…I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Why?
Because according to Oswald Chambers;
God forgives our sins – Only because of the death of Jesus Christ.
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We
know that Jesus deals with all mankind in two ways;
First: He sees that all of us are “Sinners,”
Second: He approaches each of us as being “Save-Able.”
Therefore, we know that each person has a sinful heart.
And in Jeremiah 17:9 the true condition of our heart is revealed,
for there it says;
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure,
who can understand it?
The answer to that question is
Jesus!
For He speaks about our hearts in Matthew 15:19
Jesus says:
Out of the heart come
evil thoughts,
murder,
adultery,
sexual immorality,
theft,
false testimony,
slander.
Therefore, our sinful hearts must be cleansed.
How?
Think about this!
Jesus came to earth to do the one thing
he could not do in heaven
and that was
to die.
Ken Gire
Why?
Hebrews 9:22 answers that question;
…because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
The bible says in Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.
How do we apply these truths to our lives,
so that we too can experience the forgiveness of our sins from our Father God?
One way the bible says is in: 1 John 1:7
…If we walk in the light as he is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another,
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and the blood of Jesus his Son purifies us from all sin.
And in Revelation 1:5-6
we see who is the only one who is to receive all the credit for making this possible.
And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness,
the firstborn from the dead
and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and
has freed us from our sins by his blood.
It is so important that we learn that:
Jesus Is For Us
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Even King David understood the importance of being clean before our God,
for he says in Psalm 51:7;
Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean.
Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
Therefore, what is one of the truths about the cross that we must learn?
That it is at the cross of Jesus, where we experience
becoming clean before our Father God.
And the cross is our way to
Becoming pure before our Father God.
Also, the cross is our way
to peace,
to healing,
to victory,
and
freedom!
The reality is the cross is our way to an,
active,
abundant,
vibrant
intimate
relationship
with our father God!
Again, we must learn that
Jesus Is For Us.
* * * * *
Question,
Does sin have power over us?
Yes!
Then how is that power broken in our lives?
The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 1:17
For Christ did not send me to baptize
but to preach the gospel.
Not with words of human wisdom lest
the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
The Cross And Power?
What kind of “Power” does the cross have?
Let’s look at just a few truths and see by way of what we are to give to our Lord at His Cross and
what He gave us by His dying on the Cross for us.
What we give Him: = What He gives us:
Our His
Sin Righteousness
Sickness Health
Condemnation Acceptance
Poverty Wealth
Fear Faith
Captivity Freedom
Shame Identity
Guilt Forgiveness
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Let’s look at each of these scriptures.
Our Sin For His Righteousness
God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in Him we might become the
righteousness of God.
* * * * *
Our Sickness For His Health
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree
so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness
by His wounds you have been healed.
* * * * *
Our Poverty For His Wealth
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though He was rich,
yet for your sakes He became poor,
so that you through His poverty
might become rich.
* * * * *
Our Condemnation For His Acceptance
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life
set me free from the law of sin and death.
* * * * *
Our Fear For His Faith
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body,
I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me.
* * * * *
Our Captivity For His Freedom
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
* * * * *
What are some of the things Jesus endured
so that we might give Him the shame in our lives and experience His identity?
* * * * *
Our Shame For His Identity
I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.
Because the Sovereign LORD helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
and I know I will not be put to shame.
(And this is just one sample of what He did, to let us know of His love for us)
* * * * *
Our Guilt For His Forgiveness
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,
God made you alive with Christ.
He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations,
that was against us and that stood opposed to us;
he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
* * * * *
It is these scriptures that you just read, that in part is the reason that
1 Corinthians 1:17-18 says;
The message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing but
to us who are being saved it is
the power of God.
It is Henry Blackaby who says;
The cross is the most profound event in history.
And finally as we study scripture we must agree with Bill Johnson when he said:
Jesus pursued the cross it didn’t pursue him.
And He did it to show us the love He has in His heart for each of us!
It was C. S. Lewis who said; “…Most men view the cross of Jesus with dread. They don’t want anything to do with it. But we, as His sons and brothers must learn to view the cross of Jesus with Awe And Wonder….” For this is how it is viewed in heaven.
Now, we are to always approach the cross with reverence and respect, but also as the place that our heavenly Father has provided for us to become clean and pure before Him. For, as your father God wants you to have good physical hygiene, He also wants your spirit and soul always to be clean and pure. Therefore, we need to always stay close to the cross of Jesus, to marvel at what our Brother, our Lord and Savior did for each of us there. And there, we need to humble ourselves and at least one time a day take a spiritual shower at the cross of Jesus.
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