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I know we've skipped week 3, but I'll get to it in the next day or two. School/Church Vacations delayed the message getting uploaded to the website, so I haven't gotten around to watch it yet. So now to today's message --
We've all had those moments in our lives that changed everything from then on. Marriages, possibly divorces, kids, death of a family member or close friend, etc... Today's message focuses on The Moment that Changed the World. Jesus' death on the Cross. My Pastor's side story today involved a wooden cross made by kids from our Church with wood in their dad's garage that happens to have come from the original pews!!* It is very simple, with a wide piece going down the length and two smaller pieces comprising the cross piece. On the back they wrote, "perfectly imperfect". On the front, they dipped their hands in paint and touched it in random spots. How sweet is that?? It shows their simple understanding that we, as humans, cannot be perfect and therefore cannot sacrifice ourselves to receive forgiveness. (for ourselves or anyone else) It also shows their understanding that we are invited by God to touch the Cross and identify with it.
Today's "Big Question" is this -- Why Did Jesus Die??
Now for anyone who's been in Church World very long, we know that a piece of this has to do with fulfilling the Jewish Laws for sacrifice. That isn't the focus today. When we think of crosses, we sometimes forget that they were an ultimate torture device for the Roman Empire. The Cross of Christ; a rough, rugged, and wooden instrument of death, has become a symbol and anchor for our faith.
Turn with me to 1 Pet. 2:21-25. This gives us the context for Jesus' death in terms of today's answer to our question. The verses immediately preceding these speak of suffering for doing good, which will be covered in a later message. But verse 21 explains that Jesus' suffering serves as an example of the endurance we should embody under trial. Verse 24 is the main verse we are looking at today. "He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live to righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." This was God's way for love to overcome sin and death and set in motion Jesus' rule and the renewal of all things.
Dying to sin -
Before we can die to sin, we have to understand what it is and its consequences for us. Only then can we recognize and confess to it.
First of all, we need to understand its Nature - In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve show us sin's nature by eating from the wrong tree. God had given them abundance with a single limit. They chose selfishness and rejected this amazing offer. Sin's nature then, is a rejection of God's love, and a withholding of our love towards Him. No matter what we commit or omit, this is the truth.
Secondly, this truth leads us to the need for rescue or salvation. Israel's history is rife with examples of this. For our purposes today, The Exodus and The Exile are key moments. The Exodus (I think you know where to find this story ;) ) shows God's love and mercy in rescuing them from slavery and bringing them (eventually) into the Promised Land. (abundance w/ limits) The Exile shows God's love and mercy by their disobedience and His eventual rescue and justification. (Salvation once for all - Heb. 7:27)
Finally, we need to understand the impact or consequences of sin - the truth is, sin leads to death. Initially, a spiritual separation from God until we reconnect and confess; but eventually, physical death.* As the Israelites were trapped in their bondage to Egypt, we are bound by sin. Another infallible truth is this - whatever we worship owns us. If we worship our anger, we will be trapped in its cycle. Money can trap us with its connections to status.* As you've seen if you've read some of the previous messages, these are "lesser gods" that the World offers. They promise big, but deliver small. We can so easily get trapped in the Cultural Trap as well, of so-called "tolerance". "You do you, I'll do me". It's this kind of thinking that has lead to Racism, Slavery, enmity between parents and kids... the list goes on.
The passages in Isaiah 52-54 are a beautiful picture of the then-coming Messiah that show another important point to our major question of the day. And that is this, God was not punishing Jesus. Some people think that all misfortune is about God's punishment. That simply shows their ignorance to the true nature of God. He disciplines us as needed, but He never punishes. Is. 53:5-6 remind us that it was our sins that were heaped on Him. Our original passage in 1 Pet. 2 reminds us that He was without sin. He took the punishment for us. You can't technically punish someone who's done no wrong. That's just torture. Jesus' love, suffering, and sacrifice swallowed up sin and death for all of us, offering us forgiveness and freedom.
Living to Righteousness -
This involves re-orienting ourselves to God. Bowing only to Him. Receiving God's love and life.
Step 1 - Recognizing that Jesus' death on the Cross established Him as King. Satan may be in charge on Earth now*, but the day will come when Jesus returns to reign.
Step 2 - Choosing The Way of the Cross every day. Our Salvation may be secure, but we need to walk in humble submission and discipleship to help us on the road to it. As mentioned above, Jesus' death on the Cross was the moment at which everything in the world changed. We need to live in the victory Jesus' death achieved for our lives.
In closing, we return to the cross made by the kids. Accept Jesus' invitation to touch His Cross and identify with it. Trust His mercy and love. Taste His freedom. Walk in His forgiveness and victory. -- God Bless!!
Footnotes --
1. It blessed me to know the kids' cross was made from pews original to our Church as my parents attended there for a time when I was little, and I grew up going to the school they established in 1974. K-12, I never went elsewhere except visiting one day in my town school.
2. "Physical death" -- In researching something else recently, I was reminded of the following - the 120 yr. limit many think was established for humans ahead of The Flood was actually just a time frame for The Flood itself. It was not meant as a limit for our mortality. We see this in the later life of Abraham, among others in the earlier times of the Bible. Possibly the Prophet Isaiah as well. No other prophet appears to have served for as long.
3. Money connected to status -- the Styx song, "Grand Illusion" comes to mind.
4. "Satan may be in charge now..." both Jesus and Paul confirm this in their teachings. Jn. 14:29-30, Jn. 16:10-11, and 2 Cor. 4:3-4.
This looks similar to the kids cross, only theirs was flatter on the long part.
Beautiful new song this morning with Communion --
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