Allendale Baptist Church
April 2, 2021 Good Friday Service - Meeting at Love INC
- The Wonderful Cross
- At the Cross
Psalm 22:1–18ESV
- Were You There
- Hallelujah, What A Savior
- Introduction – Every organization, every institution, every movement has a symbol. A physical identifier. What in modern terms would be referred to as a logo, an icon or even an App…A physical, iconic reminder of something greater.Examples· The Golden Arches· The Nike Swoosh· The Red Cross· The star of David· The crescent moon· The hammer and the sickle· The swastikaChristianity is no different. Early on the symbol for Christianity was actually, many thing…at first· Peacock· Dove· An athletic palm· Fish – Ich-thys – acronym for “Iesus Christos Theou Huios Soter” (Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior)[1]But for Christianity, we now have a unique symbol. A symbol that in one sense is an awful reminder of a brutal form of torture.And in another sense, for the true believer, a crucial, indispensable part of the good news/gospel that without it, we would be without hope!It is the Cross…a gruesome, horrific instrument of unbearable torture and death.A tool used by the government of that day to inflict pain and exact justice. The modern-day equivalent might be the electric chair. But in comparison, the Electric Chair is far more humane and merciful…John Stott – “It seems certain that, at least from the second century onward, Christians not only drew, painted and engraved the cross as a pictorial symbol of their faith but also made the sign of the cross on themselves or others. One of the first witnesses to this practice was Tertullian, the North African lawyer- theologian who flourished about A.D. 200. He wrote:‘At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign [the cross].’”[2]The crucifix doesn’t appear to be used until the 6th century.[3]This ancient tool of death was gruesome, horrific and the most despicable means to cause someone to suffer as long as possible as they died.But…What man intends for evil, God uses for good…God does something very important with this diabolical device of death…Main Idea – The Cross of Christ Reveals the Heart of God!God’s heart of love for mankind was on display that day, 2000 years ago.
John 3:16–17 ESV 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.How would God “give” His Son? On the CROSS…There are several observations I’d like to share with you this evening about this glorious and gruesome Cross. And How it shows the love of God. The first is…1. The Cross Reveals God’s Heart Has Always Been to Rescue His People - As followers of Christ, we must come to terms with the fact that the cross was not some happenstance way of our Lord dying. No, the cross was in the mind of our savior perhaps before his ministry ever began.We certainly understand that the Cross and crucifixion was part of God’s plan all along. Allusions to the cross are sprinkled throughout the Old Testament…Numbers 21:8 ESV 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”Deuteronomy 21:23 ESV 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.Galatians 3:13 ESV 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—It was always God’s plan to redeem His people. Redemption comes only through the cross. This process shows the heart of God.Review - The Cross of Christ Reveals the Heart of God!· The Cross Reveals God’s Heart Has Always Been to Rescue His People2. The Cross Reveals God’s Heart was Also Christ’s Heart - Jesus Thought About the Cross Throughout His Earthly Ministry.There is no question Jesus, in the beginning of his ministry, at his baptism and then at the testing in the wilderness that he was determined to go, not the way of popularity and commendation, but rather the way of suffering and condemnation! This was God’s way, God’s plan for the redemption of humanity!It wasn’t until well into his ministry that we see him clearly proclaim his intentions, at least to his disciples, to fulfill his messianic responsibilities specifically by embracing the cross.Three times specifically in the gospel of Mark when he clearly tells his disciples what he has come to do. Here is just one example…Mark 10:32–34 ESV 32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”Jesus is beginning to prepare his disciples for the awful inevitability…his death by crucifixion.Look back in the text and notice that Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man”…Daniel 7:13–14 ESV 13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.Yet, paradoxically, this “Son of Man” is also the Suffering servant we see in Isaiah 53…Isaiah 53:3 ESV 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.Isaiah 53:5–6 ESV 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.The Scriptures record at least eight more times when Jesus speaks about his death. First in conjunction with the purpose of John the Baptist…Matthew 17:9–12 ESV 9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.”The remaining six occasion were during the week of the passion…One comes in a stinging rebuke against the Sanhedrinists. He uses a powerful parable to make the point that not only would He die, but it would be at the hands of the religious who refused to let go of their power and position!Mark 12:1–12 ESV 1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.On Saturday, in the Bethany home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, when Mary poured perfume on Him, He said it was preparing him for his burial…In the upper room during the last supper, He used the supper as a prediction of His broken body and shed blood!And in the Garden of Gethsemane, he said in regard to his impending death… “how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way.”Mark 14:35 ESV 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.John 12:27 ESV 27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.What a phrase... “But for this purpose, I have come to this hour.”From beginning to end, His life was about this “hour”.Cast over his manger was the shadow of the cross. This is why Jesus came, He was born to die.Review - The Cross of Christ Reveals the Heart of God!· The Cross Reveals God’s Heart Has Always Been to Rescue His People· The Cross Reveals God’s Heart was Also Christ’s Heart3. The Cross Should Profoundly Change Your Heart –Why?On the Cross, He fulfilled His Mission – His mission was to save you. To provide the means by which you could have a right relationship with God. Without the cross of Christ, God’s wrath is destined to be poured on you for all eternity. There is no escape from this truth. It is what the bible teaches over and over.There is one escape, it is believing the finished work, the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is sufficient to satisfy God’s wrath against you and to set you free from the penalty of your lawbreaking sin. You and I are lost and Jesus, through the power of the cross, came to save.Luke 19:10 ESV 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”The God of the universe, the creator of all that was, and is, and is to come, humbled Himself by becoming a servant and dying on the most ignoble of all instruments, a brutal Roman cross.Mark 10:45 ESV 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”The Cross of Christ Reveals the Heart of God!Why? Because Christ determined to do the will of the Father regardless of the cost to Him personally…1. Physical sense – “He was bruised for our transgressions, by his stripes we are healed” …What He endured…2. Spiritual sense – A fracture in the Godhead…What He endured…Why? For you!2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.This is the gospel…1 Corinthians 15:1–4 ESV 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,Review - The Cross of Christ Reveals the Heart of God!· The Cross Reveals God’s Heart Has Always Been to Rescue His People· The Cross Reveals God’s Heart was Also Christ’s Heart· The Cross Should Profoundly Change Your HeartCommunion John 3:16–17ESV
Numbers 21:8ESV
Deuteronomy 21:23ESV
Galatians 3:13ESV
Mark 10:32–34ESV
Daniel 7:13–14ESV
Isaiah 53:3ESV
Isaiah 53:5–6ESV
Matthew 17:9–12ESV
Mark 12:1–12ESV
Mark 14:35ESV
John 12:27ESV
Luke 19:10ESV
Mark 10:45ESV
2 Corinthians 5:21ESV
1 Corinthians 15:1–4ESV
- Jesus Paid It All (Christ I Owe)
Allendale Baptist Church
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