TOPIC: “THE PURPOSE OF THE CROSS”!

TEXT:  JOHN 19:17-18:  [Shows Christ as our Savior and Lord]!

 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:  where they crucified him and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.    

CROSS, is from the root word stauros’, and is defined as an instrument of capital punishment; exposure to death; self-denial; atonement of Christ.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”.  We know there was a “purpose” (intention; aim; goal) for the Cross, and to every purpose there is an “effect” (consequence; result; outcome).

1 Corinthians 15:22: For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Hebrews 9:11-12: But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Vs 22: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (forgiveness; pardoning for sin, or annulment; suspension; or cancellation of sin).

IN RELATION TO THE “PURPOSE” OF THE CROSS:  CHRIST HATH REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW:

• Redeemed mankind: Galatians 3:13: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree.

Redeemed is the root word exagora’zo, meaning to buy up; ransom; to rescue from loss.  It goes to another root word,  exagora’zo, meaning, “to buy out”, especially of purchasing a slave with a view to his freedom.

We had been sold to the market  place of sin, but God in His infinite wisdom, love, grace, and mercy bought us back with the precious  blood of His Son Jesus the Christ, and put us back on the path of righteousness which leads to eternal life, as stated above in Hebrews 9:11-12.

The Law or the torah’, was a precept (a rule of moral conduct) or statute (an established rule). Law is from the root word yarah’, meaning to lay or throw (an arrow; to shoot); to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach; direct; inform; instruct. 

The “Law” was put in place to direct the people to Christ.

 

Once Christ came on the scene, the Law wasn’t abolished but it was fulfilled in Him:     

• Matthew 5:17: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:  I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 
• Romans 13:8: Owe no man anything but to love one another:  for he that loves another hath fulfilled the law.  (As we love we won’t commit adultery; steal; bear false witness; covet, etc, as verse 9 states).
• James 2:10: For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 
• Mark 12: [the great commandment]:  vs 28: And one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which is the first commandment of all”?  Vs 29-31: And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:  this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these.
• John 13:34-35: A new commandment I give unto you, “That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another”.

PURPOSE OF THE CROSS: 

“CHRIST BORE OUR SINS AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE”:  

• 2 Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
• 1 Peter 2:24: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:  by whose stripes you were healed (ia’omai) (ee-ah-omai) to cure; make whole.

 Isaiah 53:5: He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 

HEALED here is rapha’, meaning to mend (by stitching); to cure; repair; thoroughly make whole.

From the Old Testament to the New Testament God had the bases covered for His people to not just be healed, but to be “made whole”!

Luke 17:11-19: [the ten lepers]:  vs 12-13: And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:  and they lifted up their voices, and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us”.  Vs 14: And when he saw them, he said unto them, “Go show yourselves unto the priests”.  And it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed (not made whole).  [Only the priest could pronounce them as cleansed]:  vs 15-16: And one of them, when he saw that he was healed (not just cleansed), turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks:  and he was a Samaritan.  Vs 17-18: And Jesus answering said, “Were there not ten cleansed”?  “But where are the nine”?  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save (except) this stranger (a Samaritan).  Vs 19: And he said unto him, “Arise, go thy way:  thy faith hath made thee whole”!  

This Samaritan wasn’t just cleansed, but he was “made whole”.   All ten were cleansed so that they could come out of seclusion.  But the Samaritan, the one that turned back to give God praise and glory, he wasn’t just “cleansed” but he was “made whole”.  Whatever negative effect leprosy had on the Samaritan whether boils, scabs, whiteness of skin; eaten flesh; or a lost limb, he was restored, healed, made completely whole in every aspect, because of his faith and his praise!  Praise can restore limbs, dry up cancer, fill an empty gas tank, and turn any negative into a positive!!

CHRIST BORE OUR SINS – AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE:

• Romans 5:12: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin:  and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

This word “entered” does not denote that this is when sin began, because it was already here.                Entered is from the root word eiserchomai, meaning to enter; arise.  It goes to another word, eis, indicating the point reached or entered, of place, time, or purpose.   Wherefore, as by one man “sin entered” into the world:  meaning that “sin attained or reached its ultimate goal by taking hold of the man that was head of the creation which caused the creation to fall”.  Remember, the woman was in the transgression, 1Timothy 2:14, and the creation was still intact, even after the woman (the church) ate of the fruit.  But when the man (male and female) that had the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Genesis 2:16-17, partook of the fruit, it was then that the creation fell.

• Romans 5: 18-21: Therefore as by the offence of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound.  But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:  that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
• Romans 6:12-14: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof.  Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:  but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  For sin shall not have dominion over you:  for you are not under the law, but under grace.
  Vs 16: Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey:  whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
   
   
   

 

That’s why we have to take on the new birth:

• 1 John 3:8: He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
• Romans 8:2-4: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

We know that religion looks at sin basically as: smoking, drinking, having sex, wearing pants and make-up: 

• Romans 14:23: Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.
• 1 John 3:4-6: Whosoever commits sin, transgresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.  And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.  Whosoever abides in him sins not:  whosoever sins hath not seen him neither known him.
  In relation to “sin”, in this scripture, the word I want to stress here is “transgression”.  To understand what’s being said we have to look at the prefix of the word “gression” and it has several:  AGRESSION (unprovoked attack or warlike):  DIGRESSION (to go different ways):  PROGRESSION (moving forward):  REGRESSION (going backward):  TRANSGRESSION (is not moving at all, but staying in the same place).
  This is what’s happening in the church today (the false church system), the people are not moving forward, they’re standing or sitting, waiting for Jesus to come back and clean this mess up “down here”, when in reality Jesus is waiting for us the church to do the work!   John 14:12: Jesus said, “He that believes on me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to my Father”.
  Matthew 28:19-20: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:  and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.  Amen. 
  Mark 16:15: Go ye, into all the world, and preach the gospel, to every creature. 
   

EFFECTS OF THE CROSS: (consequences; results):  [The penalty for sin had to be paid in blood]!

• Hebrews 9:22: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission:  Synonyms for “remission” [annulment; cancellation; pardon; forgiveness; suspension; payment].

• Reconciled us back to God: 2 Corinthians 5:18-19: And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
   
  (RECONCILED) (katalas’so) to change mutually, in relation to compounding a difference: to make us “all one”:
   
  (Reconciliation) [katallage’] (exchange); (adjustment), in relation to restoration to (the divine) favor:  atonement.
   
• Colossians 1:20-21: And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.  And you, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind (dianoi’a – deep thought) by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (apokatalas’so) [unite fully] in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable, in his sight.
   
  Holy: (hag’ios): sacred (physically pure, morally blameless, ceremonially consecrated) / (hagnos’) innocent; perfect; clean.
   Unblameable:  (am’omos) unblemished; without rebuke; without blame; without spot; faultless; without fault.
  Unreproveable: (aneg’kletos) unaccused, in relation to irreproachable; blameless unblameable.
   
•  Ephesians 2:15-16: Having abolished (destroyed; did away with; made void) in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile  both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.
   Reconciled: (apokatalas’so) [to reconcile fully – meaning to move us from that which pertains to man or humanity into our divinity, while we’re still in our physical bodies, right here and right now!!!

Ephesians 4:13: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man; unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Colossians 2:8-23 [speaks of the sufficiency (adequacy; abundance; plenitude) of Christ]:                                                  Vs 14: Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

Vs 16-17: Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days:  which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.           [“OF” is a preposition meaning, “from or coming from, resulting from”].   

We are made one in Him!

• Acts 17:26: And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.
  [Blood in Hebrew is “DAM” (dawm):  all God had to do was make man, put His blood in him and call him “Adam or Awdawm’”!
  [Within the human body are many different kinds of tissues:  muscle, nerve, fat, gland, bone, connective tissues, etc.  All these tissues have one thing in common:  they are fixed cells, and have a specific and limited function.  But the blood is fluid and mobile, that is, it is not limited to one part of the body but is free to move throughout the entire body including the fixed cells].
   
• Romans 15:5-6: Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one towards another according to Christ Jesus:  that you may with one mind [homothumadon’] (unanimously:  with one accord) and one mouth (sto’ma) [language; face] glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:  
• 1 Corinthians 12:12: For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:  so also is Christ!
   

IN ORDER FOR GOD to bring about the “EFFECTS” of (consequences; results) and fulfill “PURPOSE” of the Cross, it had to be through the death of His Son, via “the Cross”!

• Matthew 27:45-46: Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour (from noon to three).  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?  That is to say, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”?

This is the only fear Jesus had – being separated from His Father:

• Hebrews 5:7: Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.

Feared:  (eula’eia) reverenced or had godly fear.

• Vs 8: Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.

Matthew 27:46:  When Jesus said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”?                          Forsaken: (egkatalei’po), meaning to leave behind in some place: denoting a “fixed position” [of dying the death of a sinner].  He was experiencing what it was like as a sinner dying without God!                                           It was the Cross that made Jesus call His Father God!  In His relationship with God He always called Him Father!  Due to the purpose of the cross, at the time Jesus was made sin for us, He called Him God! 

But before He gave up the ghost:  Luke 23:46: And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit”:  and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

At 12 o’clock things happen – the sun is at its peak:  at midnight you’re moving from one day into another!

 Here from noon to three:  there was darkness over all the land:  (skot’os) [shadiness; obscurity; interruption or blocking of the light; darkness of error (untruth’s; misconceptions; misunderstandings; inaccuracies; misconstruction); misery; destruction; death; ignorance; poverty; sickness:  but during these hours, via the Cross, Jesus is redeeming man from:

• Death to life: (John 5:24): Verily, verily I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life”. 
  Romans 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
   
• Corruption to incorruption; mortality to immortality: 1 Corinthians 15:51-54: Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:  for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised:   [(egei’ro) (through the idea of collecting one’s faculties); to waken or rouse [from sleep; sitting or lying; disease; death; obscurity; inactivity; ruins]; rise; rise again; raise again; lift up; arise stand]:  incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption:  and this mortal (thenatos’) liable to die:  [subject to death] must put on immortality (athanasi’a) [deathlessness].  So when this corruptible (phthora’) [decay, in relation to ruin (spontaneous or inflicted) (destroy; perish) [being brought into a worse condition, a destruction] – (phthei’ro) (to pine or waste; to shrivel, or wither, in relation to spoil (by any process) or to ruin especially by moral influences, to deprave; defile):  shall have put on incorruption (aphtharsi’a) (incorruptibility; unending existence; genuineness; sincerity) and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.
   
• From darkness to light: Colossians 1:12-14: Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:  who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:  in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
  1 Thessalonians 5:5: You are all the children of light, and the children of the day:  we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
   
• From sickness to health: Isaiah 53:5: He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes, we are healed.
  1 Peter 2:24: Who in his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:  by whose stripes you were healed.
   
• From torment to peace: Isaiah 26:3: Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:  because he trusts in thee.

[Colossians 2:8]: Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.    

BY WAY OF THE CROSS God fulfilled:

• Ephesians 4:11-13: And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: 
  Vs 14: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 
  Vs 15: But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
  Vs 16: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The Cross brought about:

• The “crown of thorns”:  (to give us peace and victory in our mind):  Isaiah 26:3: Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee.
  Romans 12:2: Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
  1 Corinthians 2:16: But we have the mind of Christ.
  Philippians 2:5:  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
   
• “The nails in His hands”:  (gives us power to lay hands on the sick and they shall recover):
   Mark 16:17: And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
   
• “The nails in His feet”:  (gives us power to walk on the enemy):
   Luke 10:19: Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 
  Acts 1:8: But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:  and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
   
• “The spear in His side”: (the blood and water was for “sanctification and redemption”):  (Ephesians 5:22-32 is an analogy of “Christ and the Church”):
   Vs 26: That he might sanctify and cleanse it (the church) with the washing of water by the word. 
  Hebrews 9:12: Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.  Vs 22: Without shedding of blood is no remission.

Pastor Gracie Perry