What Happened at the Cross? By Heath Rogers
(Reprinted from The Expository Files, http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4051/)
The death of Jesus on the cross was the greatest and most important
event the world will ever see. In a day in which things are being
stripped of their importance and trivialized, I want us to look
again at the cross and see what the Bible says happened there.
Some people refer to John 3:16 as "the gospel in a nutshell."
I believe the gospel is too great to be fully grasped so easily.
It is simple enough to be understood, yet complex enough to be
pondered for a lifetime. Thus the greatness of its author -- the
Lord God Almighty. Just what happened at the cross?
1. Atonement was made for our sins. In the garden, God told Adam
that he could eat freely from the fruit of every tree, "but
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen.
2:17). Adam ate of that tree, and he died. He began to die physically
that day, but more importantly, he died spiritually. His sin caused
a separation between himself and God (Isaiah 59:1-2). He needed
to make atonement for this sin, but was powerless to do so. Thus
began the great theme of the Bible, God's scheme of redemption.
Death was the penalty for sin; that was the price that had to
be paid. The Law of Moses called for the sacrifice of bulls and
goats. Their life was given and their blood was shed, but to no
effect, "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and
goats could take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). It couldn't be just
any death. It was a man's soul that was lost in the garden; atonement
required a man's death. But, it couldn't be just any man. A sinless
soul was lost in Eden, only a sinless man could make atonement.
Thus, the perfect Son of God had to die. "For He made Him
who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness
of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). Only in the death of Jesus
is this wrong made right and God's righteous judgment satisfied.
In the cross we see the painful reality of what has been said,
"He paid a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't
pay."
2. Prophecies were fulfilled. Our Lord's death on the cross was
no accident. It was planned in the mind of God before time began
(Acts 2:23). It was foretold to the world through the prophets.
The suffering servant of Isaiah 53, the pierced hands and feet
of Psalm 22, no broken bones of Psalm 34, given gall and vinegar
in Psalm 69, and beaten and spat upon in Isaiah 50. All of these
pointed to Calvary.
One of the proofs of the inspiration of the Bible is fulfilled
prophecy. Jesus' death on the cross is a part of that. This wasn't
made up, nor was it an accident. Matthew uses fulfilled prophecy
to convince the Jews of his day that Jesus was the promised Messiah.
Jesus Himself also foretold His death (Matt. 16:21, 17:22-23,
20:18-19). If He hadn't died on the cross, He would have proven
Himself a liar and a false prophet (Deut. 18:15-22).
3. The Old Law was put away. "And you, being dead in your
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive
together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having
wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us,
which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way,
having nailed it to the cross" (Col. 2:13-14). That old law
was nailed to the cross with Jesus. When He died, the veil of
the temple was torn in two (Matt. 27:51), signifying the end of
the law it represented.
That Law of Moses was taken out of the way. God said it would
be: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will
make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house
of Judah - not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out
of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant,
and I disregarded them, says the Lord" (Heb. 8:8-9). We now
live under the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). We don't live under a
combination of the Law of Moses and the law of Christ. Some principles
are carried over from that old law, but we are living under and
new and better covenant.
4. Enmity was abolished. "For He Himself is our peace, who
has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of
commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself
one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might
reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby
putting to death the enmity" (Eph. 2:14-16). The law that
separated Jew from Gentile is gone. The gospel truly is for all.
"Then Peter opened his mouth and said: 'In truth I perceive
that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears
Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him'" (Acts 10:34-35).
5. The love of God was displayed. "But God demonstrates His
own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ
died for us" (Rom. 5:8). Could God have done any better?
What more could He have done? Jesus said, "Greater love has
no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends"
(John 15:13). Hours after He said this, He did it. He laid down
His life for His friends, His enemies, you and me. If you ever
begin to doubt God's love for you, ever wonder if He really knows
and cares about you, remember the cross. There has never been
a greater act of love.
Perhaps you have read the following before: "I asked Jesus
how much He loved Me. 'This much,' He answered, then stretched
out His arms and died."
6. A perfect example in suffering. Times of suffering are going
to come to all of us. We will all face trials various times in
our lives. How can we make it though it? Jesus' death on the cross
left us both encouragement and an example. "For to this you
were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example, that you should follow His steps: Who committed no sin,
nor was deceit found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, did
not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but
committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore
our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to
sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were
healed" (1 Peter 2:21-24).
Jesus' death on the cross not only paid the penalty for our sin,
it also showed us that we can endure any suffering that we have
to face. If Jesus can endure the cross for us, then we can endure
anything for Him.
Accepting The Unchangeable By Clark Dugger (Reprinted from The Proclaimer, http://www.tyler.net/rrcc/proclaim.htm)
There will always be difficult and even painful circumstances in life that we simply cannot change. This includes some people who are the way they are and are not likely to change just to please us. To not recognize this fact is to jeopardize our joy in Christ and allow these unchangeable things to make us miserable. How we deal with the unchangeable things of life often affects the quality of life. Such negatives can create a destructive pessimism.
Joyful people are optimistic people. Optimism is crucial to our joy in life. "Glory ye in his holy name: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah" (Psalm 105:3). I'm not referring to a Pollyanna-type of mindset that ignores the difficult realities of life. And I'm not suggesting we should say everything is wonderful when it clearly is not. But we must accept and deal with life as it's handed to us. We must find a productive and positive way to handle our relationships with difficult people and situations. When the facts won't budge, you have to bend your attitude to fit them.
Did you ever notice that smiling is one of the first things that babies learn to do? Someone has said, "An optimist laughs to forget, a pessimist forgets to laugh." The most obvious sign of an optimist is a warm, genuine smile. But the opposite is also true. Smiling makes us feel better and helps us have a better outlook.
Someone else said, "We don't smile because we're happy - we're happy because we smile." Try itt, you'll like it!
Whether we are optimistic or pessimistic can have a profound affect upon many aspects of our life. For instance, many studies show that optimistic people are healthier people. Even placebos (sugar pills) work 30-60 percent of the time because people expect them to work. Such optimism of expecting the best can affect our health. Pessimists, on the other hand, seem to have less resistance to disease, so they get sick more often.
Our attitude also affects us socially. Hopeful, joyful, optimistic people are just more fun to be around. They're friendlier, so they have more friends. Optimistic people out produce their pessimistic counterpart in the business world. In fact, optimistic people do better than equally talented pessimists no matter what the field. I'm convinced this is particularly important when we try to work in the vineyard of the Lord. It is our joy in Christ that others will find attractive and will cause them to want to be in Christ just as we are. And so Paul can say, "Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice."
FOOD FOR THOUGHT (Selected from The Beacon)
"Choosing to do the things of God is sometimes hard at the beginning, but it becomes easy and peaceful in the end. On the other hand, the wrong choices are very easy to make at the beginning, but they end up complicated, difficult, and full of regrets later."
"There's nothing wrong with using four-letter words in explaining the facts of life to children - words like love, help, care, and give."
"Do the best you can. The people who count will know that about you."
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Our weekly services are held at 1318 Griffin Road, Leesburg, Florida
34748.
Phone: (352) 365-9946 for times of services.
Web site: http://www.careydillinger.com/cocbs/cocbshp.htm
MONTHLY BIBLE READING: The Miracles of Jesus, Matthew, Mark and Luke.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
BIBLE INSIGHT is published for the members of, and
visitors to, the Church of Christ at Beverly Shores, Leesburg,
Florida, USA.
Carey Dillinger is the editor. He can be reached at the church
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