Today we will examine truth revealed in the cross of Jesus Christ.
1. The cross of Jesus is sacrificial.
Jesus is the Lamb of God whose sacrificial offering of Himself removes the sin barrier between humanity and a holy God. John the Baptist saw Jesus and proclaimed, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
The Apostle Paul testifies, Jesus gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2). Under the Old Covenant, a priest came to the altar and sacrificed a lamb as an offering for the sins of the people. Jesus, as our Great High Priest, offered Himself to God as the holy Sacrifice for our sins. That crude Roman cross was the altar on which He offered Himself.
For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed (I Corinthians 5:7). At Passover, a Jewish family would sacrifice a lamb as atonement for their sins and in memory of the night in Egypt when God judged Egypt but passed over the homes which had been anointed by the blood of a lamb. Jesus is our Passover Lamb. God’s judgment passes over the lives covered by the blood of our Lamb.
2. The cross of Jesus is substitutionary.
The death of Jesus is substitutionary in the sense that He died our death in our place as our Divine Substitute. He carried our sin and took upon Himself the judgment of God that was released against sinners. He also bore the curse that came upon us because of sin and He bore every aspect of our brokenness. When He cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me (Matt. 27:46), we see that He even bore our separation from God. He is our holy Substitute.
Paul testifies, While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21).
And He died for all (2 Corinthians 5:15).
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’ (Galatians 3:13).
Peter testifies, And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed (I Ptr. 2:24).
In Jesus’ substitutionary Sacrifice, there is a release of God’s forgiveness and a progressive restoration of all that sin destroyed in our lives.
3. The cross of Jesus is redemptive.
Jesus said, Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). The word which we translate ransom is lytron which refers to the price of redemption. It is used of the money paid to ransom prisoners of war or to purchase the freedom of a slave. The price of our ransom from slavery to sin and death is the life blood of Jesus.
The Apostle Paul expresses this concept when he says, For there is one God and one Mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all (I Timothy 2:5, 6). What did Jesus give as our ransom? He gave Himself.
Using a different word, Paul says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us— for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’ (Gal. 3:13). This word for redeemed is exagorazo which refers to the purchase of something from the marketplace.
Peter reminds us, Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (I Peter 1:18,19). This word — redeemed — is lytro which refers to the ransom of a slave.
Another expression of redemption is found in I Corinthians 6:19,20: You are not your own; you were bought with a price. The word bought is agorazo which means to go to market and purchase, buy or redeem something. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men (I Corinthians 7:23). The price by which we were bought is the blood of Christ.
The life of Jesus was poured out in the shedding of His blood. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). This word for redemption is apolutrosis which refers to liberation, release obtained through the payment of a ransom. The result of this work of redemption is that we are forgiven of our sin, released from God’s judgment and from the destructive, damning impact of sin on our life.
We were slaves to sin and to futile religious systems, slaves to law and lawlessness, slaves to the powers of darkness and we could not purchase our freedom. Someone from outside had to come and redeem us from slavery. Jesus is that Redeemer who by His blood purchased our freedom from sin, from demonic powers which deceived and corrupted us and from the demands of religious laws which enslaved us, which we could not fulfill and which now have no dominion over us. This new life, purchased by the blood of Christ, means we are now slaves of God. It is this captivity of grace that brings us true freedom, abundant life and everlasting life.
This is the theme song of heaven, as saints and angels sing praise to the Lord Jesus, For you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Revelation 5:9).
4. The cross of Jesus is satisfactory.
And He Himself is the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins, and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world (I John 2:2).
To propitiate means to reconcile, appease, turn away wrath, gain the favor or satisfaction of someone. There is nothing that humanity, separated from God by sin, can do to regain God’s favor. God’s moral law has been violated by our sin and God is grieved. A just and holy God cannot ignore our offense and must respond with judgment. The substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus is the satisfaction for our offense — He took upon Himself our sin, God’s judgment against sin and the death which our sin creates.
The holy sacrifice of Jesus does not change God’s heart because God is unchanging in His mercy and His holiness. But whereas our sinful rebellion aroused God’s righteous anger, our helplessness to save ourselves aroused His mercy. Jesus’ atoning sacrifice satisfied God’s righteous judgment and removed the offending sin so that now the grace and mercy of God can be bestowed on the repentant sinner.
The phrase and not for ours only but also for those of the whole world does not mean that people all over the world are reconciled to God against their will. Salvation is offered to the whole world but we must agree to the means of reconciliation. Jesus has provided the satisfaction for our sins but we must place our faith and trust in His sacrifice if we are to experience the blessings of His sacrifice.
5. The cross of Jesus is triumphant.
Because of our sin and our resulting separation from God, humanity is held captive to sin and to the spiritual powers of darkness which prevail in this fallen world and which gained access to to our lives through our sin. Humanity is also held captive to false gods, enslaving idols and deceptive religious rituals and laws which have no power to save but which do bind people in even greater darkness. But God has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins (Colossians 1:13,14).
The instrument of our deliverance was the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20). On that cross, God disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public display of them, having triumphed over them (Colossians 2:15). Rulers and authorities refer to the powers of darkness which express their enslaving purpose in history and in human lives. Jesus, on the cross, triumphed over those powers. And now, abiding in Him and in His victory, we share in His triumph.
6. The cross of Jesus has accomplished an everlasting salvation.
a. It is everlasting because it was eternally purposed.
The work of Christ on our behalf was decreed from eternity — He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). Before God created the universe, He determined to provide salvation for creatures whom He would someday create and who would someday fall from grace through sin. Peter wrote that our salvation is obtained with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world (I Peter 1:19, 20). God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit knew, determined, from eternity that Jesus would be the holy Sacrifice for our sin.
Jesus, though publicly attested by wonders and signs, was delivered to death by godless men. But He was also delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:23). The crucifixion of Christ was not a surprise, a random event or unexpected defeat of God’s salvation purpose. It was the predetermined expression of God’s redeeming love and though the perpetrators were morally accountable for their crime, they were unwittingly fulfilling the eternal counsel of God.
In eternity past, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit agreed and decreed that Jesus would be the Lamb slain for the sins of the world and that His work would obtain everlasting salvation for all who believe. That salvation was foreknown from eternity. Our names were written in the Lamb’s book of life before there was a creation or a sin committed (see Rev. 13:8). The source of that salvation is the blood of a Savior who committed to this saving work in eternity past.
It is not clear to our finite minds how God can decree and establish our salvation before we were born, before we had committed a sin, repented of sin or placed our faith in the saving work of Christ. We are reminded that truth is what God reveals to us in the Bible, His inspired word. Some of these truths we understand and some we believe and confess though the meaning is not completely transparent. We believe and confess the truth, not because we always understand it but because it is true.
One truth is this: our salvation is everlasting because it was eternally purposed.
b. Our salvation is everlasting because it is eternal in its effect.
The saving work of Christ on our behalf is to all who obey Him the source of eternal salvation (Hebrews 5:9). Our salvation was decreed before time and endures beyond time. It was determined before the earth was created and will endure beyond earth’s destruction. All the forces of hell cannot undo the everlasting work which Jesus has accomplished on our behalf.
The Apostle Peter refers to an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (I Peter 1:4,5). The salvation that Jesus obtained for us is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, reserved in heaven and protected by the power of God — it is eternal.
The writer to the Hebrews reminds us, For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). The sacrifice of Jesus stretches backward in time to redeem righteous saints of old and forward to include us and into eternity. By this one offering of Himself Jesus has perfected forever those who are being separated from world conformity and are progressively transformed in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. The cross is a continuing source of revelation, consecration and transformation.
The cross of Jesus has accomplished an everlasting salvation.
7. The cross of Jesus is historical.
The cross of Jesus is not a legend or a doctrine. It is an historical event performed by the eternal God in time. The cross event happened at a particular place at a particular time for people alive in history. Other religions are based on philosophies, abstract ideas, legends. Christianity is rooted in a historical Person who performed a redeeming work in history.
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son (Gal. 4:4).
For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6).
8. The cross of Jesus completely fulfilled God’s redeeming purpose.
Just before He died, Jesus shouted from the cross, It is finished (John 19:30). That was one word — tetelestai. It is the word stamped on a legal document in that day. It means fulfilled, complete. Tetelestai is a perfect tense verb, signifying an action completed in the past with lasting, ongoing results. It indicates that the debt of sin is paid in full, the mission is accomplished, and the sacrifice is complete. Tetelestai was a cry of victory. Jesus understood that He had perfectly accomplished that which He came to do. Sensing the Father’s satisfaction with His offering of Himself, He shouted in triumph and gave up His life.
Saints who were massacred on earth now rejoice in heaven. Victorious, slaughtered and triumphant, they sing of a salvation which cannot be destroyed. Peter reminds us, After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you (I Peter 5:10).
The cross of Jesus established an everlasting salvation resulting in eternal glory.
Truth revealed in the cross of Jesus Christ.
1. The cross of Jesus is sacrificial.
2. The cross of Jesus is substitutionary.
3. The cross of Jesus is redemptive.
4. The cross of Jesus is satisfactory.
5. The cross of Jesus is triumphant.
6. The cross of Jesus has accomplished an everlasting salvation.
7. The cross of Jesus is historical.
8. The cross of Jesus completely fulfilled God’s redeeming purpose.
To God be the glory.
Study Questions
1. What do we mean when we say that the cross of Jesus is substitutionary?
2. What do we mean when we say that the cross of Jesus is redemptive?
3. What do we mean when we say that the cross of Jesus accomplished an everlasting salvation?