. (p. 287) John Stott

The call of the Cross: 

The call of the Cross '…we still regard security as our birthright and ‘safety first’ as our prudent motto. Where is the Spirit of adventure, the sense of uncalculating solidarity with the underprivileged? Where are the Christians who are prepared to put service before security, compassion before comfort, hardship before ease? Thousands of pioneer Christian tasks are waiting to be done, which challenge our complacency, and which call for risk. Insistence on security is incompatible with the way of the cross.' (p. 288) John Stott

Slide30: 

The cross is the question, the cross is the answer, the cross is the spark and fuel for your fire. The cross is a reminder, the cross is direction, the cross is the call to something greater, to someone greater. The cross is it.