{"id":705,"date":"2015-03-05T11:20:20","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T15:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/pastorsblog\/?p=705"},"modified":"2015-03-05T12:38:25","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T16:38:25","slug":"why-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curwensvillealliance.org\/pastorsblog\/?p=705","title":{"rendered":"Why the Cross?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Presented at the Lenten Lunch on 3\/4\/2015<\/h3>\n

\"Clipboard01\"When I was in sixth grade we studied Ancient Egypt.\u00a0Our teachers were great, and we loved the stories of mummies, chariots, and pyramids.\u00a0You know what the Egyptian Ankh is, right?\u00a0It\u2019s a hieroglyphic symbol that is found, sometimes being carried by the people in the pictures from Ancient Egypt.\u00a0It\u2019s a cross with a loop on the top.\u00a0One of my classmates said to the teacher, \u201cWhy did they have crosses centuries before Jesus was even born?\u201d\u00a0I\u2019ll never forget the teacher\u2019s reply: “Wow \u2013 I don\u2019t know!”\u00a0<\/em>It was a teacher-stumper!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that hard a question, if you think about it.\u00a0Asking why the Egyptian language had a cross with a loop at the top is like asking why the English alphabet has a cross at the beginning of words like Timothy and tomato.\u00a0It just does.<\/p>\n

A better question than, \u201cWhy did the Egyptians have a cross-shaped letter in their language?\u201d might be, \u201cWhy do people of 2015 wear crosses?\u201d\u00a0Whether it\u2019s a pastor\u00a0in the season of Lent wearing one or a pop star like Rihanna, people adorn themselves with crosses.\u00a0What\u2019s with our society\u2019s fascination with the cross?\u00a0I can\u2019t answer the question for any pop stars.\u00a0But I can tell you why I love the cross.<\/p>\n

I love the cross because I understand its necessity.<\/h2>\n

Did you catch\u00a0that line?\u00a0I understand that the cross is essential \u2013 necessary.<\/p>\n

Jesus said the Cross was necessary.\u00a0Matthew 16:21 says\u2026<\/p>\n

Matthew 16:21 (NIV) From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus saw the cross as something that could not be avoided. I must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders\u2026 and be killed….\u00a0<\/em>The cross is something Jesus had to endure.<\/p>\n

One reason I know the cross is unavoidable is because\u00a0I see my inexhaustible capacity to sin.\u00a0If you\u2019re honest, you see your own, as well.\u00a0And you agree with Romans 7 where Paul comments\u2026<\/p>\n

Romans 7:21-24 (NLT) I have discovered this principle of life\u2014that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God\u2019s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Does that sound familiar?\u00a0I get that.\u00a0I see a powerful fire \u2013 not just within myself, but within every person I’ve ever met \u2013 that burns toward sin.\u00a0The cross is essential because of our inexhaustible capacity to sin.<\/p>\n

I see the need for the cross when\u00a0I see my undeniable inability to fix myself. I can try.\u00a0I can make New Years\u2019 Resolutions.\u00a0I can get a self-help book.\u00a0But I can\u2019t fix my brokenness.<\/p>\n

The Bible says we\u2019re powerless to fix ourselves.\u00a0You hear it in words like All have sinned, <\/em>and\u00a0There is no one righteous, no not one <\/em>and\u00a0All our righteousness is as filthy rags<\/em>.\u00a0The cross is essential, because I can\u2019t fix myself.\u00a0As it speaks of this, Romans 5:6 says…<\/p>\n

Romans 5:6 (NIV) You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We are powerless<\/em>.\u00a0That\u2019s the perfect word.\u00a0We have no power.\u00a0That is why the cross is essential.<\/p>\n

The cross is essential because we are all marked by guilt.\u00a0The cross is essential because we have no power to save ourselves.\u00a0And I know the cross is essential because\u00a0I see my own demand for justice.<\/p>\n

All of us demand justice.\u00a0Whether it\u2019s regarding something we see on the news \u2013 when someone hurts a child, for example — or even if it\u2019s the bad guy in a movie getting what\u2019s coming to him,\u00a0we all want justice. That feeling \u2013 that indignant demand for justice \u2013 shows me the need for the cross. Even I know that sin must be atoned for. Justice must be satisfied. And at the cross, God\u2019s justice is satisfied. It\u2019s satisfied by Jesus\u2019 death on our behalf. I love the cross because I see its necessity.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more than that.<\/p>\n

I love the cross because I understand its value.<\/h2>\n

\"Clipboard02\"When Laurel and I were dating, she wanted a cross to hang on a necklace. I remember the great pains I went to in order to get just the right one. And, as a university student, I didn\u2019t have a lot of money to spend. So I went to a place in Pittsburgh \u2013 David Weis, it was called \u2013 and bought her the best one I could afford. I probably paid about $20 for it. She still has it. Its value is not in what it\u2019s made of. Or its size. Or the craftsmanship. Its value is in its history. It was given her by one who loved her.<\/p>\n

The cross of Christ is like that.\u00a0Its value is not in the wood or the nails;\u00a0Its value is in the One who used it.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, the cross is not something we would look to, right?\u00a0If Jesus had never died on the cross, we would not be wearing them or adoring buildings with them or getting tattoos of them.\u00a0Crosses have no lasting value apart from Jesus.\u00a0But the fact that Jesus used a cross \u2013 willingly laying down his life on one \u2013 makes me love it.<\/p>\n

Notice, I said Jesus used the cross.\u00a0He wasn’t a victim.\u00a0Jesus was very intentional as he chose the cross.\u00a0He set his face like flint and headed to Jerusalem \u2013 to the cross.
\nJesus gives the cross its value.\u00a0I look to the cross because I know its value.<\/p>\n

And\u00a0I love\u00a0the cross because I see its outcome.<\/h2>\n

Trusting in Christ\u2019s work on the cross gives\u00a0a\u00a0life of freedom from guilt and shame.\u00a0I don\u2019t know about you, but I know I’ve done bad things.\u00a0OK \u2013 I do know about you.\u00a0You’ve done bad things too.\u00a0And generally we manage our guilt poorly.\u00a0We sweep it under the carpet, and then it becomes a bulge beneath the surface.\u00a0Or we try to rationalize the bad things we\u2019ve done, and then everyone else sees it, but we don\u2019t.\u00a0Or we compare ourselves to others, in a desperate way to distract ourselves from our guilt.\u00a0We manage our guilt poorly.<\/p>\n

The cross, on the other hand, is where Jesus took ownership of our guilt.\u00a0And because of the cross, when we place our trust in him, we can be free from guilt.\u00a0Peter says it well\u2026<\/p>\n

1 Peter 2:24 (NIV) \u201cHe himself bore our sins\u201d in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; \u201cby his wounds you have been healed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus carried our guilt and shame on the cross.<\/p>\n

Bono, the front man for the rock group U2 sings to Jesus,\u00a0You broke the bonds and you loosed the chains\u00a0Carried the cross And all my shame.\u00a0<\/em>When we trust Jesus, the outcome of the cross is the removal of our guilt.\u00a0I look to the cross because I see its outcome.<\/p>\n

And at the cross, I see\u00a0a\u00a0promise of eternal life.<\/p>\n

What is the most important holiday in the Christian\u2019s life?\u00a0Christmas?\u00a0Good Friday?\u00a0Easter Sunday?\u00a0They are all important, right?\u00a0But the one I like the most is Easter Sunday \u2013 when we celebrate the resurrection.\u00a0Why?\u00a0Why is that such an important time?\u00a0I can think of a couple of reasons.<\/p>\n

First, the empty tomb proves to me that the work of redemption is complete.\u00a0God\u2019s justice has been satisfied.<\/p>\n

Second, the empty tomb serves as a kind of first-fruits of what is to come.\u00a0That all who have trusted in Jesus will rise from the grave as well.\u00a0I like Easter Sunday better than Good Friday.<\/p>\n

But hear this \u2013 without the cross, there would be no Easter Sunday.\u00a0And there would be no hope of eternal life.\u00a0Our sins would remain unresolved.\u00a0Justice would still be waiting to be satisfied.\u00a0And we would be the ones carrying the guilt and shame into eternity, separate from God.\u00a0But because of the cross \u2013 trusting Jesus gives us eternal life.<\/p>\n