Greetings to you, friend. I’m Mack Lyon. The program’s In Search of the Lord's Way to be forgiven of your past, and His way to live the rest of your life as a blessed child of His. We’re so glad you have joined our study today. The lesson is titled “God’s Message in the Cross.”
Welcome to our program of Bible study In Search of the Lord's Way. After more than twenty-nine years of continuous broadcasting this program, we’re still adding more stations, so it is possible that you are seeing the program now for the very first time. If that’s true, you need to know we won’t be hassling you about sending us money. You see, we are a ministry of some churches of Christ and, some individual Christians in the area that is served by this station. They’re glad that you are seeing the program and they would sincerely like to have you attend some of their worship and study meetings; and we would like that, too. Why not do it yet today, if it isn’t too late. And tell them “thanks for the program.”
Today’s lesson will be delivered by Phil Sanders. It’s titled, “God’s Message in the Cross.” The cross of Christ is at the very heart and the very center of Christianity. What message is God sending us by having His Son die on the cross? Whatever that message is, we ought to be willing to hear it, consider it, obey it, don’t you think?
Well, if you think you might want to examine it further, you may have a printed copy, a CD or an audio cassette tape of it absolutely free by mailing your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083 or by e-mail to searchtv@searchtv.org. If you like you may use our toll-free telephone number: 1-800-321-8633. Or you may access it at www.searchtv.org. Ken Helterbrand’s going to lead us as we sing. After the hymn Phil Sanders will be here to deliver the message.
Our scripture reading today comes from 1 John chapter 4, verses 7 through 11. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” That is from the epistle of 1 John. Let’s pray together. O Lord, we are thankful for all the love that You have given us through Christ Jesus our Lord. And, Father, help us to love You and to love one another more everyday. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!
Hello, I’m Phil Sanders. And I’m so excited that you have joined our Bible study today. The story of the cross of Christ occupies a large portion of the New Testament. So important is the cross that the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 2, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” A sweet lady once said that she had difficulty thinking about the death of Jesus on the cross; and she wondered why we talk about something that is so awful as crucifixion. Of course, the cross is an instrument of death; but it is also a message for each of us that is so vital that none of us can afford to miss it.
What was Jesus trying to get across to us when He died upon the cross? His willingness to die such a cruel and agonizing death must say something that is really important. It must be a message that we need to hear. Today I want to talk about three messages of the cross that really, really matter.
First, the cross says “I love you.” The cross proclaims unmistakably God’s overwhelming and passionate love for every person. The apostle John said in 1 John 4, verses 8 to 10 that, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Now we have all seen small measures of love in our lives; people were good to us and blessed us. Yet, I wonder if we have ever seen any love that could measure up to what Jesus did for us. We know the meaning of love by looking at the cross. No one could be more eloquent, more determined, more willing to sacrifice, more moving with their love than Jesus. When Jesus says “I love you,” nobody can doubt it. You see, He did more than speak; He proved it.
Once in a while I run into a person who says to me, “Phil, I don’t feel loved by God.” And they somehow feel forgotten or neglected. I want to say to them, “Remember the words of Isaiah.” Isaiah 49, verses 14 to 16 which says: “But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.’” To which the Lord answers: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hand.” Ah, my friend, God has not forgotten you. You are engraved on his hands. You are not some acquaintance that He sees once in a while, or a stranger; you are his beloved child. You are always on His mind.
God loves us more than people are capable of loving. You remember that Jesus said in Matthew 7, verses 9 to 11, “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Oh, my friend, God is even better than the best of fathers. He really does care for each of us.
Well, this amazing love of God implies something that’s important. You see, it implies that you, dear friend, are loveable. Now, some people are hard to love, but you see Jesus sees things in us that we don’t see in ourselves. People didn’t want to be around the tax-collector Zacchaeus, but Jesus went to his house. People were afraid and avoided lepers, but Jesus reached out and touched them. The prodigal son, you remember was fearful and ashamed. He would say, “I am not worthy to be called your son”; but the father, that is God, said, “This my son…” Oh, He loves us. It is a slam on God to say that we are worthless in His eyes; oh, no, He loves us very much.
We may be sinful, but God loves us anyway. Sin makes a person feel small in his own eyes. But God sees not only what we are but also what we can become. He gives us hope. Paul said in Titus 3, verses 3 to 5, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” God loved us even in our sins. He didn’t save us because we were perfect. He saved us when we were messed up, weak, even ungodly. You see, He works in our lives and He makes us valuable people. He knows what we can become; and He took us as diamonds in the rough and makes us shine as lights to the world.
Second, Jesus is saying through the cross, that instrument of death, in a very powerful and wonderful way, “I want to forgive you,” and He also says I’m willing to pay the ultimate price to do so. God is in the saving business, and Jesus, too. Jesus went to the cross to save us from the sinful world that is around us. Sometimes I think we forget how terrible the world is. You remember the apostle Paul, by inspiration, said in Galatians 1 and verse 4 that Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” You see, God could not look down at this sinful world and just sit still. He had to do something. He wanted to make a profound difference in the direction of the world; and He found a way for men to come out of sin and to live righteous and good lives. By means of the cross; yes, the death of Jesus, God made a way to save us from sin and to change our lives.
Our salvation is not something that God just thought about once and awhile; oh, no, it is very personable, very personal rather, to Jesus; and you would think so. The apostle Peter said, again by inspiration, in 1 Peter 2 and verse 24, that “He, that is Jesus, himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.” I don’t know about you, but my body is pretty special to me; when someone starts messing with my body that’s very personal. But, “He bore our sins in his body on the tree that we (you and me) might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, the Bible says, you have been healed.” Now, Jesus would not have been willing to sacrifice his body, if our salvation was not that important. Your salvation, my salvation, was more important to him than his hands or his feet or his side or his back, or even his brow. He was willing to die for you. The Hebrew writer in Hebrews 9, verse 22 said that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.” Jesus couldn’t bring about your forgiveness, my forgiveness, any other way than by shedding his blood on the cross.
The Lord Jesus said in John 10, verses 17 and 18, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” Oh, Jesus out of love took the initiative to die for your sins, even when you were helpless, even when you were ungodly, even when you were a sinner; He died for your sins that you could be forgiven and live a new life.
Well…, the forgiveness of God implies something; it implies that you are forgive-able. Now, nothing you have ever done, nothing that you do now, nothing that you will ever do will keep God from forgiving you, if you will repent and forsake your sins. You may say to yourself, “Well, I’m such a sinner, I have done so many bad things, that God could never forgive me”; but, my friend, sinners are the only kind of people that God saves.
Jesus in Luke 18, verses 9 to 14 told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and then treated other people with contempt: He said, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but he beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, that this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.”
No matter how far you have wondered away, God will always let you come home. When Jonah preached to that ungodly city Nineveh, they repented; and God did not destroy their city. You see, God has a criterion for those Christians whom he forgives; that’s repentance and confession. And, David said in Psalm 51, verse 17, that “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” And again in Psalm 34, verse 18, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” My friend, God won’t; oh, no, He won’t; despise you, if you come to Him humbly and penitently.
The third thing that Jesus says with the cross is “I have a cross for you.” Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 14 to 15, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who died for their sake and was raised.” My friend, Jesus died for you to free you from sin so that you could make a difference with your life, and do something meaningful with it.
In Mark 8, verses 34 to 38 the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” Jesus wants us to follow Him, and that means that we too must carry our cross; we’ve got a cross, too. We must die to ourselves and live for Him.
The old song says, “Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? No there’s a cross for everyone, and there’s a cross for me.” Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, moved by the Spirit, said in Galatians 6 and verse 14, “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” The cross was meant for the suffering of Jesus; but for every Christian it is also a symbol of love and salvation. We carry a cross to say to the world that we have stopped living the way the world lives and begun living like Christ.
Now, carrying our cross implies something else; it implies that Christ has an important work for us. Every member of the church has value in God’s eyes. God has a ministry for every person. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9 that, “we are God’s fellow-workers.” My friend, how are you using your life for the Lord? How are you serving Jesus? You know, He invites us to take up our cross, but He also invites us to work for him. Matthew 11, verses 28 to 30 says, Jesus speaking, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” God can take weak and insignificant people and make them into the salt of the earth and the light of the world. My friend, will you take up a cross and follow Him?
Imagine the heart of Jesus on the cross, giving everything to you and me. Don’t you think that while he was on the cross, Jesus was hoping and praying people would notice and respond? What more could Jesus have done to convince us of His love, His offering of forgiveness, and of a wonderful life of service? His sacrifice ought to touch our hearts deeply. Now, how would Jesus feel, if the people He loved and wanted so badly to come to Him and to be saved instead simply ignored and forgot Him? Can you imagine anything crueler? How would Jesus feel about people who took great notice and then changed their lives and took up their crosses to faithfully follow Him? My friend, what does Jesus think about you? Is He happy or hurt about the way that you have responded to Him?
Take a long, close look at the cross and let it touch your heart. If you wish to become a Christian, believe in the Lord Jesus with all your heart, repent of your sins, confess the name of Christ before others, and be baptized, that is immersed, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Today is the best day to make a difference in the rest of your life. Oh, my friend, don’t put off becoming a Christian; take up your cross today. Let’s pray. O Lord, may each one come to love You the way that You have loved them. May each one be willing to take up their cross and follow You for the rest of their lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Thank you! Phil Sanders for a message that stirs our hearts to self-examination. To whom are we listening? To Satan? Or to God? Oh, we want to be sure about that, absolutely sure! Don’t we? We’re not here for your amusement or your entertainment. We’re here to be a helpful Christian friend. That means we must be negative about some things and firmly positive about others.
Say, if you would like to study this message some more, you may have a free printed copy, a CD or an audio cassette tape of it simply by mailing your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083, or by e-mail to searchtv@searchtv.org. Or, you may use our toll free telephone number; that is 1-800-321-8633, 1-800-321-8633. You may access this message and a lot more on our website at www.searchtv.org. That would be 24 hours a day available to you, 7 days every week at your convenience; any time day or night you would like, we are available with a message for you.
Tell your friends and neighbors about us, too, will you? Invite them to tune us in next week. Now, we plan to be back next week and we hope you will, too. In the meantime if you would like to enroll in our correspondence course we would love to have you do so; and I hope you will. Let us hear from you this week. God bless you now. We love you.
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