Grow With Pastor Joe

During court proceedings, both parties are able to do what is called cross-examination. This is the opportunity for each defendant and plaintiff to cross-examine the arguments that have been presented against them with questions that are aimed to disprove the opponent’s testimony or to establish facts in one’s own favor. In the cosmic courtroom, we need a cross-examination. Although sinners cannot build up any favor apart from Christ, the cross-examination that must take place in every heart must be an examination of what the cross has done for us and what we’ve done and are doing with it. The Christian life is cruciform (Latin for cross-shaped). All of life and redemptive history is shaped by the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross is the crux and climax of human history and personal testimony. The cross changes everything and anyone who finds themselves in humble faith before it is transformed forever. When we examine the cross, we find that it is the declaration and demonstration of penal substitution. Penal substitution is at the heart of God and the gospel. It is the heart of the cross where Jesus dies as a perfect substitute for sinful man paying for the penalty of their sin while satisfying the wrath of God that abides upon sinful man. There is no salvation apart from this doctrine. You can be saved without understanding its depths and intricacies, but for those who are saved, we would do ourselves a favor by daily examining the majestic magnitude of what the cross is, what it has done, and its eternal impact for us.

            We have been in a study for some time looking at the fourth “Servant Song” of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah serves as a Bible in miniature with Isa. 52:13-53:12 showing us the gospel of Jesus Christ. This passage has five stanzas of three verses in each. The central one is Isa. 53:4-6 which says, “⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ⁵ But 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. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” These three verses are explicitly speaking of substitutionary atonement. The average Christian knows that Jesus died on the cross, but they can’t articulate what really happened there. This is why I believe that for Christians, they must not wander far from the cross. Rather, the longer we are saved and walking with the Lord, we should find ourselves nearer to the cross in awe of our Savior’s loving sacrifice for our sin. When we grow in a depth of knowledge of what the cross truly means, we should naturally sing out in faith hallelujah, what a savior! Unfortunately, many Christians today seem to think that the cross was important for their salvation, but nothing else. Without the cross there is no Christian. The cross is the beginning, middle, and end of the Christian life. There at the cross, we see the heart of God that has redeemed us through the finished work of Jesus Christ. In the cross we see the heart of the Bible itself, which is the penal substitutionary atonement which redeems and reconciles man. Over the next two weeks, we will continue to dive into these three verses to glean all that we can. Let us leave no meat on the bone. As we have this time of cross-examination, we will see in today’s study the centrality and lethality of the cross.

            First, we must see the centrality of the cross, not only in this particular passage, but throughout all of the Bible. The cross is the main plot, and Jesus is the main character. The story of redemption is not about the redeemed, but the Redeemer of the redeemed. Everything in the scriptures (and human history for that matter) is either moving towards the cross or looking back at the cross. There are two things we must consider when examining the centrality of the cross throughout the Bible.

One, we see the centrality of the cross in the prophecies of the Old Testament. The cross of Christ was not God’s back up plan, but it was and is the eternal plan of God for His own pleasure of the revelation of His glory through the redemption of man by His grace. There are countless examples of prophecies and typologies that point to the cross from the Old Testament. For the sake of time, we will briefly give some critical ones that highlight the centrality of the cross. Turn to Gen. 3 and you will find the first allusion or prophecy of the cross of Jesus. Gen. 3 is where everything changed in human history for the first time, but not in a positive way. The slithering serpent, Satan, comes to tempt Eve who gives way to the lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life. Quickly, Adam, her husband, and our federal head (representative of the human race – See Rom. 5; 1 Cor. 15) then partakes plunging all of humanity into sin. The instant that they disobeyed God’s command they died spiritually. Now, the only two humans in existence who had enjoyed God’s presence in a garden paradise now lose their fellowship with God and their enjoyment of paradise. They hide from God and seek to cover their sin, but nothing that the hands of man do or create could ever make them whole from sin or restore their relationship with their creator. As God then begins to pronounce judgment we see what is called the protoevangelium (the first gospel) in Gen. 3:15 which says, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” In this judgment against Satan, his defeat is declared, but his defeat will come through the “Seed of the woman” who is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the promised seed who was born of a virgin for He is the God-Man who perfectly represents God to man and man to God in the incarnation. This verse points us to the cross where Jesus will be bruised, but in His bruising, He crushes the Serpent and Sin forever! Later in Gen. 3:20-24 we see an even clearer prophecy of the cross. Gen. 3:21 says, “²¹ Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” Here, God Himself is the first to shed innocent blood to cover the guilty. Adam and Eve’s fig leaf coverings would not do. Now, as Adam and Eve take the long road out of Eden, they forever wear the coat of skins as a reminder of their sin, but as well of the gracious substitute that died in their place to cover them in God’s sight. Jesus died and shed His precious blood to clothe us in His righteousness so that we can be restored into fellowship with our creator. Continuing onward to Gen. 22 we see the next critical prophecy or picture of the cross. After God punished the world for their sins, sparing only those who by faith entered into the ark (Noah and his family), God calls Abraham to follow Him. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto Him for righteousness because it is by faith that salvation is received in both the Old and New Testaments. Abraham after waiting decades, despite his many setbacks with sin, God provided him a promised seed in Isaac who would receive the covenant blessings from God. However, to strengthen Abraham’s faith and to illustrate for us the centrality of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Interestingly, there are many types, pictures, or prophesies to the cross of Jesus in this chapter. Isaac is a willing substitute who carried the wood for the burnt offering (representative of the cross Jesus carried) and laid down in obedience to his father trusting him fully (representative of Jesus being a willing substitute). Abraham believed that God could and would raise his son (He. 11:17-19) begins to bring the knife down, but God stops him and provides a substitute for Isaac. However, at the cross of Christ, there is no substitute for Jesus. The eternal Son of God willingly and lovingly dies in our place, and praise God He rose again for death could not hold Him. Through Abraham would come God’s covenant people, Israel. Israel faced enslavement in Egypt, but in God’s great redemption of His people, He judges the pagan nation of Egypt with 10 plagues. The tenth and final plague is covered in Ex. 11-12. In this plague, the death angel of God would go at night to kill the firstborn of all who did not obey the commands of Ex. 12 that established for Israel what is called the Passover. There, Jesus, the Lamb of God, is pictured as the Passover Lamb whose blood was shed instead of man, whose blood covered the door which spared the inhabitants inside. However, the Jews celebrated this year after year, but Jesus the true Passover Lamb was sacrificed for sin once and for all. All who are in Him are safe under His blood. As Israel then continues their Exodus from Egypt by God’s grace, they receive what is called the Levitical Law and in it was the Old Testament sacrificial system. Understand firstly that no man is saved by keeping the Law for no mortal man ever could keep it. Furthermore, the sacrificial system was something that was used to show the continual sinning of man and that there was not a sufficient sacrifice for sin once and for all until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Under the Old Testament sacrificial system, countless animals were slaughtered, burnt as offerings (many kinds), or had their blood sprinkled for a temporary atoning for sin. The Day of Atonement is the epitome of the idea of penal substitutionary atonement and the language of Isa. 53:4-6 uses the same words that directly link with the Day of Atonement in Lev. 16. On that day there was a substituted sacrifice for the high priest (he was a sinner too), the people, and then a scapegoat that would “bear” the sins of the corporate people of Israel. Blood would be sprinkled upon the mercy seat of the first animal that was sacrificed on behalf of the people. This was repeated year after year. Lev. 17:10-16 testifies that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (also seen in Heb. 9:22). Then, back to Isa. 53:4-6 we see clearly the theme of substitutionary atonement. These three verses prophesy the wonder working power of the cross and the blood of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is abundantly clear as we examine this passage that it speaks of Jesus bearing the burden of our sin and guilt as He alone faces the wrath of God on our behalf. The Son is crushed instead of the sinner. Hallelujah, what a Savior.

Two, we see the centrality of the cross in the proclamation of the cross and penal substitutionary atonement in the Church age. The very first message of the New Testament, the cross, and penal substitution is preached on the day of Pentecost in Acts. 2:21-36. The central message that has been proclaimed throughout church history is the cross of Jesus. We see this as well in 1 Cor. 1:18-2:5 where the Apostle Paul makes it abundantly clear that the cross is the central message that must be preached, received, and lived by. The cross makes no sense to the world, Jew or Greek. It is offensive to those who are guilty of offending God. It is a divisive message, but it is the only thing that can unite a sinner to the Savior. Throughout all of church history we see faithful believers proclaiming the gospel, the cross, the doctrine of penal substitution. It is for this that millions of Christians have lost their lives, have left homes to go across uncharted waters to America, and then have left America to go into uncharted villages in the wilderness of the world with this message. We proclaim the cross for the conversion of the sinner and the consecration of the saint. The cross is central. Penal substitution is not optional. It is central and critical to your life. Never forget what the cross has done and what it demands of our life.

            Second, we must see the lethality of the cross. The process of death by way of the cross was excruciating, humiliating, and always successful. No one survived a crucifixion. The process of death on a cross began with a sentencing of death by a guilty verdict. Then, the offender would face beating, scourging, mockery, and the brutality of having to carry the beam of the cross to the final place of execution. The offender would then be placed upon the cross by having nails driven in the wrists and feet. The cross would then be dropped into a hole in the ground to keep it upright and in place; this would often cause bones to be dislodged from joints. There for hours and sometimes days the offender would struggle to breathe as they lay there bleeding upon the rugged beams. Naked and bare before the world, the guilty would often die of exhaustion from the ordeal and the grueling attempts to keep breathing. Roman guards would typically speed up the process by breaking the legs of the one on the cross which would then cause their death to come quickly as they could no longer raise themselves up to catch a quick and shallow breath. This is the death of our savior. This is the death of the cross, the penal substitution for sinners. According to Isa. 53:4-6, the gospel accounts, and historical accounts, we know that Jesus was “stricken…smitten…afflicted…wounded…bruised” after receiving “stripes.” The word “stricken” is the word “naga” which means to strike causing pain, anguish, or to be stricken with suffering. To be “smitten” is the word “nakah” which is the verb to strike, beat or wound. The word “afflicted” is the word “anah” which means to afflict with or inflict oppression upon another. He was “wounded” (meaning to pierce or wound) for our “transgressions.” He was “bruised” (meaning to crush, bruise, or beat down) for our “iniquities.” The “chastisement” (chastening and punishment of consequences) was for our “peace” (reconciliation with God). It is by His “stripes” (welts, wounds, scourging) that we are “healed” (made whole or to be healed). Medically speaking, Jesus suffered contusions (bruising), laceration (tearing by blunt trauma), puncture wounds, avulsion (tearing of tissue), and abrasions (scraping cuts and marks). Yet Jesus did not have His bones broken to speed up His death for He willingly gave up His life (OT fulfillment of Ex. 12:46; Numb. 9:12; Ps. 34:20). The lethality of the cross not only deals with the process of crucifixion, but the provision of the cross itself. Jesus’ death on the cross is the death of death, our greatest foe. The “we, us, and our” of Isa. 53:4-6 are delivered from death and the penalty of sin in the death of Christ. His death on the cross strikes the lethal blow to the Serpent and accuser of the brethren, Satan. His death is lethal to the penalty, power, and presence of sin in the life of the believer. His death is the death penalty of death. It is has lost its sting. See Rom. 5 and 1 Cor. 15 to see the provision that the death of Christ on the cross has provided. The riches that are for the believer in Christ flow from the heavenly bank vault that has a cross as its entrance. For the believer, the cross is the symbol of our substitutionary atonement that gives us peace with God. It is also the place where sin and self are crucified, slain, and defeated in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. His death becomes our death and His life our life. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

            When you examine the cross, what do you find? Have you examined the cross? Many dare not give more than a glance at the cross lest they see their guilt hanging there staring them in the face. Few have come to the cross in humility and faith to be saved and set free from the bondage of sin. The cross confronts us with our sin, but it is also the display of the wonderful, indescribable, and unimaginable love of God. There at the cross, truth and mercy meet. There at the cross is guilt and grace. There at the cross we see judgment and justice, but we also see our salvation, full and free in the blood of Christ. There is no such thing as a Christian apart from the cross. There is no growth, development, or fruit in the Christian life apart from the cross. Our life has come by His death and now our life must be lived within the shadow of the cross as we die daily to ourselves and the world. We glory in this cross. We rejoice in what Christ has done for us. This message is central to all of life. We must praise Him for the centrality and lethality of the cross. Read the words of Fanny Crosby’s hymn and contemplate the cross. Examine it and let it examine you. “1 Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain; Free to all, a healing stream, Flows from Calv’ry’s mountain. Refrain: In the cross, in the cross Be my glory ever, Till my ransomed soul shall find Rest beyond the river. 2 Near the cross, a trembling soul, Love and mercy found me; There the Bright and Morning Star Shed His beams around me. [Refrain] 3 Near the cross! O lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me; Help me walk from day to day With its shadow o’er me. [Refrain] 4 Near the cross! I’ll watch and wait, Hoping, trusting ever; Till I reach the golden strand, Just beyond the river. [Refrain]”