Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
March 17, 2002 AM
God's Love Demonstrated At The Cross
Reading - Romans 5.1-11 & 1 John 4.8-12
Every religion and ideology has its visual symbol--something which illustrates a significant feature of its beliefs and its history.
- Judaism has the so-called Star of David.
- Islam is symbolized by a crescent moon.
- The Marxist had their hammer and sickle.
- The swastika became the sign of Nazi racism.
Christianity is no exception. Christianity is about the love of God seen at the cross. So, the cross has become the universal symbol of the Christian faith. Now, this was not so in the primitive church. They resisted the cross because of its stigma. Paul said... It was a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.
- The Jewish God... Jehovah... Could not die on a cross.
- Greek gods didn't die at the hands of men...
So the cross was shunned by the early Christians.
However, as time moved on, the Christian community accepted the symbol of the cross. It was Constantine, the first emperor to profess Christianity, who gave impetus to the use of the cross as a symbol of God's love.
So... Even today... When archeologists dig through the ruins of antiquity... They have a certain way of identifying places of Christian worship... They simply look for the cross. When they find one painted on a wall... carved into stone... or worked into the mosaic of a floor, they know they have found a church... a place of Christian worship. Indeed... The cross has become a symbol of God's love... mercy... and grace expressed through the death of Jesus who died there.
A few weeks ago, I read about two paintings. Even though by different artists, they spoke of the cross ... and the fact that it was central and foremost in our faith. Both paintings were entitled The Shadow of the Cross. The first depicted a scene in Joseph's carpenter shop. Jesus rises up to stretch from a long day's work and as He stretches His arms out full length, there is an ominous shadow cast across the floor and wall. A shadow of a cross. Beneath the cross on the floor lies a hammer and nails. In the corner of the room one can see a woman with a tear in her eye. The second picture depicted Jesus... as a lad... running with outstretched arms toward His mother. The sun is at His back, so a shadow is cast upon His path... The shadow of the cross.
We get the message... Don't we? The cross was with Jesus from the very beginning. The cross was a looming reality in all He said and did. Listen to these scriptures which affirm this fact:
- Don't you know I must be about my Father's business - Luke 2.49
- Don't you know the Son of Man must suffer things... be rejected and killed... And rise again after three days - Mark 8.31
- From that time Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things... And be raised the third day. - Matthew 16.21
- And Jesus said Passover is two days away... You must know that the Son of Man will be handed over to the Chief Priest and Elders to be crucified. - Matthew 26.1-3
- The hour has come. My soul is troubled. Father save me from this hour... NO, it was for
this reason I came... Father glorify your name. - John 12. 27 & 13.1
The idea that the cross cast its shadow over everything Jesus did should not surprise us... Because Isaiah spoke of what occurred there in these words: He was despised and rejected... A man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering... He carried our infirmities and our sorrows... He was stricken by God... smitten... afflicted... crushed for our transgressions and iniquities. The punishment of our sins was upon Him. The Lord has laid the iniquity of us all upon Him. Oppressed and afflicted... Yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
There is no doubt that the cross of Christ is a proper symbol of what great things God has done for us through Jesus His only begotten.
That brings us to our second point... Examining His love from John 3.16.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son... For God didn't send His Son into the world to condemn us... But to save us through Him.
God so loved the world...
Church... The definition of love is not found in the dictionary... but in the cross. John says... This is love... (What is love, John)... That Jehovah God would come to this earth and DIE on a cross for us... for me... for you. John maintains that separate and apart from Christ and the cross, we would never know what true love is. You see... This is why if we are looking for a definition of love we must go... Not to Webster... But to the cross.
- Where God died...
- Where our creator died...
- Where we should have died.
Church... There is just no way for any of us... or all of us together... to comprehend the love that God has for us... It is impossible!!
Secondly... We note that God gave His Son. It would have been one thing for God to send a third party to save us...
- Perhaps an angel as to Abraham... Isaac... Hagar... the shepherds... Mary... or Joseph.
- Maybe a glorified Christ as appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus.
- Or perhaps... God could have sent a man to die for us... Scripture does tell us that there is no greater love than one man dying for another. But God did not send us a third party... But His only Begotten Son. You see... Christ is God... Christ is His eternally begotten one. God sent himself... God was crucified at the cross. Can any one of us even begin to imagine this?... NO!!!
In Africa, a fire raged through a grass hut... The entire family died, except one. A stranger ran into the burning hut, snatched a small child from the flames and disappeared into the jungle. The next day the village fathers met to decide what to do with the child. A wise man asked for the boy promising him an education. A rich man said... I am more qualified... I can give him the world without an education. The stranger appeared saying he had a prior claim to the child... showing them his hands burned in the rescue.
Church... At the cross, we see a wounded God... Wounded for us. A God with wounds!!... Think of it!! No wonder Paul declares that all spiritual blessings are IN CHRIST!!... You see folk... God has graciously given us ALL things... And At His own expense!!
This is the reason Jesus is spoken of as an indescribable gift.
- How can God give Himself?
- How can God become human?
- How can God die on a cross?
We can't comprehend this... We can't explain it... No man can... This is the reason it is an indescribable gift. If we could explain it, it would no longer be indescribable... Right?
Then thirdly... God died for us.
Church... God didn't die for the good... He did not suffer the cross for angels... but for us!! Jesus said... I came to call sinners... I came not for the well... the righteous... but for those who are sick... Those dead in sin.
I think... We can begin to see the value of God's gift when we come to understand that God did not die for those who love Him... But for those who had and continue to shun him. Paul says... As sinners we are enemies of God. Sin makes us an enemy of the absolute holy ONE!!
The question is frequently argued... Who crucified Jesus?... Who was responsible for His death on the cross?... The Jews... The Romans? I believe the Hebrews writer gives us the answer... He says that every time we sin we crucify Him afresh... again... and again... and again. Church... Contrary to what we might think, we were there when they crucified our Lord... We were there vicariously in each and every sin we have or will ever commit... RIGHT?
Indeed... Indeed... God died for his enemies.
- He gave everything to those who deserved nothing.
- He did for us what we could not do for ourselves.
- He died when we should have died.
- He paid the price for our sin
- He became our propitiation.
- He redeemed us... purchased our pardon. Not with money... silver and gold... but with His own blood at the cross.
- He became the atonement for our sins... He is our sacrificial lamb.
Indeed... There is no greater love than God dying to save his creation. His enemies! That is us!!
We have seen that the cross is an appropriate symbol for Christianity.... Now... Let's see if we can discover how we can become a symbol of His love in our world. I believe there are three ways:
- First... By loving Him enough to obey Him...
- Secondly... By loving others...
- And thirdly... By following Jesus to the cross.
Let's explore each for a moment
First... We become His symbol by obeying His commands. Listen to Jesus as He reasons from John chapter 14... The world must learn that I love the Father... And that I do exactly what He has commanded Me to do... If anyone loves Me... He will obey My teachings. He who does not love me will not obey My teachings... If you love Me, you will obey My commands.
Allow me to read a couple of verses from First John... This is love for God, to obey his commands. And His commands are not burdensome... We can overcome the world by faith.
Church... We cannot become His witness to our world unless and until we are willing to live a life of submission to His commands. It is hypocrisy of the worst kind to say...
- I believe in Jesus...
- I love Jesus...
And then go about living as we wish. Living like the world around us... RIGHT?
Secondly... We become God's symbol when we love one another.
Speaking to us this morning... Jesus says... A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another... By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another... For as often as you do it to the least of these...You do it to Me.
This same John writes in First John... We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen... Whoever loves God must also love his brother... This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
Church... Are we a symbol of God's love?...
- Do our children...
- The church...
- And our neighbors know we love God by our love for one another?... I pray that they do!!
The world will know our love when we take up the cross and follow Jesus. Three times Jesus speaks of discipleship in Luke chapter 14... If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple... And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple... Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
Then from Mark chapter 8... If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
Becoming a symbol of God's love in our world demands discipleship. Discipleship demands we take up the cross and follow Him. What does it mean to take up the cross?... What is Jesus asking us to do here? Folk... The cross is not something we carry... The cross is something we die on. The cross is an un-get-overable event. JESUS IS ASKING US TO DIE!!!
Listen to Paul as he tells us about how to die on the cross from Romans chapter 6 and 12... What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin... How can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?... For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin... But instruments of righteousness... Therefore, in view of God's love, you ought to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.
Indeed... We will become a symbol of God's love in our world...
- When we die to sin...
- When we stop serving Satan...
- When we stop living for this world and self...
And live for Him... Become His instrument... His living sacrifice..
There is an interesting story in Erwin Lutzer's book... Cries From The Cross. It seems that a pilgrim was on his way to the Promised Land. He was carrying the cross. However the farther he walked... The heavier the cross became. One day he met a man who suggested he allow him to shorten the cross so it would be lighter... Easier to bear. So... They did just that. The man went on his way with a much lighter... easier cross. However... When he reached the Promised Land, he noticed that there was a deep precipice from this life... to the glories above. He would have to use his cross to bridge the gap. Struggle as he would... He could never make the cross fit... It was short by the exact same amount that he had cut off.
Audience... Jesus is our perfect sacrifice. He is all we need for forgiveness... salvation... and a home in heaven.
The invitation this morning is to cruciform living... The invitation is for us to...
- Die to sin...
- Self...
- And this world... and then live for Jesus.
Come to Jesus... Come to the cross... Become a child of God this morning by faith... repentance... and genuine New Testament baptism... immersion in water for the forgiveness of all your sins. You see... Nothing less... NOTHING!!... Less will do.
If... As a child of God. you have turned from the cross or shortened its effect on your life, come home. Come back to the cross and enjoy the forgiveness and security of the cross.
Come now... As we stand and sing this invitation song together... Will you come??
