TREASURY OF SERMONS
The Mystery of the Cross
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
Text: Luke 23:26-46 cf Rom
5:12-21, Gen 2:7-9, 16-17; 3:1-6, 15, 20-1; 1 Pet 3:18
INTRODUCTION
When the Bible speaks of the mysteries of God, they
are mysteries which have been revealed. The mysteries of God are not
encrypted. There are no secret codes in the Bible. Lately, the craze is
using the Bible to tell one’s fortunes through a method called
Equidistant Letter Sequencing (ELS) popularised by Michael Drosnin in
his book—The Bible Code. Let us as children of light not be gullible.
The mystery of the cross is revealed in none other
than the One who was crucified on it—our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
One of the questions that pertain to the mystery of the cross is the
question: Was the cross really necessary? Why must Jesus suffer and die?
Wouldn’t it be easier for Him just to speak the word and declare us
saved? Why the cross?
The question we need to ask should not be "was the
cross necessary?" but "was justice necessary?" We know in WWII, Hitler
murdered 6 million Jews. If you were a Jew, do you not desire justice?
In our society, criminals are punished. There is a moral sense in us. We
demand justice for any wrong done. If we require this, how much more God
who is holy and just?
Why was the cross necessary? For three reasons:
I. THE PENALTY (Rom 6:23)
The penalty of sin is death. God warned Adam and Eve
in the garden that if they were to disobey Him by eating of the
forbidden fruit, the penalty is death ("you shalt surely die," Gen
2:16-17; lit. "dying you die"). You die twice: a physical and a
spiritual death. We become enemies of God.
Do we not deserve this death penalty? God has been
so good to Adam and Eve. He created a beautiful and plentiful garden for
them to live in. But they were not contented, became proud and wanted to
be like God. Instead of listening to God, they listened to Satan, and
succumbed to his temptation: the lust of the flesh ("the tree was good
for food"), the lust of the eyes ("it was pleasant to the eyes), and the
pride of life ("to make one wise").
Have we not sinned likewise? God told Adam and Eve,
"Don’t eat!" They ate! The powerful desire to sin is within us. Some
people have understood the sinfully depraved human condition. In
university notice boards, a lot of messages, but people wouldn’t care to
read them. But if you put up a notice with the words in bold "Don’t
Read!," you will find people paying attention to it. Another good eg is
my little daughter, May Lynn. When we say "Don’t touch!" she would be
even more determined to touch.
We have rebelled against God. We have sinned against
Him. As a just God, He has to punish us. To sin against God is a crime
most heinous. The severest of punishments must be meted out—eternal
damnation in hell.
You say, "I don’t want to go to hell." "How can I be
saved?" "Is there no way out?" The only way out is for Someone to pay
for your sins.
II. THE PAYMENT (1 Pet 1:18-19)
Sin came with a price tag. We have been sold to sin
and to Satan. We need to be bought back before we can be brought back to
God. The biblical word for this payment is the word "redeem." We are
bought not by silver or gold or the dollar, but by the Blood of the
Lamb. Gen 3:15 tells us that the Saviour’s heel would be bruised,
meaning He would be crucified. In Gen 3:20-21, God clothed Adam and Eve
with coats of skin from a sheep that was slain. This involved the
shedding of blood. Without the shedding of blood is no remission. Isaiah
in chapter 53 of his book tells us ahead of time that the Messiah will
come to die for sinners; as a lamb to the slaughter. John the Baptiser
said, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."
We have saved by the blood of the God-man—Jesus Christ.
His death was not the end. If Jesus had died and
that was it, then we would still be in our sins. He died and rose again!
Because He lives, we live. Jesus in John 11:25-26 says, "I am the
resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live: and whoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die. Believeth thou this?"
III. THE PROPITIATION (1 John 2:2)
This word "propitiation" is a good word. Many of the
modern translation do a poor job of translating by rendering this word
as "atoning sacrifice." Although Christ death on the cross was truly an
atoning sacrifice, it is much more than that. An atoning sacrifice
refers only to the covering of sins. But the word propitiation has the
added idea of an appeasement of wrath. What did the cross do? It did 2
things: (1) it covered our sins, and (2) it appeased God’s wrath. We are
thus no longer enemies of God, but His friends when we accept Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
CONCLUSION
Was the cross necessary? The answer is an absolute
yes. Sin has incurred a penalty that must be paid. Only Jesus Christ can
pay the price to redeem us from our sins, and to reconcile us to God.
May this time of commemoration be also a time of consecration. As we
partake of the bread and the cup, let us do so with a cleansed and a
committed heart.
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