The Cross - Part 1

“ ‘Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.’ This he said, signifying by what death He would die.” John 12:30-33 (NKJV)

Over and over through the book of John, Jesus said that His hour had not yet come. Now the hour was at hand and He says that this is the time for the judgment of the world. The word for judgment is the word ‘crisis’. This was to be the pivotal moment, the watershed moment of world history.

This was the judgment of the world for several reasons. First this was the time when the prince of this world was judged. In addition, the punishment of sin was to be meted out on Christ at this moment and God’s just retribution against sin was satisfied. It also was a time of judgment because how a person received this teaching would be pivotal in his eternal destiny.

This Easter season of the year is an appropriate time to meditate once again on what was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Christ.

Jesus said, “Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” His death and resurrection declared victory over Satan. Consider the following passages.

Hebrews 2:13 says, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” The word “destroy” in this passage means to destroy, abolish or put away.

Colossians 1:13: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” When we trusted in Christ, the kingdom of which we were a part changed. We had been part of Satan’s kingdom, “children of wrath” as God called us. But when we were saved from sin by Christ, we were moved from Satan’s kingdom over to God’s kingdom, the kingdom of His beloved Son. Satan has one less person to reign over every time Christ saves someone.

Colossians 2:13, 14 “…He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

What an amazing couple of verses! We’ll talk further about our death to the law in a future post, but look at what has taken place here. If you are a believer, all your trespasses have been forgiven. The requirements that worked against you have been wiped out. There is no more condemnation. (Romans 8:1) Our sins are washed away as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered against us again. What a promise!

He goes on to say in verse 14 that God has disarmed principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them through His cross. Satan has been defeated, disarmed and humiliated. What more could we ask for?

Galatians 3:10 says that “as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’” Verse 12 says that “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse of us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’)”.

Paul says in I Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” These verses get at the heart of the gospel. Christ became a curse for us; he was made to be sin for us. The result is that there is no curse for us and we’ve been made the righteousness of God in Him. As Romans 8:1 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

This is what Paul said was his great desire. In Philippians 3:9 he writes, “and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;” This is what the Jews missed. Romans 9:30 -33 tells us that the Jews pursued the law of righteousness, but it wasn’t the righteousness of faith given by God as a gift. God’s righteousness is given to us in place of our righteousness which are as filthy rags in God’s sight.

I guess the question you should ask yourself is, “Are you trusting in your own righteousness in order to be right with God, or have you received His righteousness?” He offers it freely to all who will repent and turn to Christ and believe the gospel. It is truly the good news that is the power of God for salvation.

CAMPONTHIS: Regeneration Precedes Faith...the transforming power of God-centered evangelism

After writing my previous article, I stumbled on the following article posted last Saturday on Steve Camp's blog. I thought it fit together well.

CAMPONTHIS: Regeneration Precedes Faith
...the transforming power of God-centered evangelism

Spiritual Life

Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus came to the tomb. When Jesus asked them to move the stone that covered the tomb, Martha said, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

Then He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”

To me this is a wonderful illustration of the power of God in regeneration. The Bible teaches us that in our natural state we are dead in trespasses and sins. (Eph 2:1) “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.” (Romans 3:10, 11) God had told Adam that in the day he ate of the forbidden tree he would die. As a result “just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

How is one raised from the dead? Other than Christ who could raise himself from the dead, can anything dead give life to itself? It’s certainly not possible with physical life, how can it be any different with spiritual life?

How was Lazarus able to obey the command of Christ to come out of the tomb? Could he as a dead man have laid there and said, “No, I think I’ll just stay dead, thanks.” He perhaps could have decided to stay in the tomb, but he could not have decided to stay dead. The voice of God awoke him. So too the voice of God through the preaching of the gospel brings life to the spiritually dead.

Ephesians 2:4, 5 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” I Peter 1:23 says, “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”

Using a different metaphor in 2 Corinthians 4, Paul explains how the gospel is hid because the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory of God should shine unto them. How is that blindness overcome? If as he writes elsewhere the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God because they are foolishness to him, how is that natural state of blindness and death overcome? The answer in 2 Corinthians 4:6 is this: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

In other words it takes the regenerating, life-giving, light-giving power of the Word of God to bring life to us. Everything else in the Christian life flows from this. All of those things that give evidence that life is present come from that life. Faith, hope, love, joy, etc. all flow from life miraculously granted to us by the Word of God.