The Cross Tells All

Text: 1 Corinthians 1:13-17; 2:1-5

Paul tried so hard. In one of his earliest letters to the church at Corinth, he pleads with believers to stay united by anchoring themselves in the gospel.  Why? That there be no divisions in the body and so that the gospel of Christ, the message of the cross would be highlighted.

Main Idea: What Jesus did for us on the cross tells us, and the world, everything we need to know about God.

• If you want to know what God thinks of sin, look at the cross.
• If you want to know what God thinks of you, look at the cross.
• If you want to know how far God will go to bring you home, look at the cross.
• If you want to know how God’s justice and His mercy embrace, look at the cross.
• If you want to know if there is life after death, look at the cross.
• If you want to know what God’s agenda for this world is, look at the cross.

The Cross Tells Us…

I.   That God is real. That our faith is rooted in reality not fantasy or superstition.

• 2 Corinthians 5:19 – God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.
• John 1:14 The word became flesh and dwelt among us.
• John 14:9 – “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”
• Colossians 1:19–20 – “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things…”
• Hebrews 1:3 – The Son is the radianceof God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

The night I became a believer, I did not have an epiphany. I had an encounter that changed everything.

II.  That God loves the world.

• John 3:16 For God so loved the world
• Why would a loving God allow evil to happen? Who but a loving God would send His only Son from the splendor of heaven into this putrid world – for us!
• Romans 5:8 tells us that God’s ultimate demonstration of love was Christ dying for us while we were yet sinners and while we were His enemies.
• The cross tells us that for reasons known only to Him, God loves this world

III. That God is holy and just

• God abhors wickedness.  He hates evil.  It is a horror to His eyes and a stench to His nostrils.  His moral code has not evolved with the times.
• Romans 6:23 – The wages of sin is death.
• God is not just loving.  He is also holy and just. And his love is expressed in that He provided a way out.  But there was a price.  And it was a terrible One.  It was the death of His only Son.
• Jesus satisfied God’s justice by paying the penalty of death on the cross.
• Isaiah 53 – The Lord laid on Jesus the iniquities of us all.  All our sins.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf
• Jesus satisfied God’s justice so we could be embraced by His mercy.  That spells grace!

 IV.  That there is life after death.

• 1 Corinthians 6:14 “By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.”
• Acts 3: This man stands here healed by the power of Jesus of Nazareth, the One you rejected and killed. But God raised Him from the dead. And we’re witnesses of that.”
• The cross is God’s final offer to mankind.  We have two options.  Accept the death of Christ or pay for our sins with our own death.

If you have not chosen to put your faith in the death of Christ on your behalf, I will now give you an opportunity to do so.

Conclusion

The cross tells all.  God is real.  God loves the world.  God is holy and just.  There is life after death.