The Crucified Christ

Creation was perfect in the beginning. 

Man, woman, not knowing good and evil.

No sin.

There was no knowledge of sin.

Enter the tempter Satan. 

Tempted Eve, she enticed Adam and they succumbed to sin.

Eyes opened to good and evil.

Our fallen world began.

Sin entered through one man and death fell on all.

Laws given.

Rebellion.

God's wrath demanded a sacrifice of atonement. 

In the Old Testament, atonement was made by animal blood sacrifice.

But a better sacrifice, the Lamb was prophesied.

The coming Lamb was written about in the Old Testament but fulfilled in the New Testament.

The coming Lamb was the sacrifice that God willed.

Christ, The Son Of God came in obedience. 

Through God's mercy and wisdom, He sent His Son, The Christ to make atonement.

Christ seeks sinners.

Are you ready to receive His gift of grace?

The Christ is coming again to receive His bride, they are those who believe Him for salvation.

We peach, Christ crucified!

There is salvation in no one else!

Come Lord Jesus Come!

Genesis 3:1-6

[1] Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. 

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  [2] And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, [3] but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” [4] But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [6] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Romans 5:13

[13] for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Romans 5:12-13

[12] Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—[13] for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22

[21] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Romans 3:20

[20] For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 5:18-19

[18] Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. [19] For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

1 John 2:2

[2] He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Romans 5:8-9

[8] but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [9] Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

1 Peter 2:24

[24] He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Revelation 5:2-5

[2] And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” [3] And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, [4] and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. [5] And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Revelation 5:12-14

[12] saying with a loud voice, 

    “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

    and honor and glory and blessing!”

    [13] And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 

    “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

    be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

    [14] And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Revelation 22:12-13

[12] “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. [13] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Christ as Means and End

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Why did God create the universe? And why is he governing it the way he is? What is God achieving? Is Jesus Christ a means to this achievement or the end of the achievement?

Jesus Christ is the supreme revelation of God. He is God in human form. As such, he is the end, not a means.

The manifestation of the glory of God is the meaning of the universe. This is what God is achieving. The heavens, and the history of the world, are “telling the glory of God.”

But Jesus Christ was sent to accomplish something that needed doing. He came to remedy the fall. He came to rescue sinners from inevitable destruction because of their sin. These rescued ones will see and savor and display the glory of God with everlasting joy.

Others will continue to heap scorn on the glory of God. So, Jesus Christ is the means to what God meant to achieve in the manifestation of his glory for the enjoyment of his people. No one would see and savor and celebrate the glory of God apart from the saving work of Christ. The aim of the universe would abort. So, Christ is a means.

But in that accomplishment on the cross, as he died for sinners, Christ revealed the love and righteousness of the Father supremely. This was the apex of the revelation of the glory of God — the glory of his grace.

Therefore, in the very moment of his perfect act as the means of God’s purpose, Jesus became the end of that purpose. He became, in his dying in the place of sinners and his resurrection for their life, the central and supreme revelation of the glory of God.

Christ crucified is therefore both the means and the end of God’s purpose in the universe.

Without his work, that end — to reveal the fullness of the glory of God for the enjoyment of God’s people — would not have happened.

And in that very means-work he became the end — the one who forever and ever will be the focus of our worship as we spend eternity seeing and savoring more and more of what he revealed of God when he became a curse for us.

Jesus is the end for which the universe was made, and the means that makes that end possible to enjoy by justified sinners.

John Piper 

Why Were We Crucified with Jesus?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Romans 6:6

 

PONDER THIS

When Jesus died, the old Adrian died. Calvary doesn’t just deal with my sin. Jesus didn’t just take my sin to the cross. He took me to the cross. You see, if He had simply died for my sin, that would still leave me. And I’m the problem. The cross does not merely deal with my sin, it deals with me—the source of my sin.

This is a simple and profound truth. When we follow Jesus, our old man is crucified with Him. When He died, He died for me; therefore, I died with Him on that cross. Dr. Robert G. Lee, the former pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, once went to the Holy Land and to the place called Calvary. It was the first time he’d ever been to Israel and the guide asked this question, “Have any of you ever been here before?” Dr. Lee raised his hand. The guide said, “When was that?” He said, “Two thousand years ago.” Through Jesus, there was a very real way he was there at Calvary. I was there. You were there. Jesus Christ died on that cross for our sins, and we died with Him. He dealt with the penalty of sin but also with the power of sin.

How does it change your perspective to recognize that your old self died with Jesus?

What are some things about your old self that you are still tempted to hold onto?

PRACTICE THIS

Pray and thank God for dealing with you and your sin on the cross.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Agonizing Death Of Christ

Death on the cross was slow and agonizing.

Death is the weight of sin!

Christ came and died because of sin.

Your sin, my sin, we are the guilty ones.

There is no other way to be reconciled to God except through Christ.

He was guiltless but for God's glory He came.

His death was foretold.

His death was fulfilled.

Repent!

He's coming soon!

Are you ready?

Psalm 22:14-15

    [14] I am poured out like water,

        and all my bones are out of joint;

    my heart is like wax;

        it is melted within my breast; 

    [15] my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

        and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

        you lay me in the dust of death.

Isaiah 52:13-15

He Was Pierced for Our Transgressions

    [13] Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

        he shall be high and lifted up,

        and shall be exalted. 

    [14] As many were astonished at you—

        his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

        and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

    [15] so shall he sprinkle many nations.

        Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,

    for that which has not been told them they see,

        and that which they have not heard they understand.

Isaiah 53:10-12

    [10] 

    Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;

        he has put him to grief;

    when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

        he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

    the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 

    [11] 

    Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

    by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

        make many to be accounted righteous,

        and he shall bear their iniquities. 

    [12] 

    Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

        and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

    because he poured out his soul to death

        and was numbered with the transgressors;

    yet he bore the sin of many,

        and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:4-7

    [4] 

    Surely he has borne our griefs

        and carried our sorrows;

    yet we esteemed him stricken,

        smitten by God, and afflicted. 

    [5] 

    But he was pierced for our transgressions;

        he was crushed for our iniquities;

    upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

        and with his wounds we are healed. 

    [6] 

    All we like sheep have gone astray;

        we have turned—every one—to his own way;

    and the LORD has laid on him

        the iniquity of us all.

    [7] 

    He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

        yet he opened not his mouth;

    like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

        and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

        so he opened not his mouth.

1 Timothy 2:5

[5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Titus 2:13-14

[13] waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, [14] who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

John 4:4-14

[4] And he had to pass through Samaria. [5] So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. [6] Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

[7] A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” [8] (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) [9] The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) [10] Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” [11] The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? [12] Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” [13] Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, [14] but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The God Who Suffers

PRAY OVER THIS

“Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’” John 20:27

 

PONDER THIS

I’ve spoken to some Jewish people who say, “I don’t believe in God anymore.” I say, “Why don’t you believe in God?” They say, “Because of the Holocaust. I cannot believe in a God who would allow such suffering.” I’ve seen people, when a loved one is eaten away with some malady, whether it be cancer or some other disease, say, “I just don’t want to have anything to do with God. I don’t believe in God. I can’t understand this matter of suffering.”

Here’s the way the human mind begins to think: “If God is a God of love, and He loves me so much, but He doesn’t do anything to relieve this suffering, then He must not have any power.” Or “If He has the power, but He doesn’t do it, maybe He has no love.” Or maybe they ask another question: “Maybe He doesn’t have any love. Maybe He doesn’t have any power. Maybe there is no God. If there is, why do people suffer?” Well, there’s a bigger question than that. Not why does God allow humans to suffer, but why does God allow Himself to suffer?

Have you ever thought about God as a God who suffers? Have you ever thought about God as One who has pain? How did those scars come into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ? Those nail prints? That scar into His side? Because He willingly suffered in our place. The question is not “Why is there suffering,” but “Why did God take our suffering”?

What is most difficult for you about the reality of suffering?

How are you comforted to remember that God has suffered in your place and on your behalf?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time today to worship God for paying the price for your sin and suffering in your place.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Who Killed Jesus?

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

One of my friends who used to be a pastor in Illinois was preaching to a group of prisoners in a state prison during Holy Week several years ago. At one point in his message, he paused and asked the men if they knew who killed Jesus.

Some said the soldiers did. Some said the Jews did. Some said Pilate. After there was silence, my friend said simply, “His Father killed him.”

That’s what the first half of Romans 8:32 says: God did not spare his own Son but handed him over — to death. “This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). Isaiah 53 puts it even more bluntly, “We esteemed him stricken, smitten by God. . . . It was the will of the Lord to crush him; he (his Father!) has put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:4, 10).

Or as Romans 3:25 says, “God put [him] forward as a propitiation by his blood.” Just as Abraham lifted the knife over the chest of his son Isaac, but then spared his son because there was a ram in the thicket, so God the Father lifted his knife over the chest of his own Son, Jesus — but did not spare him, because he was the ram; he was the substitute.

God did not spare his own Son, because it was the only way he could spare us and still be a just and holy God. The guilt of our transgressions, the punishment of our iniquities, the curse of our sin would have brought us inescapably to the destruction of hell. But God did not spare his own Son; he gave him up to be pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities, and crucified for our sins.

This verse — Romans 8:32 — is the most precious verse in the Bible to me because the foundation of the all-encompassing promise of God’s future grace is that the Son of God bore in his body all my punishment and all my guilt and all my condemnation and all my blame and all my fault and all my corruption, so that I might stand before a great and holy God, forgiven, reconciled, justified, accepted, and the beneficiary of unspeakable promises of pleasure forever and ever at his right hand.

John Piper