The very
centre of Christian preaching and Biblical revelation is - THE
CROSS !!
-
a person who is clear about the Cross, is clear.
-
a person who is wrong about the Cross, is wrong.
The first
thing the Bible teaches is that it was necessary.
(i) The need of Man. You are -
a creature of God
who is an eternal soul
made originally in
God's image
once in a covenant
relationship with Him
fallen in Adam
guilty, alienated,
polluted
under God's wrath and
curse
afflicted with the
miseries of this life
certain to die, be
judged, damned
and unable to remedy
the situation.
(ii) The Character of God.
God is love. His love (
which is electing love ) rendered the Cross necessary
- John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 8:29,31-32,35, Eph 1:4-5,
John 15:16, Acts l3:48, 2 Thess 2:13-14
Before the world was,
He covenanted to save a people - Heb 13:20, Is 42:6,
Ps 89:3, Lk 22:29, Jn 10:18, Jn 17: 4,6,9,12,24, Jn
6:37-39.
Putting together this
and the rest of the Scriptural data, we know the
following about this everlasting covenant :-
it was between God and
His chosen people. None were present, and Christ
acted as their representative and covenant Head.
the covenant had terms.
Christ undertook to fulfil them.
the covenant had
promises. Christ welcomed them.
the covenant was
eternal; Trinitarian; gracious; unbreakable; sure;
and concerning particular persons united to Christ.
the covenant was
repeatedly prefigured in the Old Testament;
specifically mentioned by Christ; and in this
dispensation has been seen to include even Gentiles
God on His throne
remembers His covenant, and Christ is at His side as
the covenant Head of His people, and their continuing
Surety.
The
most important single point to grasp today is that THE
CROSS WAS NECESSARY - BECAUSE OF GOD'S COVENANT LOVE TO THOSE
HE HAD DETERMINED TO SAVE IN CHRISTIf you are astray on
this point, you are astray!
What
does the Bible really teach about the Cross?
The Cross
is the very centre of the Bible, and that IT WAS NECESSARY because
of God's covenant love to those He had determined to save in
Christ. This week - we learn that although some people teach that
the Cross only made certain things possible, this is not the
Bible's teaching. The Bible declares that something was actually
done there.
Something
was ACTUALLY DONE there This is proved by 4 important words :-
(I) Sacrifice.
sacrifices were all
concerned with the removal of sin and guilt
symbolically the
person's sin & guilt were transferred to the
victim
this then carried the
liability for it - and died in the person's place
the keyword is
SUBSTITUTION
these sacrifices were
types of shadows, to be fulfilled in Christ
HE is described as a
sacrifice - Hebrews 9:11-15, 10:3-4,10-14, 13.10-13
He, then, has actually
substituted for others - the word proves this
His innocent life has
been substituted for the guilty, that sin and guilt
might be removed.
this is not the
language of something merely made possible. - but of
something ACTUALLY DONE
(ii) Propitiation.
this word is found in
Rom 3:25, Heb 2.17, 1 John 2:2, 4:10.
it mean's :-
God is furious with the
sinner as a person
another bears His
wrath, and appeases Him
the sinner is free from
God's displeasure, and in His favour
God is 'propitious' to
him.
Christ is not said to
be One who makes propitiation possible = He is said
to be propitiation itself
Something was ACTUALLY
DONE at the Cross.
(iii) Reconciliation.
this is NOT a
bringing-together of Opposites into middle ground
it is the bringing near
to God of someone who was far off
it is the e bringing
into His favour of someone who was out of it
this is because the
cause of God's anger is removed
two particularly clear
passages are - Romans 5:8-11, 2 Cor 5,18-21
neither of these two
passages teach that reconciliation was made possible
by the Cross, but that it was actually accomplished
there.
something was ACTUALLY
DONE at Cal vary
(iv) Redemption.
this means the
obtaining of a release by the payment of a price
we still use the word
today - pawnbrokers
it is referred to in
the New Testament in Gal 3:13,23-26, 4:1-79 Mark
10:45, Acts. 20'.28, Eph 1:7, Col 1:14.
it is clear that
redemption was not just made possible by the Cross,
but that it was actually accomplished there
something was ACTUALLY
DONE when Jesus died !
So this is
what Christ ACTUALLY did :-
He substituted as a
sacrifice
He propitiated the wrath
of God He brought about reconciliation
He accomplished
redemption
He ACTUALLY substituted
for sins. Whose sins?
He ACTUALLY turned away
the righteous wrath of God Who from?
He ACTUALLY reconciled
to God. Who?
He ACTUALLY redeemed.
Who?
The Bible's plain answer to these
questions is,.-
Christ
loved THE CHURCH and gave Himself for IT.
It was because God, in covenant love, had chosen to save
certain men and women in Christ, that the Cross was
necessary at all
If the reason for the
Cross is God's love to THEM, it is obvious that what
God did there was FOR THEM !
This is clear from an
examination of other teachings
Christ died for
all men (without distinction), say some.
but we have seen that
Christ ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING at Calvary.
if He did this for all
men, then ALL men are saved
which is something the
Bible denies
so we cannot accept
this answer
Christ died for
no-one in particular, say others.
they teach that He only
died to make something possible, and people can avail
themselves of what He did, if they want.
but we saw last week
that the Bible contradicts this by saying that
something was ACTUALLY DONE at Calvary.
if what was done, was
done for no-one in particular, then no-one at all is
saved - which the Bible denies.
so we cannot accept
this answer either.
The truth is that
Christ died for some, and not for others.
this MUST be the truth,
for the other answers are impossible
it is, as we shall see,
the truth the Bible insists on
Christ died for those
whom the Father gave Him in the everlasting covenant.
in the Bible these
particular people are called "the church"
yes - Christ loved the
CHURCH and gave Himself for IT.
This is clear from
specific Scripture texts and passages
Look at :- Isaiah 53:8,11
Matthew 1g21, 26:28
John 6:37-40,
10:11,15,26,29, 15:13, 17:9.
Acts 20.28
Romans 4:25, 5:8 ( see
1:7), 8:28-39, 14:15 (see 1 Cor 8:11)
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Ephesians 5:25-27
1 John 4:10 ( see
2:12-13, 3:1-2)
YET :- there appear to be
Bible passages which teach that Christ died for all, and
there appears to be difficulty between believing this truth
and our duty to preach Christ to all.
Take care with the word
"all".
in the Bible 'all" seldom means
" all people everywhere".
for instance, look at
Luke 2:1-2, John 12,32, 1 Cor 6:12
to find out what it
means in any particular passage - look at the
Context..
Take care with the words
"the world"
in the Bible "the
world" seldom means "all people on the
globe"
more often it means
"the world as a system, the kingdom of
darkness",
for instance, see Jn
l2:31, 14:30,14:27,15:18-19 - to find out what it
means in any particular passage - look at the context
With this in mind, let us look
at :-
John 3:16-17. God loved
what is the opposite of Himself, with such intensity
that He sent His Son to infallibly save all believers
(This also explains 1:29, 4:12)
Rom 5:18 and 1 Cor
15:22. All united to Adam, die in Adam, All united to
Christ, live in Christ. These are NOT "all
people everywhere", as previous chapters in
Romans, and 1 Cor 15:19,23, make clear,
2 Cor 5:19. This occurs
in a passage making it clear that all men are NOT
saved "The world" in vs 19 is the
"us" of verses 17-18.
Hebrews 2:9. The word
"man" is not in the Greek. The
"every" are the people being spoken about
in the chapter - those united to Christ, at this
moment supported by Him, and brought to glory.
1 John 2:2, John denies
in his letter that all men are saved. He makes it
plain in 4:12 that Christ is the propitiation of
believers, His point here is that Christ is only
Advocate, because He is propitiation. Is He Advocate
for all?? He puts his words this way to teach that
there is NO OTHER propitiation - and that all who
have a propitiation, have the SAME ONE
What about evangelism ?
Believers believe this truth
because the Bible teaches it.
the SAME Bible also
teaches that God sincerely desires the salvation of
all men ( Ezek 33:11, Matt 11:28, 23:37, 1 Tim 2,,4,
2 Pet 3:9, Rev 22.17)
God is not ashamed to
put both truths in the Bible, so they are not ashamed
to believe it. It is not. a problem to God, only to
us.
The truth of particular
redemption actually produces evangelists
the believer is
overwhelmed with God's love to him, as an individual,
and expresses his love by obeying Christ's commands
(Jn 14:15,21,23-24), including His commands to preach
the Gospel to all.
love for Christ is thus
his true motive (as in 2 Cor 5:l4), and this leads to
a true love for the lost.
It keeps such an evangelist
from flagging.
he knows that around
him are sheep for whom the Shepherd died,
when they hear His
voice, they will follow Him ( Jn 10:3-11).
he thus sounds out the
Shepherd's voice - knowing evangelistic success is
certain
this fills him with
holy optimism, and his zeal does not flag, nor does
he give up when difficulties occur.
He sets forth the Gospel in a
Biblical way.
he does not go round
vainly saying "Christ died for you".
he preaches not
salvation, nor forgiveness, but CHRIST - for it is in
Him, and in Him alone, that there is salvation
wrought and redemption accomplished,
he presents Him not as,
One Who 'can be' a Saviour, but as the One Who IS the
Saviour.
he proclaims Him not as
One who makes salvation 'possible', but as the One
Who DOES SAVE
thus Christ is
preached in a way which is worthy of Him, and men are urged
to turn to Him who alone does helpless sinners good
Where particular redemption is
not believed, (or is misunderstood), Biblical evangelism
declines
The Cross is the centre of our
faith, Where the centre is perverted all else goes haywire.
